Moses charged the people: that is, he ordered, commanded, gave instructions to them (see 21.7).

The same day: repeated for emphasis (verse 10).

Mount Gerizim: just north of Mount Ebal (verse 4). See 11.29-30 for the two mountains.

Bless in this context means “ask Yahweh to do good things for” (see also 1.11).

The six tribes on Mount Gerizim, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin, have the names of six of the sons Jacob had by his wives Leah and Rachel. Here the tribe of Levi is included, although they were not provided with a large area of land as were the others, and so they were often not included in the lists of the twelve tribes. The use of Joseph as one of the tribes is also rare but does occur (see Gen 49.22-26). In the division of the land, the tribe of Levi was not given its own territory, and the total of twelve tribes was reached by having Manasseh and Ephraim, the two sons of Joseph, counted as two separate tribes. For a comment on “tribes” see 1.13.

For the record of this ceremony, see Josh 8.30-35.

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 .