This is another time when the Israelites did not obey Yahweh’s command (see 1.19-26; Numbers 13–14). All the words used in this verse are the usual ones in describing these matters.

Go up: this may mean to go up into the mountainous region; but it may simply be a way of saying “Get going” (see note at 1.19).

Take possession of the land: see 1.8.

Which I have given you: again, the two actions, one on the part of the Israelites and the other on the part of God, go together.

Rebelled against the commandment: to “rebel” means to disobey. “You refused to obey the commandment” (see verse 7).

Did not believe him or obey his voice: their lack of faith in Yahweh led to their act of rebellion, of disobedience. Good News Translation has “you rebelled against him; you did not trust him or obey him.” However, in some languages the repetition of “rebelled” and “did not … obey” will be unnatural style. In such a case we may say, for example, “You did not trust him and refused to obey him.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

You have been rebellious: this verbal phrase in Hebrew is from the same root as the verb rebelled in verse 23. Another way of saying this is “In fact, you have refused to obey Yahweh ever since….”

From the day I knew you: this presumably means from the time Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, forty years before. There is some textual evidence that the Hebrew text should be “he knew you,” referring to God. It could be that this was seen as a criticism of God for not knowing beforehand how the Israelites would act, so that the text was changed in transmission. The Hebrew Old Testament Text Project committee prefers “he knew you,” as do Contemporary English Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible; and a translator should feel free to translate it in this way.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

This refers back to what he had already said (verse 18). Moses lay face down on the ground in the LORD’s presence for forty days.

Because the LORD had said he would destroy you: God threatened to do to the Israelites what he had promised them he would do to the peoples of Canaan.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

O Lord GOD: this translates the Hebrew “Lord Yahweh” (the title and the name). The Septuagint has “O Lord, Lord, King of the gods.” For a comment on the translation of O Lord GOD, see 3.24.

Thy heritage: this translates a noun related to a verb that means “to take possession of” (1.38; 3.28; 4.21; see the noun at 4.20, “the people of the LORD,” and 4.38, “the land of the Israelites”). So thy people and thy heritage means “your very own people” (Good News Translation).

Whom thou hast redeemed through thy greatness: here greatness refers to God’s might, his power; redeemed means “set free” (see 7.8). There is no idea here of paying a price to someone to obtain that freedom.

A mighty hand: see 4.34. The Septuagint adds “and an outstretched arm” (as in the Hebrew text of 4.34). The two sentences may be combined as follows: “These are the people you rescued and brought out of Egypt by your great strength and power” (Good News Translation), or “You used your great strength and power to set them free and bring them out of Egypt.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Remember thy servants: the verb Remember is used in the sense of recalling how faithfully God’s servants (the patriarchs) had obeyed God, and the promises that God had made to them. Here servants, as elsewhere, means people who willingly do what God commands, and who obey his laws. So we may translate “Remember [or, Think about] how Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob obeyed you faithfully.”

Do not regard: here Moses is asking God not to keep thinking about the stubbornness (see verse 6), the wickedness (see verse 4), and the sin (see verse 16) of the people of Israel. Note Good News Translation “do not pay any attention to….”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Moses argues that, if God does not keep his promise to take the people into the Promised Land, then the Egyptians will say that God hated the Israelites and led them out of Egypt in order to kill them in the wilderness.

Lest the land from which thou didst bring us: here bring is correct, from the point of view of Moses in the land of Moab. Lest may be expressed as “Otherwise” (Good News Translation), or even expanded to “If you destroy your people” (Contemporary English Version), pointing back to verse 25.

The land … say: preferably “the people of the land say” (as in the Septuagint, “the inhabitants of the land say”); the Hebrew text has “the land say” (using a plural form of the verb). But it will be helpful to identify the people as “Egyptians”; for example, “If you destroy your people, the Egyptians will say….”

Bring them into the land … brought them out: since these are the Egyptians speaking, it is better to say “take them” and “took them out.”

An alternative translation model for the final part of this verse is:

• Yahweh was unable [or, wasn’t powerful enough] to take them into the land that he had promised to give to them. In fact, he hated them so much that he took them into the wilderness in order to kill them.

Translators in some languages may prefer to use indirect speech; in this case the model of Good News Translation will be helpful.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

For the structure and vocabulary of this verse, see 4.26; 9.26.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

With the beginning of a new section it may be helpful to begin with something like “Moses said to the Israelites.”

At that time: that is, at the end of the forty days during which Moses lay prostrate before the LORD (9.25). This may be made clear in translation: “Moses said to the people, ‘When the forty days and nights had ended, the LORD told me….’ ”

Hew two tables of stone like the first: the English verbs “to cut,” “to carve,” or “to chisel” are appropriate for working with stone, and a translation should use the normal verb for this kind of work. The first two stone tablets had been carved out by God (9.10-11); these two are to be exactly like the original two.

Come up to me on the mountain: God is still on top of Mount Sinai (see 9.9).

Make an ark of wood: in the nature of the case, this is a box, a container for the two stone tablets. New International Version has “a wooden chest,” Revised English Bible “a wooden chest, an ark.” This box is later referred to as “the ark of the covenant” (verse 8). However, in the present context the translation should be simply “a chest” or “a box,” or something similar.

Revised Standard Version and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible give the exact order of the Hebrew text, which seems to say that Yahweh tells Moses to make an ark after he goes back up the mountain with the stone tablets. This seems highly improbable, and most translations are like Good News Translation (Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, and others), which the translator is encouraged to follow.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .