Perek Bet

וַנֵּפֶן וַנִּסַּע הַמִּדְבָּרָה דֶּרֶךְ יַם-סוּף כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָֹה אֵלָי וַנָּסָב אֶת-הַר-שֵׂעִיר יָמִים רַבִּים: 
Deuteronomy, Chapter two, Verse one says   "Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke unto me; and we compassed mount Seir many days.

The Netziv is at it again folks. The term "many days" seems a tad puzzling to this 19th century commentator. It most places it would probably say a certain amount of time. Why does it say, specifically in this case, "many days."

The Netziv answers this quandary by looking at where the Israelites are camping for "many days." Mount Seir--otherwise known as Edom--is where the nation encamped. The Netziv suggests that the "many days" that the Israelites encamped at Edom allude to the "many days" of the Galut Edom or the Edomite Exile. The Israelites, more specifically the Jews, went through four different exiles through their history. The Babylonian, the Persian, the Greek, and the Roman exiles were the four. Rome, which was known as Edom, destroyed the second Temple in Jerusalem and exiled the Jews out of their homeland in 70 C.E. This exile has been going from the first century to the twenty first century, or present day. The "many days" encamped at Mount Seir was a foreshadowing to the "many days" the nation would be "encamped" in the Roman exile. According to the Netziv, we, the Jewish nation in 5774, are still encamped around Mount Seir and have yet to travel forward.