Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 21:5

The priests … shall come forward: once they have been notified of the case, they are to be in charge of the proceedings.

For the LORD your God has chosen them: for introduces the reason why the priests are to have a role in the case.

To minister to him: that is, they are in charge of worship (see 10.8). Good News Translation has “chosen them to serve him,” but Contemporary English Version is better, with “chosen them to be his special servants at the place of worship.”

To bless in the name of the LORD: the priests, the authorized representatives of the LORD, invoke his blessings upon the people. This may also be expressed as “to ask Yahweh to give them prosperity and well-being.” Translators should look for the most natural way of expressing the idea of “well-being.”

By their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled: again a repetition, the general class (every dispute, that is, “quarrels,” “arguments,” “controversies”) and the particular type of case (every assault, that is, arguments that result in “violence” or “bodily harm”). See also 17.8-13. Bible en français courant translates “matters of blows and wounds.” Good News Translation has “every legal case involving violence.” We may also translate “every legal case where people hurt each other.”

For the statement by their word … shall be settled, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “their decision will be final.” This final clause may also be translated as “they are to decide every legal case involving violence.”

A possible alternative translation model reordering the clauses of the verse is:

• The priests the descendants of Levi are to go there also, because they are to decide every legal case where people hurt each other. The LORD your God has chosen them to serve him and to ask him to give the people prosperity and well-being.

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 21:6

All the elders: as in verse 4.

Shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley: this repeats old information, which in some languages may not be very good style. It may be enough to say “shall wash their hands over the dead heifer” or “over the body of the dead cow.” By this means the town leaders are transferring to the dead animal any guilt that may have been laid on the people of Israel as a whole (see similar proceedings in Lev 16.20-22).

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 21:7

They shall testify: this translates two Hebrew verbs, “declare and say,” giving the sense of a solemn declaration, a formal statement. They speak as representatives of the people. Translators need to find a term in their language that is similar to “solemnly declare” or “state emphatically.”

Our hands did not shed this blood: they are speaking for the people of Israel. Our hands are those of the people as a whole, not just the hands of the elders. “We did not kill [or, ‘murder,’ Good News Translation] this person,” or even “We had no part in this murder” (Contemporary English Version).

Neither did our eyes see it shed: that is, “nor did we see who committed the murder,” or “we did not witness this bloodshed” (Revised English Bible).

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 21:8

Then the elders will pray, asking Yahweh to forgive the people. In some languages it will be helpful to begin this verse as follows: “Then the elders will pray to Yahweh, saying, ‘….’ ” But it is possible also to understand everything the elders say (beginning with “Our hands did not shed this blood” in verse 7) as a prayer. In this case verse 8 will follow without any break, as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

Forgive: or “Absolve” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or even “Expiate” (see Revised English Bible “Accept expiation”; New International Version “Accept this atonement”). But it seems best to use the more common and understandable term, Forgive (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, Bible en français courant). Forgive is a difficult term to translate in many languages. Examples from a variety of languages that may be helpful to translators are “throw away sin,” “cover over sin,” “forget sin,” and so on. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark, page 13, gives many more useful examples. Other ways to translate Forgive, O LORD, thy people Israel are “Yahweh, please forgive your people, Israel,” or “Yahweh, please forget the sin of the people of Israel. We are your people.”

Whom thou hast redeemed: this refers back to the liberation from Egypt (the Septuagint includes “from the land of Egypt” in its translation). So Good News Translation has “rescued from Egypt.”

Set not … in the midst of thy people Israel: “do not hold your people Israel responsible,” or “please don’t hold us responsible.”

The guilt of innocent blood: that is, “the responsibility for the death [or, murder] of an innocent person.”

Let the guilt of blood be forgiven them: using the same verb used at the beginning of the prayer. Translators need to decide whether this repetition is good style in their language or not. Good News Translation doesn’t repeat this sentence, but Contemporary English Version makes a separate sentence, with “Please don’t hold this crime against us.” We may also make the meaning of guilt of blood or “crime” clear with “Please don’t hold us responsible for murdering [or, killing] this person.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Then the elders will pray to Yahweh, saying, “Please forgive the people of Israel. We are your people, and you rescued us from Egypt. Please don’t hold us responsible for killing this innocent person.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 21:9

You shall purge … from your midst: see 13.5, and especially 19.13. However, the reference in these two passages is to purging the land of a killer by executing him. Since the killer is not known in this case, the people purge their guilt by doing what Yahweh requires, namely killing a young cow. So the translation may be “Yahweh will not hold you responsible for the murder of this person.”

You do what is right: here, what is right is what God tells them to do. The Septuagint has the compound phrase “good and proper,” which is what the Hebrew text in 6.18 has.

In the sight of the LORD: this goes with what is right, not with when you do. This is what Yahweh considers the right thing to do.

In many languages it will be better to place the second clause at the beginning, as Good News Translation has done.

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 21:11

A problem now arises in the switch from the plural forms of the verbs referring to the Israelites (actually, in Hebrew, the singular is used for the people as a whole) to the singular masculine form in verse 11. To display this switch in English we would have to say, “And one [masculine] of you sees … and you [masculine] want….”

Sees among the captives a beautiful woman: except for captives, this offers no difficulty. The more current form in English is “prisoners of war”; and, as the rest of the section makes clear (see verse 13), the woman is unmarried. However, if the term captives (“prisoners of war”) was used at the end of the previous verse, it will not be necessary to repeat it here. We may say “And one of you sees a beautiful woman among them [the captives].”

You have desire for her: this means sexual desire, and a clear, but not vulgar, term should be used. If a suitable expression cannot be found, it is possible to combine it with the following clause and say, for example, “and want to take her to be your wife.”

And would take her for yourself as wife: in some languages this will be expressed just like the Hebrew, while in others it will be rendered, for example, as “you want to marry her” (New Revised Standard Version; similarly Contemporary English Version).

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 21:12

You shall bring her home to your house: again the point of view is important; some languages will prefer “bring her,” but in others it will be better to say “you will take her home with you.”

She shall shave her head and pare her nails: as the Good News Translation footnote shows, the Hebrew phrase translated shave her head can mean “trim her hair.” The Hebrew text has the third person feminine singular, as translated; the Septuagint has the second singular, “you will shave….” It is recommended that translators follow the Hebrew. Another way to express this is “You shall have her shave her head and pare her nails.” These are signs of a new identity: she is breaking her relationship with her own people and becoming a member of the people of Israel.

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 21:13

She shall put off her captive’s garb: or “discard the clothes she had when she was captured” (Revised English Bible). Again, instead of “captured,” “taken prisoner [of war]” is better. So we may translate “She shall take off [or, get rid of] the clothes she was wearing when they took her captive.”

Shall remain in your house and bewail her father and her mother a full month: this indicates that she is unmarried. Bewail here may be understood as a ritual mourning or weeping over the death or loss of her parents.

After that you may go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be your wife: this is a very wordy way of saying, “After the month is up, you are free to marry her.” Revised English Bible “you may have intercourse with her” is actually closer to the Hebrew text, but since the act of intercourse, in this context, assumes marriage, it is better to use the verb “to marry.” The initiative is his, and the woman’s feelings are not relevant. The Hebrew for “be her husband” is “be her baal,” which, depending on the context, can mean either “lord” or “husband” (in Hebrew society the husband was the lord).

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 .