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 2:8

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.

Deuteronomy 3:1

Defeat of King Og of Bashan

3:1 Next we set out on ⁶  the route to Bashan, ⁷  but King Og of Bashan and his whole army ⁸  came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 11:30

11:30 Are they not across the Jordan River, ¹⁰  toward the west, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal ¹¹  near the oak ¹²  of Moreh?

[2:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Reed Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Deut 1:40.

[2:8]  ² tn Or “brothers”; NRSV “our kin.”

[2:8]  ³ tn Heb “the way of the Arabah” (so ASV); NASB, NIV “the Arabah road.”

[2:8]  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.

[2:8]  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.

[3:1]  ³ tn Heb “turned and went up.”

[3:1]  ⁴ sn Bashan. This plateau country, famous for its oaks (Isa 2:13) and cattle (Deut 32:14; Amos 4:1), was north of Gilead along the Yarmuk River.

[3:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “people.”

[3:1]  ⁶ sn Edrei is probably modern Deràa, 60 mi (95 km) south of Damascus (see Num 21:33; Josh 12:4; 13:12, 31; also mentioned in Deut 1:4).

[11:30]  ⁴ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:30]  ⁵ sn Gilgal. From a Hebrew verb root גָלַל (galal, “to roll”) this place name means “circle” or “rolling,” a name given because God had “rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you” (Josh 5:9). It is perhaps to be identified with Khirbet el-Metjir, 1.2 mi (2 km) northeast of OT Jericho.

[11:30]  ⁶ tc The MT plural “oaks” (אֵלוֹנֵי, ’eloney) should probably be altered (with many Greek texts) to the singular “oak” (אֵלוֹן, ’elon; cf. NRSV) in line with the only other occurrence of the phrase (Gen 12:6). The Syriac, Tg. Ps.-J. read mmrá, confusing this place with the “oaks of Mamre” near Hebron (Gen 13:18). Smr also appears to confuse “Moreh” with “Mamre” (reading mwr’, a combined form), adding the clarification mwl shkm (“near Shechem”) apparently to distinguish it from Mamre near Hebron.