11 The bigness of his bed. In Moses’ famous speech that comprises most of Deuteronomy, he describes the Israelite conquest of two kingdoms east of the Jordan—Heshbon, led by a king named Sihon, and Bashan, led by a king named Og. Why does the text emphasize the measurements for his over-large bed? The last of the Refaim race and a descendant of the Nephilim, he was said to have been born the son of Ahijah and grandson of Sham-Hazai, one of the jinn. The First Legend writer offers argument for the cairn added thousands of years later as plausible and appropriate resting place for the king: As I showed above, the view popular among many scholars that Og was an underworld deity is based upon the misunderstanding and synthesis of various traditions from the Bible and the ancient Near East, creating a tradition which would have been alien to both the scribes who wrote Deuteronomy 3 and their ancient audience. c It … Gigantic, the king of Bashan, who was defeated by Moses in a pitched battle at Edrei, and was slain along with his sons (Deuteronomy 1:4), and whose kingdom ... /o/og.htm - 17k. [19] The root ×¢.ג.ז exists in Arabic, and means “to be feeble, weary, old,” or “to be left behind.”. Don’t miss the latest essays from TheTorah.com. [6] See e.g. 11 (Og king of Bashan was the last of the Rephaites. The Hebrew Bible first mentions it in Numbers 21:33, where Og the king of Bashan came out against the Israelites at the time of their entrance into the Promised Land, but was vanquished in battle (Numbers 21:33–35; Deuteronomy 3:1–7). But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves. (VTSupp 101; Leiden: Brill 2003), 60-76. Gregorio Del Olmo Lete, “Bašan o el “infierno” cananeo,” in Cananea Selecta: Festschrift für Oswald Loretz zum 60. The two meanings of rephaʾim in the Hebrew Bible as “shades” and “giants” may be reconciled. Other Ugaritologists have suggested that these may be names of deities: The first name can be understood as a reference to the goddess Ê¿Attartu (=Ashtoreth) and the second as Haddu (=Hadad),[16] yielding something like the following: In this case, the Ugaritic text provides additional information concerning the god Rāpiʾu that fits with other traditions known from ancient Canaan: Rāpiʾu is the god who “thrones with Ê¿Aṯtartu” and “judges with Haddu.” This is a more straightforward interpretation of the text, and attempts to defend Margulis’ reading by pointing to the Og myth in the Bible would be circular reasoning. Something went wrong while submitting the form. Consequently, he has argued that we should return to interpreting עֶרֶשׂ Ê¿ereś as a “bed” rather than a tomb.[27]. So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. Academic Study of the Torah Is Essential, Not Just for Academics, Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship, By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use. Bashan was the northernmost of the three ancient divisions of eastern Palestine, and in the Old Testament it was proverbial for its rich pastures and thick forests. Please consider supporting TheTorah.com. Thus, Hebrew letters can often be connected to more than one original sound. [11] Putting aside where it is referenced as Og’s former kingdom, Bashan appears in Deut 4:43, 32:14, 33:22, Josh 17:1, 5, 20:8, 21:6, 27, 22:7, 1 Kgs 4:13, 2 Kgs 10:33, Isa 2:13, 33:9; Jer 22:20, 50:19; Ezek 27:6, 39:18; Amos 4:1; Mic 7:14; Nah 1:4; Zech 11:2; Ps 22:13; 1 Chron 5:11–12, 16, 23, 6:47, 56. See Scott Noegel, “The Aegean Ogygos of Boeotia and the Biblical Og of Bashan.” The connection between the figures is based on similar sounding names. When the text describes the land given to the half tribe of Manasseh, we are told that: If rephaʾim are shades, then Bashan is apparently the land of the dead. Written By: Gary Wayne. His bed was decorated with iron and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide. When Moses narrates the Og account in Deuteronomy 3, he adds: A similar notice appears in Joshua, in the description of the Transjordanian borders: Who are these Rephaʾim and what does it mean that Og is one of them? [10] See Salomon Speier, “Bemerkungen zu Amos,” Vetus Testamentum 3.3 (1953): 305–310 [306–307]. Numbers 21:33 | View whole chapter | See verse in context And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei. We rely on the support of readers like you. Sign in to disable ALL ads. Nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the Cubit of a man.” -Deuteronomy 3:11. According to this interpretation, Og was part of a race of antediluvian giants who once lived in the southern Levant, and Bashan a kingdom in what is now northwestern Jordan or the Golan Heights. Og ("gigantic"; Hebrew: עוֹגֿ,; Arabic: عوج‎) was the king of Bashan, according to Hebrew lore. Bashan was "called the land of the giants" (ver. Rainer Degen, Walter W. Müller and Wolfgang Röllig (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1972), 2:2–4. Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bashan&oldid=1007158376, States and territories established in the 2nd millennium BC, States and territories disestablished in the 8th century BC, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 16 February 2021, at 19:14. Another text which appears to treat Bashan as a supernatural realm is Psalm 68, which refers to Bashan in mythopoeic terms: Bashan here is a place that God desires to have as an abode, and it parallels the depths of the sea. Joshua 13:30 Their border was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities. [4] Along with the half of Gilead it was given to the half-tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 13:29–31). His name comes from uggah, which is a round baked cake. Deuteronomy 3:1–7 states: Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. First, the connection of Bashan to the Ugaritic word for serpent or dragon is questionable. The Story of a Giant Story: The Winding Way of Og King of Bashan in the Jewish Haggadic Tradition And also other giant things. https://thetorah.com/article/og-king-of-bashan-underworld-ruler-or-ancient-giant, The Giant, Asensio Juliá, 1808. [24] One argument I did not discuss above, is the suggestion that Og, king of Bashan is a reflection of the same myth as found in the Greek Ogygus, king of Boetia. 3 Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. Joshua 13:12 all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (the same was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); for Moses attacked these, and drove them out. 30 Their region extended from Mahanaim, through all Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities, 31 and half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many. [14] Baruch Margulis, “A Ugaritic Psalm (RŠ 24.252),” Journal of Biblical Literature 89:3 (1970): 292-304. [17] Here Og appears as a Phoenician deity and the protector of tombs: In this reading, this Phoenician text from Byblos suggests that Og was remembered as a powerful spirit who protects the graves of his followers.[18]. [29] See Amos 3:12; 6:4; Pss 6:7; 41:3; 132:3; Job 7:13; Prov 7:16; and Song 1:16. Deuteronomy 3 recalls the tradition of Og in order to underscore the military power of the Israelite army. Deuteronomy 3:11-12 tells us that Og was a remnant of the giants and provides the enormous size of his bed which is 14 feet by 6 feet in width. Numbers 21:33 They turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan script type="text/javascript"> [26] For example, Timo Veijola has argued that ˁereś barzel refers to a dolmen, a funerary monument. nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man. ed. Og the king of Bashan came out against us -- Without provocation, he rushed to attack the Israelites, either disliking the presence of such dangerous neighbors, or burning to avenge the overthrow of his friends and allies. Deuteronomy 3:3 1 Then we turned, and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og King of Bashan [ a]came out against us, he and all … How Moses Conquered the ancient giants Sihon and King Og - Bashan was of old possessed by a giant race, the Rephaim (Genesis 14:5); but of these Og, King of Bashan, was, at the time of the Israelitish invasion, the sole remnant.His vast size is indicated by the size of his bedstead, which was preserved in Rabbath-Ammon, perhaps as a trophy of some victory obtained by the Ammonites over their gigantic foe. R.M. Dedicated to the tragically underappreciated biblical giant, Og, King of Bashan. The name Bashan likely derives from the proto-Semitic root [5]ב.ת.× . Paolo Xella (SEL 5; Verona: Essedue, 1988), 51–60; Gregorio del Olmo Lete, Joaquín Sanmartín, and Wilfred G.E. Moses listed their victories over Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, among the many blessings and protections of God (Deuteronomy 29:7). (Arabic, in contrast, maintained almost all of the original sounds.) Chapter 3 is the conquest o f the Kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan. God granted the Israelites victory over King Og’s forces, and Moses and the Israelites possessed Bashan, a fruitful land east of the Jordan River. The Region of Bashan. [32] Matthew J. Suriano, The Politics of Dead Kings: Dynastic Ancestors in the Book of Kings and Ancient Israel, FAT 2/48 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010), 159. script>, Dibon-Gad Between the Torah and the Mesha Stele, The Mitzvah of Covering the Blood of Wild Animals. Ham’s lineage is mentioned in Genesis 10:6-20. Many modern-day commentators understand the term rephaʾim here to mean spirits of the dead or shades, who inhabit the underworld. Phoenician tomb inscription (Byblos 13), published by Professor Wolfgang Röllig of the University of Tübingen. Along with the half of Gilead it was given to the half-tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 13:29–31). Gilgal Rephaim is a Stonehenge-like site older than the Pyramids! Such embellishments take the rhetorical point further, stressing that his defeat at the hands of the Israelites was all the more impressive. His bed was decorated with iron and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide. 11 (For q only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of r the Rephaim. When we focus on the size of the giants, we take our eyes off of Christ However, if my interpretation is correct, and Og the king of Bashan was an Amorite, a remnant of the Rephaim (race of giants), you will find the origins of the Amorites in Genesis 10:15-16. Answer: Sihon was a king of the Amorites, a pagan nation located east of the Jordan River near the Promised Land during the time of Moses. Both the size of his bed as well as the description of Og as the last of the Rephaʾim serve to heighten this dramatic narrative: Og is part of the mythic past, a mighty foe, one of the giants of old, but Israel defeated him nonetheless. King Og alone survived— “Only Og the King of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim” (Deuteronomy 3:11). Indeed, rephaʾim does have this meaning in a number of biblical verses. The rabbinic exegesis embellishes the description of Og’s height, depicting him as large enough to uproot a mountain (b. Berakhot 54b).[30]. The quote is a hard-sell, but it is accurate if you are familiar with your scripture. While comparative evidence is undoubtably a valuable tool for unpacking the world of the Hebrew Bible, in this case the plain-sense interpretation of the verse is the best one. [25] See Gen 14:5; 15:20; Deut 2:11, 20; 3:11; Josh 12:4; 17:15. The city from which Sihon, king of the Amorites, ruled was called Heshbon. And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city. Was legendary King Og buried in a cairn at Gilgal Rephaim (picture)? An example of this is that King Og puts on the whole armor of Baal before physical warfare on the battlefield. New Living Translation (King Og of Bashan was the last survivor of the giant Rephaites. A very limited page speaking on the defeat of the ancient giant King Og. 27 Moses is permitted to see the land, but not to enter, albeit he desired it. Deuteronomy 3 New International Version - UK (NIVUK) Defeat of Og king of Bashan. And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

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