Deuteronomy 2:13

2:13 The ravine of Zered Brook marked the boundary between Moab and Edom. Rising in the highlands of Mount Seir, this waterway empties into the southeast bend of the Dead Sea.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Now rise up, and get you over the brook Zered--The southern border of Moab, Zered ("woody"), now Wady Ahsy, separates the modern district of Kerak from Jebal, and, indeed, forms a natural division of the country between the north and south. Ar, called in later times Rabbah, was the capital of Moab and situated twenty-five miles south of the Arnon on the banks of a small but shady stream, the Beni Hamed. It is here mentioned as representative of the country dependent on it, a rich and well-cultivated country, as appears from the numerous ruins of cities, as well as from the traces of tillage still visible on the fields.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(13) Now rise up, said I.—A continuation of the order in Deu_2:9. The words “said I” are not needed.

The brook Zered is not yet identified. (See Num_21:12.) Several streams run into the Dead Sea on its eastern side south of Arnon; Zered is possibly one of these. Or it may be a tributary of Arnon, which has one large tributary running from south to north.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. Now rise up] Sam., LXX, And now rise and break camp; cp. Deu_2:24.

and get you over the brook Zered] Wâdy, or torrent-valley, Zered. JE, Num_21:12, they marched thence, the E. desert of Mo’ab, and camped in the W. Zered. The name, LXX Zaret, does not occur again in the O.T. nor is it in Josephus. Euseb. and Jer. give it only as the name of a desert wâdy. On the Mâdabâ Mosaic map (5th century) a wâdy flowing to the Dead Sea, S. of Kerak, bears the letters -ΑΡΕΔ, according to some, but if this reading be correct it maybe no more than a conjecture. The theory that the Zered was the W. el-Ḥsa is impossible; as we have seen, Israel was already N. of that S. frontier of Mo’ab. Equally impossible is the view substituted for this by most commentaries, that it was an upper stretch of the W. Kerak; for Brünnow and Musil have shown that the W. Kerak runs up E. but a short distance from Kerak. N. of the W. el-Ḥsa the Hajj road crosses the W. es-Sulṭanî, the great S. affluent of the Môjeb or Arnon, and proper frontier between the fertile land of Mo’ab and the E. desert. The W. es-Sulṭanî forms a distinct landmark on this route, and, because of the water always to be found by digging in its bed, is a suitable camping-place. So Musil, Moab, 316, 319 n., 15. But if this be the Zered, Israel crossed it not, as Musil implies, from E. to W.—for in that case they would have had to bend E. again to his probable site for ‘Ar at Medeyyneh (see Deu_2:9), or cross the difficult lower stretches of the Arnon—but from S.W. to N.E. as the Hajj road does now.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now rise up, said I, and get you over the brook Zered,.... It is called the valley of Zered, Num 21:12, the word used signifying both a valley and a brook; and it is very probable there were both a valley and a brook of the same name; it must be near Dibongad, since in one place it is said the Israelites came from Ijim and pitched in Zered; and in another place that they came from thence, and pitched in Dibongad, Num 21:11 and

Nu 33:45.

and we went over the brook Zered; which was fordable, or perhaps at this time dried up.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The words, “said I,” are not in the Hebrew. The words “rise up, and get you over the brook Zered” (Num 21:12 note) connect themselves with Deu 2:9, and form the conclusion of what God said to Moses.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. Now rise up, said I — The words said I are not found in the Hebrew, and should be omitted. The connexion is with the ninth verse. It is Jehovah who said, Rise up, and get you over the brook Zered. This river was the southern boundary of Moab, and separated it from Mount Seir, or the territory of Edom. See Num_21:12. Robinson (Biblical Researches) thinks that Zered is probably the Wady el-Ahsy, which forms a natural division between the country on the north and on the south. Others think Zered is the Wady Kerek.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 13-15. Ver. 13 connects with ver. 9, the intermediate verses being a parenthesis, introduced for the purpose of reminding the Israelites that the Edomites and Moabites had received their territory by gift from God, the earlier inhabitants having been cast out by him that they might take their lands (see vers. 21-23). There is no need, therefore, for the insertion "I said," in ver. 13; the words are those of Jehovah, not of Moses.

The brook Zered; either the stream of the Wady cf. Ahsy (Robinson, 2:157; Ritter, 3:78), or that of the Wady Kerab (Keil, Kurz, etc.); see Num_21:11, and Smith"s "Dictionary." 3:1842. This brook formed the boundary line between Edom and Moab, and was the limit of Israel"s wanderings in the wilderness. They crossed it thirty-eight years after the doom had been pronounced upon them at Kadesh, and during that period the entire generation of those who had rebelled had died out.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Moses continues reminding the Israelites of what had happened to them in the wilderness.

'Now rise up ... Zered.' So

"'Then Yahweh said, "Now rise up ... Zered.' So." This can be translated as an indirect quote. AT: "Then Yahweh told us to rise up ... Zered. So" (See: Direct and Indirect Quotations)

rise up

begin to do something (See: Idiom)

the brook Zered

This stream flows into the Dead Sea from the southeast and creates the border between Edom and Moab. (See: How to Translate Names)

Now the days

The word "now" marks a change from the story to background information about how long the people of Israel traveled and about God's anger towards that generation. If your language has a way of showing that what follows is background information, you should use it here. (See: Background Information)

thirty-eight years

"38 years" (See: Numbers)

were gone from the people

This is a polite way of saying "had died." (See: Euphemism)

the hand of Yahweh was against

Here "the hand of Yahweh" refers to Yahweh's power. AT: "Yahweh used his power against" or "Yahweh punished" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

Kadesh

generation

Yahweh

oath

hand

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.