Deuteronomy 1:4

4 This was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and [a] 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.


FOOTNOTES:

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

Deuteronomy 1:4 In-Context

2 (By the way of Mount Seir it takes eleven days to reach Kadesh-barnea from Horeb.)
3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the Israelites just as the Lord had commanded him to speak to them.
4 This was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei.
5 Beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law as follows:
6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, "You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Gk Syr Vg Compare Josh 12.4: Heb lacks [and]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.