Ulangan 2:4

2:4 Instruct ¹  these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives ²  the descendants of Esau, ³  who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully.

Ulangan 14:1

The Holy and the Profane

14:1 You are children ⁴  of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald ⁵  for the sake of the dead.

[2:4]  ¹ tn Heb “command” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “charge the people as follows.”

[2:4]  ² tn Heb “brothers”; NAB “your kinsmen.”

[2:4]  ³ sn 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).

[14:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); TEV, NLT “people.”

[14:1]  ⁵ sn Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald. These were pagan practices associated with mourning the dead; they were not be imitated by God’s people (though they frequently were; cf. 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5; Hos 7:14 [LXX]; Mic 5:1). For other warnings against such practices see Lev 21:5; Jer 16:5.