21:4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, 5 to go around the land of Edom, but the people 6 became impatient along the way.
1 sn An eleven-day journey was about 140 mi (233 km).
2 sn Horeb is another name for Sinai. “Horeb” occurs 9 times in the Book of Deuteronomy and “Sinai” only once (33:2). “Sinai” occurs 13 times in the Book of Exodus and “Horeb” only 3 times.
3 sn Kadesh Barnea. Possibly this refers to àAin Qudeis, about 50 mi (80 km) southwest of Beer Sheba, but more likely to àAin Qudeirat, 5 mi (8 km) NW of àAin Qudeis. See R. Cohen, “Did I Excavate Kadesh-Barnea?” BAR 7 (1981): 20-33.
4 sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom. “By way of Mount Seir” refers to the route from Horeb that ended up in Edom Cf. CEV “by way of the Mount Seir Road”; TEV “by way of the hill country of Edom.”
5 tn The “Red Sea” is the general designation for the bodies of water on either side of the Sinai peninsula, even though they are technically gulfs from the Red Sea.
6 tn Heb “the soul of the people,” expressing the innermost being of the people as they became frustrated.
7 tn Grk “be.”
8 tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”