OET interlinear DEU 33:21

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

וַ⁠יַּ֤רְא רֵאשִׁית֙ ל֔⁠וֹ

(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_saw beginning_of to=him/it that/for/because/then/when there portion_of ruler's reserved and,he_came heads_of people justice_of YHWH he/it_had_made and,judgments_of,his with Yisrael )

The phrase saw the first for himself was a common expression meaning to choose the best or first portion of the land. If this phrase does not have that meaning for your readers, you could use a comparable expression from your language that does have that meaning, or you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [And he chose the best land for himself] or [And he selected the first portion for himself]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

כִּי־שָׁ֛ם חֶלְקַ֥ת מְחֹקֵ֖ק סָפ֑וּן

(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_saw beginning_of to=him/it that/for/because/then/when there portion_of ruler's reserved and,he_came heads_of people justice_of YHWH he/it_had_made and,judgments_of,his with Yisrael )

The expression is reserved is a passive verbal form. If it would be unnatural to use that form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who does the action, the context indicates that it is Yahweh. Alternate translation: [for Yahweh reserved the portion of a commander there] or [for Yahweh set aside the portion of a commander there]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

חֶלְקַ֥ת מְחֹקֵ֖ק

portion_of ruler's

The implication is that the portion of a commander refers to the best or largest share of land, appropriate for a leader. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [a leader’s large portion] or [the best portion, fit for a commander]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

רָ֣אשֵׁי

(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_saw beginning_of to=him/it that/for/because/then/when there portion_of ruler's reserved and,he_came heads_of people justice_of YHWH he/it_had_made and,judgments_of,his with Yisrael )

Moses is speaking of the leaders of the people as if they were the heads of the people. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly as modeled in the UST.

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

צִדְקַ֤ת יְהוָה֙ עָשָׂ֔ה וּ⁠מִשְׁפָּטָ֖י⁠ו עִם־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

justice_of YHWH (Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_saw beginning_of to=him/it that/for/because/then/when there portion_of ruler's reserved and,he_came heads_of people justice_of YHWH he/it_had_made and,judgments_of,his with Yisrael )

These two phrases mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. Hebrew poetry was based on this kind of repetition, and you may want to show this to your readers by connecting the phrases with a word other than and in order to show that the second phrase is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. Another approach would be to combine the phrases into one phrase and express the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [He carried out the justice of Yahweh, that is, his judgments with Israel]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

צִדְקַ֤ת יְהוָה֙ עָשָׂ֔ה וּ⁠מִשְׁפָּטָ֖י⁠ו עִם־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

justice_of YHWH (Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_saw beginning_of to=him/it that/for/because/then/when there portion_of ruler's reserved and,he_came heads_of people justice_of YHWH he/it_had_made and,judgments_of,his with Yisrael )

If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas of justice and judgments, you could express the same ideas in other ways. Alternate translation: [He did what Yahweh said was just, and he judged Israel as Yahweh commanded] or [He did what was right as Yahweh commanded, and he decided legal cases with Israel according to Yahweh’s laws]