ונשל This is an expression denoting casting away, and throwing to a distance, and similar is, (Deuteronomy 19:5) “and the iron flies off" (ונשל).

ולא תחנם means, THOU SHALT NOT ASCRIBE GRACE (חן) TO THEM: it is forbidden to a person to say “How beautiful is this heathen”. Another explanation: thou shalt not grant them a חניה, an encampment (a settlement) in the land (Avodah Zarah 20a).

כי יסיר את בנך מאחרי FOR HE WILL TURN AWAY THY SON FROM FOLLOWING ME — i.e., the son of the heathen when he marries thy daughter, will turn away thy son (grandson) whom thy daughter will bear unto him from following Me. This teaches us, that thy daughter's son who is born of a heathen is termed thy son, but thy son’s son, who is born of a heathen woman, is not termed thy son, but her son, for, you see, in regard to the statement: “his daughter thou shalt not take [to thy son]" it does not add “For she will turn away thy son (grandson) from following Me" (Yevamot 23a).

מזבחתיהם — a מזבח is something built up of several stones,

ומצבתם — alludes to a single stone (cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 12:3).

ואשירהם — Trees which they worship (Avodah Zarah 48a).

ופסליהם — These are images.

לא מרבכם NOT ON ACCOUNT OF YOUR BEING [MORE] NUMEROUS — This is to he understood according to its plain sense. But its Midrashic explanation (taking לא מרבכם in the sense of “not because you are great") is: Because you do not regard yourselves as great when I shower good, upon you, therefore חשק … בכם DID [THE LORD] DELIGHT IN YOU

כי אתם המעט FOR YOU ARE LITTLE — you regard yourselves as small, as, e.g., Abraham did who said, (Genesis 18:27) “For I am dust and ashes", and as, e.g., Moses and Aaron did who said, (Exodus 16:7) “And we, what are we?". Not as Nebuchadnezzar who said, (Isaiah 14:14) “I will be like the Most High", and Sennacherib who said, (Isaiah 36:20) “Who are they among all the gods of these countries [that have delivered their countries out of my hand?]", and Hiram who said, (Er. 28:2), “I am a god, I sit in the seat of God" (Chullin 89a).

כי אתם המעט — Here you have the word כי used in the sense of “because".

כי מאהבת — Here, however, you have the word כי used in the sense of “but": NOT ON ACCOUNT THAT YE WERE MORE NUMEROUS … DID GOD DELIGHT IN YOU … BUT ON ACCOUNT OF THE LORD'S LOVE TO YOU.

ומשמרו את השבועה means, on account of His keeping the oath.

לאלף דור TO A THOUSAND GENERATIONS — But elsewhere (5:10) it states: to thousands of generations! The explanation is: Here where it is connected with (refers to) "those who keep His commandments" it states that God's grace is extended to a thousand generations; but there where it is associated with "those who love Him" it states that it is extended to thousands of generations (Sotah 31a);

לאהביו are those who do the commandments out of love.

ולשמרי מצותיו are those who do them out of fear.

ומשלם לשנאיו אל פניו AND HE REPAYETH THEM THAT HATE HIM TO THEIR FACE [IN ORDER TO MAKE THEM PERISH] — i.e. during their lifetime (cf. Rashi on Genesis 11:28 s. v. על פני) he repayeth them their good recompense, in order to banish them from the future world (cf. Onkelos).

היום לעשותם [WHICH I COMMANDED THEE] TO-DAY TO DO THEM — to do them to-day, but only in the time to come — in the future world — to receive the reward for them (Eruvin 22a).

והיה עקב תשמעון AND THE CONSEQUENCE WILL BE, IF YE HEARKEN (The Hebrew text may be taken to signify if you will hear the heel, עקב) — If, even the lighter commands which a person usually treads on with his heels (i.e. which a person is inclined to treat lightly), ye will hearken to,

ושמר ה׳ וגו׳ THEN THE LORD [THY GOD] WILL KEEP FOR THEE His promise (Midrash Tanchuma, Eikev 1).

שגר אלפיך means the offspring of thy oxen which the female casts out (שגר) from its womb.

ועשתרות צאנך AND THE BREEDS OF THY FLOCK — Menachem ben Seruk explains this expression to be parallel to אבירי בשן, which means: "the strong rams of Bashan” (Psalms 22:13), i.e. the choicest of the sheep, similar to (Genesis 14:5), “Ashteroth (עשתרות) Karnaim", where also it is an expression for “strength" (so that עשתרות denotes “the strong ones"). Onkelos. however, translates it: “and the flocks of thy sheep". Our Rabbis said: Why is their name called עשתרות? Because they enrich (עשר) their owner (through the sale of their wool, etc.) (cf. Chullin 84b).

עקר means, a man who cannot procreate.

כי תאמר בלבבך — You must admit that the word כי here denotes “perhaps": perhaps thou wilt say in thy heart, “Because they are many, I shall be unable to dispossess them". Do not speak thus, לא תירא מהם THOU SHALT NOT BE AFRAID OF THEM. — For it is not possible to explain it in one of the three other meanings of כי so that the words לא תירא מהם will then appropriately fit in with it.

המסות means, THE TRIALS (cf. Rashi on 4:34).

והאתת AND THE SIGNS, for example (Exodus 4:3) “and it became a serpent”, and (Exodus 4:9) “It became blood on the dry land”. ...

והמפתים AND THE WONDERS, viz., the wondrous plagues.

והיה החזקה AND THE STRONG HAND — this refers to the pestilence (Sifrei Bamidbar 115:1; cf. the Passover Haggadah).

והזרע הנטיה AND THE OUTSTRETCHED ARM, this refers to the sword for the smiting of the firstborn (Exodus 4:23).

הצרעה — a species of flying insect which injected poison into them, and castrated them and blinded their eyes wherever they hid themselves (Sotah 36a).

פן תרבה עליך חית השדה LEST THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD INCREASE UPON THEE — But is it not a fact that if people perform the will of the Omnipresent they will not have to fear the beasts, as it is said, (Job 5:23) “And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee”?! But it states this because it was manifest before Him that they would in future sin.

והמם AND HE WILL CONFOUND THEM — This word is vowelled entirely (both syllables) with Kametz, because the last ם is not part of the root, and it is equivalent to וְהָם, “And he will confuse”, אותם “them”. But in (Isaiah 28:28) וְהָמַם גלגל עגלתו the verb המם consists entirely of root letters, therefore half of it (one syllable) has Kametz and half of it Patach, just like any other verb of three consonants.