Numbers 20:14-21

Rejection by the Edomites

20:14 ¹ Moses ²  sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: ³  “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, ⁴  20:15 how our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time, ⁵  and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. ⁶  20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, ⁷  and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now ⁸  we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. ⁹  20:17 Please let us pass through ¹⁰  your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King’s Highway; ¹¹  we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region.’” ¹² 

20:18 But Edom said to him, “You will not pass through me, ¹³  or I will come out against ¹⁴  you with the sword.” 20:19 Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we ¹⁵  or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.”

20:20 But he said, “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them ¹⁶  with a large and powerful force. ¹⁷  20:21 So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; therefore Israel turned away from him.

Deuteronomy 2:4-8

2:4 Instruct ¹⁸  these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives ¹⁹  the descendants of Esau, ²⁰  who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully. 2:5 Do not be hostile toward them, because I am not giving you any of their land, not even a footprint, for I have given Mount Seir ²¹  as an inheritance for Esau. 2:6 You may purchase ²²  food to eat and water to drink from them. 2:7 All along the way I, the Lord your God, ²³  have blessed your every effort. ²⁴  I have ²⁵  been attentive to ²⁶  your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I have ²⁷  been with you; you have lacked for nothing.’”

2:8 So we turned away from our relatives ²⁸  the descendants of Esau, the inhabitants of Seir, turning from the desert route, ²⁹  from Elat ³⁰  and Ezion Geber, ³¹  and traveling the way of the Moab wastelands.

Deuteronomy 2:29

2:29 just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the Lord our God is giving us.”

[20:14]  ¹ sn For this particular section, see W. F. Albright, “From the Patriarchs to Moses: 2. Moses out of Egypt,” BA 36 (1973): 57-58; J. R. Bartlett, “The Land of Seir and the Brotherhood of Edom,” JTS 20 (1969): 1-20, and “The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Edom,” PEQ 104 (1972): 22-37, and “The Brotherhood of Edom,” JSOT 4 (1977): 2-7.

[20:14]  ² tn Heb “And Moses sent.”

[20:14]  ³ sn Some modern biblical scholars are convinced, largely through arguments from silence, that there were no unified kingdoms in Edom until the 9th century, and no settlements there before the 12th century, and so the story must be late and largely fabricated. The evidence is beginning to point to the contrary. But the cities and residents of the region would largely be Bedouin, and so leave no real remains.

[20:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “found.”

[20:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “many days.”

[20:15]  ⁶ tn The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) means “to act or do evil.” Evil here is in the sense of causing pain or trouble. So the causative stem in our passage means “to treat wickedly.”

[20:16]  ⁷ tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.

[20:16]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.

[20:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “your border.”

[20:17]  ¹⁰ tn The request is expressed by the use of the cohortative, “let us pass through.” It is the proper way to seek permission.

[20:17]  ¹¹ sn This a main highway running from Damascus in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba, along the ridge of the land. Some scholars suggest that the name may have been given by the later Assyrians (see B. Obed, “Observations on Methods of Assyrian Rule in Transjordan after the Palestinian Campaign of Tiglathpileser III,” JNES 29 [1970]: 177-86). Bronze Age fortresses have been discovered along this highway, attesting to its existence in the time of Moses. The original name came from the king who developed the highway, probably as a trading road (see S. Cohen, IDB 3:35-36).

[20:17]  ¹² tn Heb “borders.”

[20:18]  ¹³ tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of prohibition.

[20:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to meet.”

[20:19]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses singular pronouns, “I” and “my,” but it is the people of Israel that are intended, and so it may be rendered in the plural. Similarly, Edom speaks in the first person, probably from the king. But it too could be rendered “we.”

[20:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to meet him.”

[20:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “with many [heavy] people and with a strong hand.” The translation presented above is interpretive, but that is what the line means. It was a show of force, numbers and weapons, to intimidate the Israelites.

[2:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “command” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “charge the people as follows.”

[2:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “brothers”; NAB “your kinsmen.”

[2:4]  ²⁰ sn The descendants of Esau (Heb “sons of Esau”; the phrase also occurs in 2:8, 12, 22, 29). These are the inhabitants of the land otherwise known as Edom, south and east of the Dead Sea. Jacob’s brother Esau had settled there after his bitter strife with Jacob (Gen 36:1-8). “Edom” means “reddish,” probably because of the red sandstone of the region, but also by popular etymology because Esau, at birth, was reddish (Gen 25:25).

[2:5]  ²¹ sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom.

[2:6]  ²² tn Heb includes “with silver.”

[2:7]  ²³ tn The Hebrew text does not have the first person pronoun; it has been supplied for purposes of English style (the Lord is speaking here).

[2:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”

[2:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he has.” This has been converted to first person in the translation in keeping with English style.

[2:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “known” (so ASV, NASB); NAB “been concerned about.”

[2:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the Lord your God has.” This has been replaced in the translation by the first person pronoun (“I”) in keeping with English style.

[2:8]  ²⁸ tn Or “brothers”; NRSV “our kin.”

[2:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the way of the Arabah” (so ASV); NASB, NIV “the Arabah road.”

[2:8]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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.