Your eye shall not pity: see verse 13, and 13.8.

Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot: this should be expressed as concisely as possible, but the meaning should be quite clear. It should be stated generally and impersonally, in the manner of laws; for example, “One life shall be taken to pay for another life, one eye for another eye…,” and so forth. This legislation appears also in Exo 21.23-25; Lev 24.19-20.

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 this new chapter and section, it will be helpful to have something like “Moses said to the Israelites:…” or “Moses continued to speak to the Israelites:….”

When you go forth to war against your enemies: this indicates that the Israelites would take the initiative, since they were the aggressors who were trying to destroy the native peoples of the land. A more natural way of saying this is “When you go out to fight your enemies” (see Good News Translation). For enemies see 1.42.

Horses and chariots and an army larger than your own: for horses and chariots see Josh 11.4; 1 Kgs 20.25; Isa 31.1. Horses and chariots is a way of speaking of horse-drawn vehicles carrying the driver and one or two other fighters. Both the Assyrians and the Egyptians had chariots (see 11.4); the Israelite army was composed of men on foot, that is, foot soldiers, infantry troops. Chariots in some languages will be expressed as “war wagons” or “war wagons pulled by horses.” For horses see 17.16.

You shall not be afraid of them: the reason the Israelites need not fear a superior enemy force is that Yahweh, their God, will fight for them (see 7.17-19; 8.14).

Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt: the verb in 8.14 is “brought you out,” but it means exactly the same. If they recall how God destroyed the Egyptians when they, the Israelites, did not even have an army to fight them, this will give them courage.

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 .

When you draw near to battle: this continues from the beginning of verse 1, giving the people instructions on what to do just before they got ready to fight the enemy. “Before you start fighting” (Good News Translation), or even “Before you start fighting your enemies” are also possible models.

The priest: for priest see 10.6. There is no way of determining precisely who this priest was. Apparently his task was to determine whether Yahweh would give victory to the Israelites (see Judges 20.18-24; 1 Sam 14.36-42; 2 Chr 20.13-22).

The people: this is the normal Hebrew word for “people”; here, however, it means the fighters, “the troops” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh); it is the same Hebrew word that in verse 1 is translated “an army.” In English the word “soldiers” is not satisfactory, since this means professional military men (and women), paid to fight. An alternative expression is “fighting men.”

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 .

The priest exhorts the Israelites not to be afraid.

Hear, O Israel: as in 6.3 and 4.

To battle against your enemies: that is, “to fight your enemies” (as in verse 1).

Let not your heart faint, do not fear, or tremble, or be in dread: the exhortation is quite wordy, with four different expressions for not to be afraid. This repetition is for emphasis. Translators should not feel compelled to find four different expressions, if this turns out to be unnatural in their language; Good News Translation reduces the four expressions to three. In most languages there are good idiomatic expressions for fear and panic, and translators should make use of them; for example, “heart falls,” “heart turns over [or, flops],” or “have a swollen heart.” For be in dread of them, see 1.29.

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 .

There are no particular problems in translating this verse. The vivid language used of God should be preserved, if possible: Yahweh goes with them, Yahweh fights on their behalf and gives them the victory (see 3.22). If it is natural in the language, the full expression should be kept and not abbreviated as Good News Translation has done (see Exo 14.14).

The LORD your God is he that goes with you: this is quite emphatic; the Hebrew is “the LORD your God is the one going with you.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “marches with you” may be a bit too much.

To give you the victory: or “to cause you to be victorious over your enemies,” or “cause you to conquer….”

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 .

Then the officers shall speak to the people: these are the officers in charge of all the troops; they are not the same as the “commanders” in verse 9. For officers see 1.15; 16.18, where the meaning seems to be “overseers.”

What man is there that…? There is a series of questions in verses 5-8 which all begin the same way. This beginning can be translated in a number of ways: New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “Is there anyone who…?” and Good News Translation “Is there any man here”; however, New Revised Standard Version “Has anyone…?” is a bit too vague. Here it is all right to use the masculine “man” and not a more general “anyone,” because only men were enlisted to fight. Instead of a question, a statement can be used, “Any man who…” (Revised English Bible), or a conditional, “If any man [or, any of you].”

Has not dedicated it: this is the only Old Testament reference to the dedication of a private house; nothing is known about what would have been done. But the word dedicated (used of the Temple, 1 Kgs 8.63) indicates a religious ceremony, requesting God’s protection and blessing, and promising God that he will be honored and obeyed by those who live in the house. It is not enough simply to say “and has not begun to live in it,” as some translations do. In some languages it will be necessary to make clear who is the one to whom the house is dedicated; for example, “has not yet dedicated it to God.”

Let him go back … lest he die in battle and another man …: the second part of the officers’ statement is similar in all four instances, and a translation should reflect this. It may be better to modify this part of the verse somewhat: “If there is, you may go back home, because you may die in battle and another man will dedicate your house.” Good News Translation and Revised English Bible “Otherwise” is a fairly high-level construction in English which translators may not be able to use in other languages. Possible alternatives are “It is possible that” or “It may happen that.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Then the officers will say to the fighting men, “If any man has built a new house, but hasn’t yet dedicated it to God, he may go home. It is possible that he may die in battle and someone else will dedicate his house.”

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 .

Planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed its fruit: Lev 19.23-25 makes it clear that no fruit was to be harvested in the first three years; the fourth year’s harvest was to be offered to God, and only in the fifth year would the owner keep the fruit. In the case of a vineyard, the fruit is not the grapes as such but the wine that would be made from the grapes. The Hebrew verb translated enjoyed means “to appropriate for common use,” meaning that the first harvest had already been presented to the LORD; however, the Greek verb of the Septuagint means “to be happy,” “to rejoice.” Both Good News Translation and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh have “harvest the grapes.” We may say something like “planted a vineyard and has not yet had a chance to enjoy eating the grapes [or, drinking the wine].” For vineyard see 6.11.

The rest of the verse follows the same order as verse 5b.

Enjoy its fruit: or “enjoy drinking the wine.”

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 .

Betrothed a wife: this means, in modern terms, to become engaged to a woman. In Hebrew culture at that time, once a man had “betrothed” a woman, she was considered to be his wife, even before they started living together (see Deut 22.23-24). And such a relationship could be broken only by a formal divorce. So betrothed was more than “engagement” is in most modern societies. The Greek verb in the Septuagint used to translate the Hebrew verb here is the one that is used in Luke 2.5 of Joseph and Mary. Deut 24.5 states that a newly-married man would be given one year’s exemption from military duty. Other ways to express this are “agreed to marry a woman” or even “Has promised to marry a woman.”

Taken: this could almost sound like forcible intercourse. It is better to say something like “married her.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “paid the bride-price for a wife, but has not yet married her,” with a footnote to explain “the bride-price”: “Thereby making her his wife legally, even though the marriage had not yet taken place.”

This verse ends in the same way as verses 5 and 6.

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 .