With the beginning of a new section, Moses should be reintroduced as the speaker.

You shall count … begin to count: the instructions are clear and precise.

From the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain: this can be expressed more simply, “From the day you begin to harvest [or, reap] your grain.” The translation of put the sickle to need not refer to the method of reaping the grain; the phrase is used here in order to mark the day of the Harvest Festival.

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 .