Deuteronomy 3:1-11

What does the defeat of Og add to Moses’ review?

Berean Standard Bible

1 Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 2 But the LORD said to me, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” 3 So the LORD our God also delivered Og king of Bashan and his whole army into our hands. We struck them down until no survivor was left. 4 At that time we captured all sixty of his cities. There was not a single city we failed to take—the entire region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these cities were fortified with high walls and gates and bars, and there were many more unwalled villages. 6 We devoted them to destruction, as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city. 7 But all the livestock and plunder of the cities we carried off for ourselves. 8 At that time we took from the two kings of the Amorites the land across the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Hermon— 9 which the Sidonians call Sirion but the Amorites call Senir— 10 all the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead, and all of Bashan as far as the cities of Salecah and Edrei in the kingdom of Og. 11 (For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)

What is the context?

Og comes out with his army, and the Lord tells Moses not to fear. Israel defeats him, captures the fortified cities and villages, and takes livestock and plunder. As with Sihon, the text describes the destruction of the cities’ men, women, and children.

The resulting territory reaches from the Arnon toward Hermon. A notice about Og’s iron bed and its dimensions recalls an imposing opponent; the bed’s length is not itself a measurement of his body. The point of the review is that strong defenses did not prevent the victory the Lord promised.

How is this passage commonly understood?

Wesley offers possible explanations for how Og’s bed came to Rabbah. The passage states its presence there without narrating its transport. Comparing this campaign with Sihon’s keeps the conquest’s severity in view rather than turning it into a harmless image of overcoming personal obstacles.

What is our position?

We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.

Where can I study this further?

No deeper study linked yet.

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