^2:4Instruct² these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives³ the descendants of Esau,⁴ who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully. ^2:5Do not be hostile toward them, because I am not giving you any of their land, not even a footprint, for I have given Mount Seir⁵ as an inheritance for Esau. ^2:6You may purchase⁶ food to eat and water to drink from them. ^2:7All along the way I, the Lord your God,⁷ have blessed your every effort.⁸ I have⁹ been attentive to¹⁰ your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I have¹¹ been with you; you have lacked for nothing.’ ”

^2:8So we turned away from our relatives¹² the descendants of Esau, the inhabitants of Seir, turning from the desert route,¹³ from Elat¹⁴ and Ezion Geber,¹⁵ and traveling the way of the Moab wastelands.

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Footnotes

2 Heb “command” (so , ); “charge the people as follows.”
3 Heb “brothers”; “your kinsmen.”
4 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).
5 Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom.
6 Heb includes “with silver.”
7 The Hebrew text does not have the first person pronoun; it has been supplied for purposes of English style (the Lord is speaking here).
8 Heb “all the work of your hands.”
9 Heb “he has.” This has been converted to first person in the translation in keeping with English style.
10 Heb “known” (so , ); “been concerned about.”
11 Heb “the Lord your God has.” This has been replaced in the translation by the first person pronoun (“I”) in keeping with English style.
12 Or “brothers”; “our kin.”
13 Heb “the way of the Arabah” (so ); , “the Arabah road.”
14 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,” 259 (1985): 1–32.
15 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.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.” ’ So we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber.

“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own. You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’ ”

The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.

So we went on past our relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and traveled along the desert road of Moab.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Command the people: You are about to travel through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so be very careful. Don’t provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a foot of it, because I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his possession. You may purchase food from them, so that you may eat, and buy water from them to drink. For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this immense wilderness. The Lord your God has been with you these past forty years, and you have lacked nothing.’

“So we bypassed our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road and from Elath and Ezion-geber. We traveled along the road to the Wilderness of Moab.

NLTNew Living Translation

Give these orders to the people: “You will pass through the country belonging to your relatives the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. The Edomites will feel threatened, so be careful. Do not bother them, for I have given them all the hill country around Mount Seir as their property, and I will not give you even one square foot of their land. If you need food to eat or water to drink, pay them for it. For the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the Lord your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.” ’

“So we bypassed the territory of our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We avoided the road through the Arabah Valley that comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber.

“Then as we turned north along the desert route through Moab,

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

and instruct the people, saying, “You are about to cross through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who are living in Seir; they will be afraid of you, and so be very careful. Do not get involved in battle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a foot’s breadth of it; since I have given Mount Seir as a possession for Esau. You shall buy food from them so that you may eat; and also you shall purchase water from them with money so that you may drink. The fact of the matter is, Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work you have done; he knows your travels with respect to this great wilderness; forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.” ’ And so we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, past the road of the Arabah, from Elath and Ezion Geber, and we turned and traveled along the route of the desert of Moab.

KJV 1900King James Version

And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink. For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing. And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Ezion-gaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.

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