Who was Og king of Bashan?

The Amorite king of Bashan, one of the giant warriors who ruled over sixty cities, inhabited by a hardy and warlike race. He came against Israel, but was smitten by Moses, and his land was possessed by the half-tribe of Manasseh. His bedstead is spoken of as measuring 9 cubits by 4 cubits, about 13 feet 6 inches in length by 6 feet wide. Num. 21:33; Deut. 3:1-13; Neh. 9:22; Ps. 135:11; Ps. 136:20. See BASHAN.

In obedience to the word of the Lord, they went to battle against Og, the king of Bashan. Obedience to the Lord and its results and blessing are the marks of the second and third chapters of Deuteronomy, while the first chapter shows disobedience and its fruit.

The kingdom of Og in Bashan was a powerful kingdom. The cities had high walls with gates and bars. Their number was sixty. Archaeological research has proven the existence of strong and fortified cities in that territory, the ruins of which may still be seen. The oldest dwellings and ruined towers of Hauran (Bashan) are described by C. Von Raumer in the following words: "Simple, built of heavy blocks of basalt, roughly hewn, and as hard as iron, with very thick walls, very strong stone gates and doors, many of which were about eighteen inches thick, and were formerly fastened with immense bolts, of which traces still remain; such houses as these may have been the work of the old giant tribe of Rephaim, whose king, Og, was defeated by the Israelites 3,000 years ago." King Og was a giant, belonging to the remnant of the giant tribe of Rephaim. His iron bedstead is mentioned by Moses. There is nothing exaggerated about it. The bed was about twelve feet long and six feet broad, which does not mean that Og was as tall as that. Moses must have mentioned the bedstead of the slain giant, to remind the people of the great victory which the Lord had given them and to inspire them with confidence in the possession of the land. The Lord, who overthrew Og would certainly not fail them when they entered the land and met the enemies there.

rapha, 'a fearful one.' In the plural and with the article it is treated as a proper name, the REPHAIM, or sons of Raphah, a race of giants who lived beyond the Jordan, from whom Og the giant king of Bashan descended. The sons of Raphah were afterwards found among the Philistines. At times the term Rephaim applies to any people in Canaan who were of great stature. Deut. 2:11, 20; Deut. 3:11, 13; Joshua 12:4; Joshua 13:12; Joshua 15:8; Joshua 17:15; Joshua 18:16; 1 Chr. 20:4, 6, 8. The word Rephaim is untranslated in Gen. 14:5; Gen. 15:20.

ln that area of the Amorites we are told that Og was the last of the giants (v.11). His bedstead was kept as a relic in Rabbah of Ammon, its length being nine cubits (at least 13.5) feet) and its width four cubits (at least 6 feet). His great size must have been intimidating to his enemies, but not to the God of Israel.

Now best known for the Golan Heights, it is a large district on the east of the Jordan, having Gilead on the south and extending northward to Mount Hermon; westward to the Jordan valley, and eastward nearly as far as 37 E. It is sometimes called the "land of Bashan," and it was the kingdom of Og the Amorite. It was conquered by Moses, and became, with part of Gilead, the portion of the half-tribe of Manasseh. Its principal cities were Ashtaroth (or Beeshterah) given to the Levites, Golan a 'city of refuge,' Edrei, and Salcah on its border. It was ravaged by Hazael in the time of Jehu, and is not often alluded to in the later history of the kings of Judah and Israel. Joshua 13:30-31; Joshua 21:27; 2 Kings 10:33; 1 Chr. 5:11.

A district lying to the south of Damascus and which formed a part of Bashan, where the giants resided. It had at one time 60 cities, which were ruled over by Og. Its name signifies 'stony' and it forms a remarkable plateau of basalt, which rises some 30 feet above the surrounding fertile plain, and extends 22 miles N. and S. and 14 miles E. and W., the boundary line being marked by the Bible word chebel, which signifies 'as by a rope.' Og was conquered by Moses, and Jair of Manasseh took the fortified cities, and it became a part of Manasseh's lot. Later it was called Trachonitis, and is now known as el-Lejah. There are many houses still in the district which, because of their massive proportions, are supposed to have been built by the giants. Deut. 3:3-4, 13, 14; 1 Kings 4:13.

For victorious it was, seeing it had waged war with success against Sihon the Amorite king, and against Og, King of Bashan, who was of the giants. Neither could stand against them. A war of extermination it had been. Every man, woman, and child had been cut off, without, that we read of, one Israelite having been wounded (Deut. 2:33-34; 3:6). The Amorites, who had wrested part of Moab's ancient territory from them, were found to be too feeble to dislodge Israel from their border. And Og, one of the Rephaim*, an ancient and most powerful race, found that his fenced cities with high walls, gates, and bars could afford him no protection against the invading host. Like a flood, which carries all before it, Israel had overspread his land. All his cities were taken. All the inhabitants were slaughtered. All the cattle and spoil were taken for a prey.

For the Amorite territory east of Jordan was to form part of the inheritance of Israel; of this God told Moses. "Rise ye up, and take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon behold I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle." Again, "Behold I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land" (Deut. 2:24, 31). Thus they possessed the country of Sihon, and that also of Og (Num. 21:24, 35; Deut. 3:12). On both sides of the Jordan then was the land of Israel's inheritance, as predetermined by God, though it does not appear that He intended any of them to dwell on the east of that river. The tribes, however, who asked for their portion there got it. But soon did they discover the drawback of it (Joshua 22:24-28). By-and-by all the tribes will be located west of Jordan (Ezek. 47:15-20; 48), yet they will possess the territory east of it as well, feeding in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old (Jer. 50:19; Micah 7:14; Zech. 10:10). We must remember then, that on the east of Jordan as well as on the west the inheritance of the people, as designed by God, was to be found; a picture this of the full inheritance of the heavenly saints, which comprises heaven and earth; or to express it in symbolical language, that which is on the east of Jordan, as well as that which is on the west, for Jordan is typical of death.

As at the beginning of our chapter, so at the end, we hear the din of conflict. Sihon had smitten Moab but now he falls before Israel, and so too Og the king of Bashan, in spite of the fact that he was a giant, as we learn in Deuteronomy 3:11. The events that typify victory over the flesh within are followed by the record of victory over the foes without. And this is indeed the way in which things work in our spiritual experience.

However, others of the Amorites remained in the area of Jazer, which Israel first spied out, then captured its villages and drove out the inhabitants. Then they went to Bashan, another Amorite city, and King Og, with his people came out to fight them. Having the Lord's word not to fear Og because God had already delivered him into their hand, Israel without difficulty defeated him and took possession of his land. In Deuteronomy 3:11 we read that Og was a giant, having a bedstead nine cubits long and four cubits wide, which would be over thirteen feet by six feet. Though some of the spies had before been fearful because of giants in the land, yet now Israel attacked without fear, and fully subdued the Amorites.

If there be the difference between these two — Sihon and Og — that has been suggested, then it is hardly possible to doubt what is represented by Og, whose name, though taken generally to be "long-necked," (no doubt, because of its suitability to a giant,) can only rightly mean, as it would appear, "a cake baked in the ashes." He is king of Bashan, or the Bashan, "the fertile," and his strong city is Edrei, "plenty of pasture;" while he dwells in Ashtaroth, a city named after the Phoenician Venus, who was worshiped with shameful rites. When to this is added that the only relic of him is a monstrous bed, all is said of him perhaps that can be, and enough, it may be, to identify him with the spirit of luxury and effeminacy, the second enemy of the church at Corinth. That this Og is a giant, alas! we too well know: many a strong man has been cast down by him.