Deuteronomy 1:4

4 [This happened] {after defeating}^[a] Sihon king of the Amorites, who [was] reigning^[b] in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who [was] reigning^[c] in Ashtaroth in Edrei.

Deuteronomy 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 1:4

After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt
in Heshbon
Either Moses, speaking of himself in the third person, or rather the Lord, to whom Moses ascribes the victory; of this king, and his palace, and the slaughter of him, see ( Numbers 21:24-26 ) ,

and Og the king of Bashan,
which dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei; or near Edrei; for Edrei was not the name of a country, in which Ashtaroth was, but of a city at some distance from it, about six miles, as Jerom says {g}; hither Og came from Ashtaroth his palace to fight with Israel, and where he was slain, see ( Numbers 21:33 ) . Ashtaroth was an ancient city formerly called Ashtaroth Karnaim, and was the seat of the Rephaim, or giants, from whom Og sprung, (See Gill on Genesis 14:5), see also ( Deuteronomy 3:11 ) . Jerom says ^F8 in his time there were two castles in Batanea (or Bashan) called by this name, nine miles distant from one another, between Adara (the same with Edrei) and Abila; and in another place he says ^F9 Carnaim Ashtaroth is now a large village in a corner of Batanea, and is called Carnea, beyond the plains of Jordan; and it is a tradition that there was the house of Job.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 De loc. Heb. fol. 87. I.
F8 lbid. E.
F9 De loc. Heb. fol. 89. M.

Deuteronomy 1:4 In-Context

2 It is [a journey of] {eleven days} from Herob {by the way of Mount Seir} up to Kadesh Barnea.

3 {And it was} in the fortieth year, on the eleventh month, on [the] first [day] of the month, Moses spoke to the {Israelites} according to all that Yahweh had instructed him [to speak] to them.

4 [This happened] {after defeating} Sihon king of the Amorites, who [was] reigning in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who [was] reigning in Ashtaroth in Edrei.

5 On the other side of the Jordan in the land of Moab Moses began to explain this law, {saying}:

6 "Yahweh our God spoke to us at Horeb, {saying}, 'You have stayed {long enough} at this mountain.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "after he had struck down"
• [b]. Or "dwelling," and in this context "reigning"
• [c]. Or "dwelling," and in this context "reigning"