Deuteronomy 2:5
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Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Moses, in this chapter, proceeds in the rehearsal of God's providences concerning Israel in their way to Canaan, yet preserves not the record of any thing that happened during their tedious march back to the Red Sea, in which they wore out almost thirty-eight years, but passes that over in silence as a dark time, and makes his narrative to begin again when they faced about towards Canaan (Deu 2:1-3), and drew towards the countries that were inhabited, concerning which God here gives them direction, I. What nations they must not give any disturbance to. 1. Not to the Edomites (Deu 2:4-8). 2. Not to the Moabites (Deu 2:9), of the antiquities of whose country, with that of the Edomites, he gives some account (Deu 2:10-12). And here comes in an account of their passing the river Zered (Deu 2:13-16). 3. Not to the Ammonites, of whose country here is some account given (Deu 2:17-23). II. What nations they should attack and conquer. They must begin with Sihon, king of the Amorites (Deu 2:24, Deu 2:25). And accordingly, 1. They had a fair occasion of quarrelling with him (Deu 2:26-32). 2. God gave them a complete victory over him (Deu 2:33, etc.).
Open source ↗2:5 I have given them: God’s gift of a promised land was not limited to Israel. He also distributed lands to Edom, Moab (2:9), Ammon (2:19), and the Caphtorites (2:22-23). Although God had chosen Israel as a special nation (1:31; see also 7:6; 14:2; Exod 19:5), he is also the God of all nations and has a place and purpose for each (Deut 32:8; Acts 17:26)—even for those that do not recognize his sovereignty (Rom 1:16-23).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
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So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir.
and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.
From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.
He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession of the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though he did not yet have a child.
You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”