Deuteronomy 2:8

So we passed by from our brethren, etc.] The Heb. prep. me'ethis from with; but probably we should read merely "eththe sign of the accus.: we crossedor passed through our brethren(cp. 4 and 29). So LXX. Sam. readings are various.

from the way of the Arabah The -Arabah itself forms in winter the most convenient passage from "Elath and the Gulf of -Aḳabah to the Dead Sea, with branch roads to Ḥebron and Kerak; but suffers from want of water and great heat in summer. It was much used in the early Moslem period, and probably by Hebrew commerce with the Red Sea under the monarchy.

Elath A port on the N. end of the Gulf of -Aḳabah (1 Kings 9:26; 2 Kings 14:22), perhaps the same as El-Paran (Genesis 14:6). The name, translated by LXX Ailôn, and probably meaning palms, has persisted. Strabo, XVI. iv. 4, Ailana; Josephus, Ailana, Ilanis and Elathous (-now called Berenice"?); Ptolemy, Elana; the Christian Fathers, Aila and Ailia; Moslem Geographers, Wailah, Aila and -Aḳabat Aila (Idrisi, ZDPV, viii. 121); now el--Aḳabah, a village amid ancient ruins on the N.E. corner of the Gulf, with Turkish fort and garrison. To the N.W. is a large grove of palms with numerous ruins, called Îla (Robinson, B.R.i. 250 ff.; Doughty Ar. Des.i. 44 f.; Musil, Edom, i. 256, 259 f.; -the culture of the palm flourishes … the types of the settled families are quite Jewish"). In Greek times it gave its name to the Gulf as its successor -Aḳabah does to-day.

Ezion-geber Beside Elath on the Red Sea in Edom's land; there Solomon built ships, 1 Kings 9:26, and a ship (so LXX) of Jehoshaphat was wrecked, 1 Kings 22:49. LXX Γασιὼν Γάβερ, and Ἐμαεσειὼν Γάβερ, 1 Kings 9:26, probably waters of -Eṣion-Geber. Eusebius states that in his day it was Αἰσία (Jerome Essia); Makrizi, 15th century, -a once important town -Aṣiûn." Robinson (B. R. i. 251) noted the corresponding consonants in the name W. Ghaḍiân, and Musil (Edom, i. 254, 2. 183 ff., 189) describes the oasis Ma" Ghaḍiân in the -Arabah. This lies 18 miles N. of the Sea; while the O.T. data place -Eṣion-Geber beside Elath, whose site, as we have seen, is certainly on the present N.E. coast of the Gulf. Musil, however, reports that a tongue of the sea may once have reached Ma" Ghaḍiân; there are remains of fortifications and gardens across what is now desert (II. 199). His guide told of a town there whose inhabitants had many ships; but a violent rain brought down such masses of stone from some of the wâdies that the sea was pushed back to el--Aḳaba (ii. 187). If the Ar. name be derived from the tree ghaḍa", abundant in this region, it may have been attached to more places than one; or may have drifted as names easily do in Syria. The likeness between the LXX Ἐμαεσειὼν and Musil's Ma" Ghaḍiân is noteworthy. The meaning of the second half of -Eṣion-geber is uncertain, the transliteration of Josephus Γ. Γαβελός (viii. Ant.iv. 4) may be due to confusion with Γεβάλ, i.e. Edom or Mt Se-îr.