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Deuteronomy 2:1

in Deuteronomy 2

Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Jehovah spake unto me; and we compassed mount Seir many days.

KJV

Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the Lord spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days.

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This verse in Deuteronomy 2

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
Deu 2:1 seems to refer in general terms to the long years of wandering, the details of which were not for Moses’ present purpose. The command of Deu 2:2-3 relates to their journey from Kadesh to Mount Hor Num 20:22; Num 33:37, and directs their march around to the southern extremity of Mount Seir, so as to “compass the land of Edom” Jdg 11:18; Num 21:4, and so northward toward the Arnon, i. e., “by the way of the wilderness of Moab,” Deu 2:

This site's exposition

we compassed mount Seir many days

on Deuteronomy 2:1-3

The order at verse 3 repeats the form of the order at 1:6, where the word at Horeb was that they had dwelt long enough in that mount. Verse 1 covers the years between Kadesh and this turn in half a sentence, and the count of thirty and eight years does not arrive until verse 14. Barnes reads verse 1 as a summary of the whole wandering and verses 2 and 3 as the command that ended it, sending them around the southern end of Edom.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Then we turned,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It is a work of time to make souls meet for heaven, and it must be done by a long train of exercises. He prepared the Canaanites for destruction. All this time the measure of their iniquity was filling up; and, though it might have been improved by them as a space to repent in, it was abused by them to the hardening of their hearts.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

They appear to have followed northward nearly the same route, which is now taken by the Syrian hadji, along the western skirts of this great desert, near the mountains of Edom [ROBINSON]. It was on entering these plains they received the command, "Ye have compassed this mountain (this hilly tract, now Jebel Shera) long enough, turn ye northward" [De 2:3].

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַנֵּ֜פֶןand we turned

    vanefenH6437 →135 times

  • וַנִּסַּ֤עand we set out

    vanisa'H5265 →146 times

  • הַמִּדְבָּ֙רָה֙the wilderness towards

    hamidbarahH4057 →270 times

  • דֶּ֣רֶךְ[the] way of

    derekhH1870 →707 times

  • יַם־[the] sea of

    yam-H3220 →396 times

  • ס֔וּףreed[s]

    sufH5488 →28 times

  • כַּאֲשֶׁ֛רjust as

    kaasherH834 →5497 times

  • דִּבֶּ֥רhe had spoken

    diberH1696 →1141 times

  • יְהוָ֖הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֵלָ֑יto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • וַנָּ֥סָבand we went around

    vanasovH5437 →161 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַר־[the] hill country of

    har-H2022 →546 times

  • שֵׂעִ֖ירSeir

    seirH8165 →39 times

  • יָמִ֥יםdays

    yamimH3117 →2304 times

  • רַבִּֽים׃ סmany

    rabimH7227 →454 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

8 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Numbers 21:4Then they set out from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, in order to bypass the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient on the journey6 worksDeuteronomy 1:40But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”6 worksNumbers 14:25Now since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”4 worksDeuteronomy 1:2It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir.3 worksJudges 11:18Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border.3 worksGenesis 33:14Please let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly, at a comfortable pace for the livestock and children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
Joshua 11:17from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and struck them down, putting them to death.2 worksJoshua 12:7And these are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir (according to the allotments to the tribes of Israel, Joshua gave them as an inheritance2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Numbers 21:4

    Then they set out from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, in order to bypass the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient on the journey

    it leads to

    • Exodus 6:9

      Moses relayed this message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him.

    • Judges 11:18

      Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon.…

    • Numbers 32:7

      Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land that the LORD has given them?

  • Through

    Numbers 14:25

    Now since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 1:40

      But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 1:40

    But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”

    it leads to

    • Numbers 14:25

      Now since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 1:2

    It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 32:8

      This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to inspect the land.

    • Numbers 13:26

      and they went back to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for the whole congregation and showed them the fruit…

  • Through

    Judges 11:18

    Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon.…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 2:1–8

      Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.

About Deuteronomy

Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 2 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Deuteronomy 2 →