Ye have compassed this mountain long enough,.... It was time to be gone from thence, as from Horeb, Deu 1:6, turn you northward; from the southern border of Edom towards the land of Canaan, which lay north. It was from Eziongeber in the land of Edom, from whence the Israelites came to Kadesh, where they sent messengers to the king of Edom, to desire a passage through his land; see Num 33:36.