And command the people may be also expressed as “He told me to give you the following instructions:…” (Good News Translation), or “And give the people these orders:…” (Contemporary English Version).

You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren the sons of Esau: the Israelites, proceeding north, would go through Edom, where the descendants of Esau lived. These sons of Esau were a kindred race; in English “kindred” (New Revised Standard Version) or “distant relatives” (Good News Translation) is the best way to express the meaning. Seir is Edom (1.2). An alternative translation model for this sentence may be “You will very soon walk [or, travel] through the hill country of Edom. It is the land that belongs to your distant relatives, the descendants of Esau.” For “descendants” see 1.8.

They will be afraid of you: the relation between this statement and what follows is not clear. If the Edomites were afraid of the Israelites, why should the Israelites be careful not to fight them? Revised English Bible provides a good answer by translating “Although they are afraid of you, be very careful not to quarrel with them…” (also New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). And the adversative “but” used in Good News Translation, “… but you must not start a war with” (also Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje), is another way to handle the matter. Either one makes for a good translation.

So take good heed: this means to be careful, to not act rashly, and goes with what follows: “so be careful not to attack them.” New Revised Standard Version has “be very careful not to engage in battle with them.”

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 .