2:8 So we turned away from our relatives 2 the descendants of Esau, the inhabitants of Seir, turning from the desert route, 3 from Elat 4 and Ezion Geber, 5 and traveling the way of the Moab wastelands.
2:1 Then we turned and set out toward the desert land on the way to the Red Sea 6 just as the Lord told me to do, detouring around Mount Seir for a long time.
22:1 When you see 12 your neighbor’s 13 ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; 14 you must return it without fail 15 to your neighbor.
1 sn The judgment on Israel is that they turn back to the desert and not attack the tribes in the land. So a parenthetical clause is inserted to state who was living there. They would surely block the entrance to the land from the south – unless God removed them. And he is not going to do that for Israel.
2 tn Or “brothers”; NRSV “our kin.”
3 tn Heb “the way of the Arabah” (so ASV); NASB, NIV “the Arabah road.”
4 sn Elat was a port city at the head of the eastern arm of the Red Sea, that is, the Gulf of Aqaba (or Gulf of Eilat). Solomon (1 Kgs 9:28), Uzziah (2 Kgs 14:22), and Ahaz (2 Kgs 16:5-6) used it as a port but eventually it became permanently part of Edom. It may be what is known today as Tell el-Kheleifeh. Modern Eilat is located further west along the northern coast. See G. Pratico, “Nelson Glueck’s 1938-1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh: A Reappraisal,” BASOR 259 (1985): 1-32.
5 sn Ezion Geber. A place near the Gulf of Aqaba, Ezion-geber must be distinguished from Elat (cf. 1 Kgs 9:26-28; 2 Chr 8:17-18). It was, however, also a port city (1 Kgs 22:48-49). It may be the same as the modern site Gezirat al-Fauran, 15 mi (24 km) south-southwest from Tell el-Kheleifah.
6 tn Heb “Reed Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Deut 1:40.
7 tn Heb “the
8 tn Heb “Lord
9 tn Heb “your inheritance”; NLT “your special (very own NRSV) possession.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.
10 tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”
11 tn Heb “by your strong hand.”
12 tn Heb “you must not see,” but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.
13 tn Heb “brother’s” (also later in this verse). In this context it is not limited to one’s siblings, however; cf. NAB “your kinsman’s.”
14 tn Heb “hide yourself.”
15 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”