Deuteronomy 3:1-11
New English Translation
Defeat of King Og of Bashan
3 Next we set out on[a] the route to Bashan,[b] but King Og of Bashan and his whole army[c] came out to meet us in battle at Edrei.[d] 2 The Lord, however, said to me, “Don’t be afraid of him because I have already given him, his whole army,[e] and his land to you. You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon.” 3 So the Lord our God did indeed give over to us King Og of Bashan and his whole army, and we struck them down until not a single survivor was left.[f] 4 We captured all his cities at that time—there was not a town we did not take from them—sixty cities, all the region of Argob,[g] the dominion of Og in Bashan. 5 All of these cities were fortified by high walls, gates, and locking bars;[h] in addition there were a great many open villages.[i] 6 We put all of these under divine judgment[j] just as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon—every occupied city,[k] including women and children. 7 But all the livestock and plunder from the cities we kept for ourselves. 8 So at that time we took the land of the two Amorite kings in the Transjordan from Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon[l] 9 (the Sidonians[m] call Hermon Sirion[n] and the Amorites call it Senir),[o] 10 all the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah[p] and Edrei,[q] cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaites. (It is noteworthy[r] that his sarcophagus[s] was made of iron.[t] Does it not, indeed, still remain in Rabbath[u] of the Ammonites? It is 13½ feet[v] long and 6 feet[w] wide according to standard measure.)[x]
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- Deuteronomy 3:1 tn Heb “turned and went up.”
- Deuteronomy 3:1 sn Bashan. This plateau country, famous for its oaks (Isa 2:13) and cattle (Deut 32:14; Amos 4:1), was north of Gilead along the Yarmuk River.
- Deuteronomy 3:1 tn Heb “people.”
- Deuteronomy 3:1 sn Edrei is probably modern Derʿa, 60 mi (95 km) south of Damascus (see Num 21:33; Josh 12:4; 13:12, 31; also mentioned in Deut 1:4).
- Deuteronomy 3:2 tn Heb “people.”
- Deuteronomy 3:3 tn Heb “was left to him.” The final phrase “to him” is redundant in English and has been left untranslated.
- Deuteronomy 3:4 sn Argob. This is a subdistrict of Bashan, perhaps north of the Yarmuk River. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 314.
- Deuteronomy 3:5 tn Or “high walls and barred gates” (NLT); Heb “high walls, gates, and bars.” Since “bars” could be understood to mean “saloons,” the qualifying adjective “locking” has been supplied in the translation.
- Deuteronomy 3:5 tn The Hebrew term פְּרָזִי (perazi) refers to rural areas, at the most “unwalled villages” (KJV, NASB “unwalled towns”).
- Deuteronomy 3:6 tn Heb “we put them under the ban” (נַחֲרֵם, nakharem). See note at 2:34.sn The divine curse. See note on this phrase in Deut 2:34.
- Deuteronomy 3:6 tn Heb “city of men.”
- Deuteronomy 3:8 sn Mount Hermon. This is the famous peak at the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range known today as Jebel es-Sheik.
- Deuteronomy 3:9 sn Sidonians were Phoenician inhabitants of the city of Sidon (now in Lebanon), about 47 mi (75 km) north of Mount Carmel.
- Deuteronomy 3:9 sn Sirion. This name is attested in the Ugaritic texts as sryn. See UT 495.
- Deuteronomy 3:9 sn Senir. Probably this was actually one of the peaks of Hermon and not the main mountain (Song of Songs 4:8; 1 Chr 5:23). It is mentioned in a royal inscription of Shalmaneser III of Assyria (saniru; see ANET 280).
- Deuteronomy 3:10 sn Salecah. Today this is known as Salkhad, in Jordan, about 31 mi (50 km) east of the Jordan River in the Hauran Desert.
- Deuteronomy 3:10 sn Edrei. See note on this term in 3:1.
- Deuteronomy 3:11 tn Heb “Behold” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).
- Deuteronomy 3:11 tn The Hebrew term עֶרֶשׂ (ʿeres), traditionally translated “bed” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) is likely a basaltic (volcanic) stone sarcophagus of suitable size to contain the coffin of the giant Rephaite king. Its iron-like color and texture caused it to be described as an iron container. See A. Millard, “King Og’s Iron Bed: Fact or Fancy?” BR 6 (1990): 16-21, 44; cf. also NEB “his sarcophagus of basalt”; TEV, CEV “his coffin.”
- Deuteronomy 3:11 tn Or “of iron-colored basalt.” See note on the word “sarcophagus” earlier in this verse.
- Deuteronomy 3:11 sn Rabbath. This place name (usually occurring as Rabbah; 2 Sam 11:11; 12:27; Jer 49:3) refers to the ancient capital of the Ammonite kingdom, now the modern city of Amman, Jordan. The word means “great [one],” probably because of its political importance. The fact that the sarcophagus “still remain[ed]” there suggests this part of the verse is post-Mosaic, having been added as a matter of explanation for the existence of the artifact and also to verify the claim as to its size.
- Deuteronomy 3:11 tn Heb “9 cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 in (45 cm) for the standard cubit, this would be 13.5 ft (4.1 m) long.
- Deuteronomy 3:11 tn Heb “4 cubits.” This would be 6 ft (1.8 m) wide.
- Deuteronomy 3:11 tn Heb “by the cubit of man.” This probably refers to the “short” or “regular” cubit of approximately 18 in (45 cm).
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