Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 12:4

And the coast of Og king of Bashan, [which was] of the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei,

4. the coast of Og ] See Num 21:33; Num 21:35; Deu 3:4; Deu 3:10.

at Ashtaroth ] The residence of Og. It is now called Tel Ashterah, or Asherah. The Tel ( hill) rises to a height of between fifty and a hundred feet from the level of the plain, in which ruins lie scattered. At the foot of the hill are ancient foundations of walls and copious springs.

at Edrei ] = Strength. Here, “in the Thermopyl of his kingdom,” Og was slain. See Num 21:33-35; Deu 3:1-3. On a rocky promontory, 1 miles wide, and 2 miles long, south-west of the basaltic district of Argob, rose the city, “without water, without access save over rocks, and through defiles almost impracticable. Strength and security seem to have been the great objects kept in view, and to these all other advantages were sacrificed.” By the Greeks it was called Adraa; by the Crusaders Adratum, also Civitas Bernardi de Stampis, now Edr’a. In a.d. 1142 the Crusaders under Baldwin III. made a sudden attack upon it, but without success. The historian of the Crusades, in his account of this incident, refers to the immense subterranean cisterns that abound in the neighbourhood of the city, among the rocks, and the modern traveller is astonished at the extent and number of reservoirs, not only here but in all the other towns and villages in the Lejah, and in Jebel Haurn. Porter’s Handbook, 11. 533, 534.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 4. Coast of Og king of Bashan] Concerning this person see the notes on De 3:11, and on Nu 21:35, c.

The remnant or the giants] Or, Rephaim. See the notes on Ge 6:4; Ge 14:5, and De 2:7; De 2:11.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

To wit, successively; sometimes at the one, sometimes at the other city; both being his royal mansions.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And the coast of Og king of Bashan,…. The country that he reigned over, who was another king of the Amorites, smitten by Israel in the times of Moses:

[which was] of the remnant of the giants; [See comments on De 3:11]:

that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei; of which two places see De 1:4; it seems as if Og had a palace in each of those cities, and sometimes was at one and sometimes at another, as is usual with kings.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

4. The coast of Og The territory of this king, with its boundaries.

Remnant of the giants Or, of the Rephaim. A race of giants who once peopled Eastern Palestine. Gen 14:5. On Og’s gigantic stature see at Deu 3:11. On Ashtaroth and Edrei see note at Jos 13:31.

[ 5. Salcah A city in the eastern border of Bashan, now called Sulkhad. It stands on a conical hill at the southern extremity of Jebel Hauran. J.L. Porter, writing in 1868, says: “It has long been deserted, and yet, as nearly as I could estimate, five hundred of its houses are still standing, and from three to four hundred families might settle in it at any moment without laying a stone, or spending an hour’s labour on repairs. The circumference of the town and castle together is about three miles.” The Geshurites were the inhabitants of Geshur, a district on the borders of Bashan and Syria, probably embracing, as Porter concludes, the northern section of the wild and rocky region now known as el-Lejah. The Maachathites occupied a region on the north of Palestine, and apparently extending from near the fountains of the Jordan under Hermon eastward to the plain of Damascus and the defiles of the Argob. Both the Geshurites and the Maachathites were warlike peoples, and were not expelled from their coasts by the warriors of Israel. Jos 13:13. On the tribal divisions of this trans-Jordanic territory see notes on Jos 13:15-33.]

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘ And the border of Og king of Bashan, of the remnant of the Rephaim, who dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei, and ruled in Mount Hermon and in Salecah and in all Bashan to the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.’

“And the border of” finalises the description of Sihon’s kingdom as ending where Og’s kingdom started and the area of Og’s kingdom is now described. He was of the remnant of the Rephaim, who could be compared in stature to the Anakim (Deu 2:21). Bashan was called ‘the land of the Rephaim’ (Deu 3:13). These races of unusually large men were held in awe by their contemporaries. The name Rephaim was later applied to the ghosts of the dead which suggests that they might have been looked on by some as coming from a source that was ‘other worldly’ (compare the comparison of the Anakim with the Nephilim – Num 13:33). They did, however, suffer defeat at the hands of Chederlaomer (Gen 14:5) and were not looked on as anything extraordinary by God (Gen 15:20).

They were called the Emim by the Moabites (Deu 2:10-11) who seemingly either drove them out of Moab, or destroyed them, as the Ammonites destroyed the related Zamzummim (Deu 2:20-21). The valley of Rephaim near Jerusalem witnesses to their presence there at one time. While tall they were clearly not powerful as was often the case with over tall men, although there were always exceptions. Og’s basalt sarcophagus was no direct indication of the size of the man (Deu 3:11-12) although it may have affected people’s views about him afterwards. In the present day we can partially compare the Zulus.

Og ruled over the northern half of Gilead to the Yarmuk, and over Bashan which is north of the Yarmuk to the foot of Mount Hermon, and bounded on the west by the territory of the Geshurites and the Maacathites (Jos 13:11; Deu 3:14). He had palaces in Ashtaroth and Edrei. He also ruled Mount Hermon territory and Salecah. Salecah was seemingly a semi-independent border city (Jos 13:11; Deu 3:10 makes clear it was a city) under his rule. It may be modern Salhad, on a southern spur of the Hauran.

Ashtaroth was presumably a centre for the worship of the Canaanite goddess Ashtaroth and is probably Tell Ashtarah thirty kilometres (eighteen miles) east of the Sea of Galilee (Chinneroth). It is also probably to be identified with the ‘strt’ of the records of Tuthmosis III, the ‘astarte’ of the Amarna letters and the ‘astartu’ of Assyrian inscriptions. Edrei is probably modern Der‘a. It occupies a key point for communications in the Bashan area and has remains dating from the early bronze age. Bashan as a whole was famous for good pasturage (Mic 7:14), fat cattle (Eze 39:18) and strong oaks (Isa 2:13).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jos 12:4 And the coast of Og king of Bashan, [which was] of the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei,

Ver. 4. Which was of the remnant of giants. ] Slain by the Ammonites. Deu 2:20 ; Deu 3:11 Raphaims, they called themselves, that is, Physicians or Preservers; but indeed they were Zamzummims, that is, boisterous and abominable. Nomen inane, crimen immane.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)