Deuteronomy 2:1

The Journey from Kadesh Barnea to Moab

2:1 Then we turned and set out toward the desert land on the way to the Red Sea ¹  just as the Lord told me to do, detouring around Mount Seir for a long time.

Deuteronomy 2:4

2:4 Instruct ²  these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives ³  the descendants of Esau, ⁴  who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully.

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¹ tn Heb “Reed Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Deut 1:40.

² tn Heb “command” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “charge the people as follows.”

³ tn Heb “brothers”; NAB “your kinsmen.”

⁴ sn The descendants of Esau (Heb “sons of Esau”; the phrase also occurs in 2:8, 12, 22, 29). These are the inhabitants of the land otherwise known as Edom, south and east of the Dead Sea. Jacob’s brother Esau had settled there after his bitter strife with Jacob (Gen 36:1-8). “Edom” means “reddish,” probably because of the red sandstone of the region, but also by popular etymology because Esau, at birth, was reddish (Gen 25:25).