Deu 2:8 | NET2full | STEP | So we turned away from our relatives the descendants of Esau , the inhabitants of Seir , turning from the route of the rift valley which comes up from Elat and Ezion Geber , and traveling the way of the wilderness of Moab .

‏ Deuteronomy 2:8

8 So we turned away from our relatives ^{▼▼tn Or “brothers”; NRSV “our kin.”} the descendants of Esau, the inhabitants of Seir, turning from the route of the rift valley ^{▼▼sn As a geographic feature the rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿaravah) extends from the Gulf of Aqaba to Galilee. Traveling up the middle of the rift valley probably would have been the easiest path, at least up to the Dead Sea.} which comes up from ^{▼▼tn Heb “from.”} Elat ^{▼▼sn 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 farther west along the northern coast. See G. Pratico, “Nelson Glueck’s 1938-1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh: A Reappraisal,” BASOR 259 (1985): 1-32.} and Ezion Geber, ^{▼▼sn 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.} and traveling the way of the wilderness of Moab.