Deuteronomy 3:1-11

1 “Next we turned and headed for the land of Bashan, where King Og and his entire army attacked us at Edrei.

2 But the LORD told me, ‘Do not be afraid of him, for I have given you victory over Og and his entire army, and I will give you all his land. Treat him just as you treated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.’

3 “So the LORD our God handed King Og and all his people over to us, and we killed them all. Not a single person survived.

4 We conquered all sixty of his towns—the entire Argob region in his kingdom of Bashan. Not a single town escaped our conquest.

5 These towns were all fortified with high walls and barred gates. We also took many unwalled villages at the same time.

6 We completely destroyed the kingdom of Bashan, just as we had destroyed King Sihon of Heshbon. We destroyed all the people in every town we conquered—men, women, and children alike.

7 But we kept all the livestock for ourselves and took plunder from all the towns.

8 “So we took the land of the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River—all the way from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon.

9 (Mount Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians, and the Amorites call it Senir.)

10 We had now conquered all the cities on the plateau and all Gilead and Bashan, as far as the towns of Salecah and Edrei, which were part of Og’s kingdom in Bashan.

11 (King Og of Bashan was the last survivor of the giant Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

Deuteronomy 3:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 3

In this chapter the account is carried on of the conquest of the Amorites by Israel, of Og king of Bashan, and his kingdom, De 3:1-11, and of the distribution of their country to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, De 1:12-17 and then the command to the said tribes is observed, to go out armed before their brethren, and assist them in the conquest of the land of Canaan, and then return to their possessions, De 3:18-20 and also that to Joshua not to fear, but to do to the Canaanitish kings and kingdoms what he had seen done to the two kings of the Amorites, De 3:21,22. After which Moses relates the request he made, to go over Jordan and see the good land, which was denied him, only he is bidden to look from the top of an hill to see it, De 3:23-27. And the chapter is closed with the charge he was to give Joshua, De 3:28 which was received in the valley where they abode, De 3:29.

Footnotes

• [a]. The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in 3:6b .
• [b]. Hebrew 9 cubits [4.1 meters] long and 4 cubits [1.8 meters] wide.