Deuteronomy 2:14
And the space in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, 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. And the space in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, 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.
The space measured is thirty-eight years from leaving Kadesh-barnea until coming over the brook Zered. That long delay followed Israel's rebellion at Kadesh through lack of faith and failure to trust God. By the end of that period the whole generation of the men of war had been wasted out from among the host, fulfilling what the Lord swore to them, with His hand against them until they were consumed.
The crossing came on the northward march toward the promised land after the long wilderness wandering. After it Israel passed to the east of Moab, whose people, like the Ammonites, were descendants of Lot and were not to be harmed or molested. The delay was needless, for Israel could have taken possession of the land thirty-eight years earlier if they had trusted God. As part of the blessings of obedience and the warnings against disobedience, the verse shows the outcome of transgression and disobedience and calls for greater emphasis on obedience.