Deuteronomy 2:13-18

2:13 Now, get up and cross the Wadi Zered.” ¹  So we did so. ²  2:14 Now the length of time it took for us to go from Kadesh Barnea to the crossing of Wadi Zered was thirty-eight years, time for all the military men of that generation to die, just as the Lord had vowed to them. 2:15 Indeed, it was the very hand of the Lord that eliminated them from within ³  the camp until they were all gone.

Instructions Concerning Ammon

2:16 So it was that after all the military men had been eliminated from the community, ⁴  2:17 the Lord said to me, 2:18 “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab, that is, of Ar. ⁵ 

¹ sn Wadi Zered. Now known as Wadi el-H£esa, this valley marked the boundary between Moab to the north and Edom to the south.

² tn Heb “we crossed the Wadi Zered.” This has been translated as “we did so” for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

³ tn Heb “from the middle of.” Although many recent English versions leave this expression untranslated, the point seems to be that these soldiers did not die in battle but “within the camp.”

⁵ tn Heb “and it was when they were eliminated, all the men of war, to die from the midst of the people.”

⁷ sn Ar. See note on this word in Deut 2:9.