Deuteronomy 2:3

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.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(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 Edom’s 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 Stanley’s 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.

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

3. Ye have compassed this mountain long enough] For the idiom see on Deu_1:6.

turn you northward] Marching from Ḳadesh down the W. of Mt Se‘îr, 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‘îr. By this natural avenue, along which the Hajj road from Damascus to Mecca runs, they would reach the plateau E. of Mt Se‘îr 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-Ḥisma or Ḥesma. (See Doughty Ar. Des. i. 45; Musil, Edom, i. 2, 265, 270, etc.)

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.

Ye have compassed this mountain long enough,.... It was time to be gone from thence, as from Horeb, Deu 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 Num 33:36.

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

Towards the land of the Amorites and Canaanites.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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.

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

Northward - Towards the land of the Amorites and Canaanites.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

פנו לכם צפנה TURN YOU NORTHWARD — Turn you along the eastern side of Moab, from the south to the north, your faces directed to the north. Consequently they were travelling along the east side of Moab, and this is what is meant by (Judges 11:18) “And they came by the east side of the land of Moab”.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.