Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 2:3
Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.
3. Ye have compassed this mountain long enough ] For the idiom see on Deu 1:6.
turn you northward ] Marching from adesh down the W. of Mt Se‘r, Israel had now reached not the sea, but probably the mouth of the W. el ’Ithm (or Yitm), which opens N.E. from the ‘Arabah across or round the S. end of Mt Se‘r. By this natural avenue, along which the Hajj road from Damascus to Mecca runs, they would reach the plateau E. of Mt Se‘r on their way to the Moab frontier. The W. el ’Ithm, opening from the ‘Arabah about 8 hours N. of the sea, cuts upwards through the southmost of the modern divisions into which the country anciently inhabited by Edom is divided, el-isma or esma. (See Doughty Ar. Des. i. 45; Musil, Edom, i. 2, 265, 270, etc.)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 3. Turn you northward.] From Mount Seir, in order to get to Canaan. This was not the way they went before, viz., by Kadesh-barnea, but they were to proceed between Edom on the one hand, and Moab and Ammon on the other, so as to enter into Canaan through the land of the Amorites.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Towards the land of the Amorites and Canaanites.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Ye have compassed this mountain long enough,…. It was time to be gone from thence, as from Horeb, De 1:6,
turn you northward; from the southern border of Edom towards the land of Canaan, which lay north. It was from Eziongeber in the land of Edom, from whence the Israelites came to Kadesh, where they sent messengers to the king of Edom, to desire a passage through his land; see Nu 33:36.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.Apparently this command must have been issued when they were in Kadesh the second time, at the commencement of the fortieth year (Num. 20:1). It was from this encampment that Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom asking permission to pass through his territory. It would be interesting to know when it was decided that Israel should enter the land of promise by passing over Jordan, instead of going through the Negeb. Did Mount Seir, or the territory of Edom, lie wholly on the east, or partly on the west of Israel when they were encamped in Kadesh? If Edom had acquired any territorial rights to the westward during the thirty-eight years wandering, it might have been necessary for Israel to ask his permission to go by the way of the spies, and in that case the decision to pass Jordan may have been taken in consequence of Edoms refusal. But if, as Conder (Bible Handbook, p. 250) appears to think, the permission asked was to go eastward between the mountains by the W. el Ghaweir to the north of Mount Hor, or the W. Ghurundel to the south of it (see Stanleys Map in Sinai and Palestine for these), then the decision to pass the Jordan must have been taken before this period. The reason for the step would then be similar to what we find in Exo. 13:17, that the people might not have to fight their way into the country through the land of the Amorites. The miraculous eisodus across Jordan would thus become still more analogous to the miraculous exodus from Egypt.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Turn you northward When they should reach the southern limit of the Arabah they were to go northward toward the Arnon. They would thus go round the southern extremity of Mount Seir, and then advance northward on the eastern side. This route was to be taken on account of the refusal of the Edomites to allow them to pass through their territory.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Deu 2:3 Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.
Ver. 3. Turn you northward. ] Thus God’s word was their director unto all places, and in all actions. In which respect these histories of holy Scripture excel all human histories in the world, as is well observed. That which they tell us of their Dea vibilia, guiding passengers, &c., is a mere fiction.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
long enough: Deu 2:7, Deu 2:14, Deu 1:6
Reciprocal: Num 9:22 – abode