Devarim 2:8

8 And when we went on past our brethren the Bnei Esav, who dwell in Seir, through the road of the Aravah from Eilat, and from Etzyon-Gever, we turned and passed by on the road through the midbar of Moav.

Devarim 2:8 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 2:8

And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau,
which dwelt in Self
Along their coasts, by the borders of their country:

through the way of the plain;
the wilderness of Zin, where Kadesh was:

from Elath and Eziongeber;
the two ports on the shore of the Red sea in the land of Edom; it was from the latter they came to Kadesh; see ( Numbers 33:35 Numbers 33:36 ) . Elath was ten miles from Petra, the metropolis of Edom, to the east of it, as Jerom says ^F26; it is by Josephus ^F1 called Aelana, and by the Septuagint here Ailon; from whence the Elanitic bay has its name; he speaks of it as not far from Eziongeber, which he says was then called Berenice:

we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab;
the wilderness which is before Moab, towards the sun rising or the east, ( Numbers 21:11 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 De loc. Heb. fol. 91. E.
F1 Antiqu. l. 8. c. 6. sect. 4.

Devarim 2:8 In-Context

6 Ye shall get by trade okhel (food) of them for kesef, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy mayim of them for kesef, that ye may drink.

7 For Hashem Eloheicha hath bestowed a brocha on thee in all the works of thy hand; He knoweth thy walking through this midbar hagadol (great wilderness); these arba’im shanim Hashem Eloheicha hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.

8 And when we went on past our brethren the Bnei Esav, who dwell in Seir, through the road of the Aravah from Eilat, and from Etzyon-Gever, we turned and passed by on the road through the midbar of Moav.

9 And Hashem said unto me, Harass not the Moavim, neither provoke them to milchamah for I will not give thee of their land for a yerushah; because I have given Ar unto the Bnei Lot for a yerushah.

10 The Emim dwelt therein in times past, a people great, many, and tall, as the Anakim;