He found him in a desert land: this is a picturesque way of talking about Yahweh and the people of Israel during the Israelites’ forty-year trek through the wilderness on their way to the land of Canaan. The language should be retained, meaning that God happened to find the people on their way to Canaan. In many languages him should be changed to “them.” However, it is also possible to change him to “you [plural]” and say “Israel, Yahweh found you [plural] wandering in the desert,” or even “People of Israel, Yahweh found you….”

The howling waste of the wilderness: see a description of the wilderness in 8.15. The howling waste is an expression meaning uninhabited, desolate, dreary territory. It is possible to take howling waste to refer to a desolate wilderness with howling winds sweeping through it. So Good News Translation has “a desolate, wind-swept wilderness,” and Contemporary English Version translates “a barren desert, filled with howling winds.”

He encircled … he cared: the verb encircled does not indicate a threatening move to capture, but a gesture of love. BÍBLIA para todos Edição Comum has “surrounded with care,” New Revised Standard Version “shielded,” Good News Translation “protected,” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “embraced him in his arms.” Cared translates a form of the verb which appears only here in the Old Testament; some, like Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, understand it in the light of the Septuagint, “he instructed him.” The more general term “care for,” however, seems preferable.

He kept him as the apple of his eye: indicating the worth of Israel to God. The phrase the apple of his eye (also Pro 7.2; Psa 17.8) is literally “the little man” in the eye. Different languages have their own expression for this; Spanish and Portuguese say “the girl of the eyes.” The English word “pupil” (of the eye) comes from Latin pupilla, “little doll.” A more general translation is “just as he takes care of his own eyes,” or “just as though you were his own eyes.”

A possible alternative translation model for this verse is:

• People of Israel, Yahweh found you [plural]
wandering through a desolate wilderness,
filled with howling winds.
He protected you, and cared for you
just like he takes care of his own eyes.

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 .