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 .