With the beginning of a new section, translators are advised to begin the first verse with something like “Moses said to the Israelites….”

The same prohibition You shall not sacrifice …, using almost exactly the same words, appears in 15.21. For sacrifice see 12.6.

An ox or a sheep: rather, “cattle or sheep” (see 5.14).

Blemish: see 15.21. The two words, blemish and defect, are close synonyms in this context. If a distinction is needed in a language, the first term can refer to a physical defect, while the second can be more general, “anything bad.”

For abomination see 7.25.

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 .