Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.
Parallel translations
- WEB “You have encircled this mountain long enough. Turn northward.
- BSB “You have been wandering around this hill country long enough; turn to the north
- NKJV ‘You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward.
- NASB ‘You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north,
- NLT ‘You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God said they had circled the mountain long enough and should now turn north. The season of wandering was ending and progress resumed.
Overview
Echoing the language of Horeb in chapter 1, God again declares 'long enough' and directs Israel northward toward their inheritance. The wilderness discipline had run its course, and God now moves His people on. This shows God's purposeful timing in the lives of His people, neither hurrying nor delaying beyond His good purpose. He leads His own forward in due season toward the rest He has prepared in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Deut 1:6The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:
- Deut 2:14And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the LORD sware unto them.
- Deut 2:7For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 2:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.