Commento su Deuteronomio 2:8
וַֽנַּעֲבֹ֞ר מֵאֵ֧ת אַחֵ֣ינוּ בְנֵי־עֵשָׂ֗ו הַיֹּֽשְׁבִים֙ בְּשֵׂעִ֔יר מִדֶּ֙רֶךְ֙ הָֽעֲרָבָ֔ה מֵאֵילַ֖ת וּמֵעֶצְיֹ֣ן גָּ֑בֶר (ס) וַנֵּ֙פֶן֙ וַֽנַּעֲבֹ֔ר דֶּ֖רֶךְ מִדְבַּ֥ר מוֹאָֽב׃
Così passammo dai nostri fratelli i figli di Esaù, che abitano a Seir, dalla via dell'Araba, da Elath e da Ezion-Geber. E ci siamo voltati e siamo passati a proposito del deserto di Moab.
Rashi on Deuteronomy
ונפן ונעבר AND WE TURNED AND PASSED, towards the north; we turned our faces to proceed along the eastern side (see Rashi on v. 3).
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Or HaChaim on Deuteronomy
ונעבר מאת אחינו בני עשו, "we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, etc." The reason Moses stresses the brotherly relations with Esau is to remind the Israelites that the Jewish people had abided by G'd's command not to cause any friction or provocation in their dealings with the Edomites. Another reason why Moses refers to them as "our brothers" was because they maintained correct relations with the Israelites, selling them whatever produce the Israelites were willing to buy. We know this from verse 29 in our chapter.
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Rabbeinu Bahya
ונעבור מאת אחינו בני עשו היושבים בשעיר מדרך הערבה מאילת ומעציון גבר, “we moved on away from our kinsmen the descendants of Esau, who dwell in Seir; from the way to the Aravah, from Eylat and from Etzyon-gever.” We turned away from (ערבה) from the paths of the Lord and Torah; this is why the Edomites were not given to us to conquer at this time (a Midrash found in Lieberman’s edition of Devarim Rabbah, not the standard printed text) [The implication of the words עציון גבר in this Midrash is that instead of honoring the נעשה ונשמע the Israelites had pledged at Sinai, they regressed to man-made counsel, the result being a reduced-size Eretz Yisrael. Ed.]
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