Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 3:11
For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead [was] a bedstead of iron; [is] it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits [was] the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
11. Archaeological Note. ‘g was the last survivor of the Repha‘m (see on Deu 1:28). Bedstead, rather sarcophagus, for though the Heb. ‘eres elsewhere means couch, its synonyms miah (2Sa 3:31) and mishkab (Isa 57:2; Eze 32:25) are used for bier and tomb (the latter too in Phoen.), and the monumental character of this ‘eres proves it to have been the same. Iron, rather basalt; I have often heard basalt called iron in auran. The cubit of a man: the ordinary cubit, originally the length of the lower arm; later there was also a longer cubit (Eze 40:5; Eze 43:13). Taking it as about 18 in., ‘g’s coffin was 13 ft by 6. Some sites in E. Palestine are strewn with stone-coffins, e.g. Umm Keis, usually 7 to 8 ft by 2 to 4. That of Eshmunazar, the Sidonian, Isaiah 7 by 4; ‘Hiram’s Tomb’ Isaiah 12 by 6. Cp. Doughty, Ar. Des. i. 18, on marble sarcophagi near Es-Salt, ‘little less than the bed of Og,’ and Cl. Ganneau, Arch. Res. ii. 233.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Giants – Or Rephaim: see the marginal reference note.
A bedstead of iron – The iron was probably the black basalt of the country, which not only contains a large proportion, about 20 percent, of iron, but was actually called iron, and is still so regarded by the Arabians. Iron was indeed both known and used, principally for tools (see e. g. Deu 19:5 and compare Gen 4:22 note), at the date in question by the Semitic people of Palestine and the adjoining countries; but bronze was the ordinary metal of which weapons, articles of furniture, etc., were made.
The word translated bedstead is derived from a root signifying to unite or bind together, and so to arch or cover with a vault. The word may then certainly mean bier, and perhaps does so in this passage. Modern travelers have discovered in the territories of Og sarcophagi as well as many other articles made of the black basalt of the country.
Is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? – Probably after the defeat and death of Og at Edrei the remnant of his army fled into the territory of the friendly Ammonites, and carried with them the corpse of the giant king.
After the cubit of a man – i. e. after the usual and ordinary cubit, counted as people are accustomed to count. Taking 18 inches to the cubit, the bedstead or sarcophagus would thus be from thirteen to fourteen feet long.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. Og king of Bashan remained] Og was the last king of the Amorites; his kingdom appears to have taken its name from the hill of Bashan; the country has been since called Batanaea.
Remnant of giants] Of the Rephaim. See on De 2:10-11.
His bedstead was – of iron] Iron was probably used partly for its strength and durability, and partly to prevent noxious vermin from harbouring in it.
Is it not in Rabbath, of the children of Ammon?] The bedstead was probably taken in some battle between the Ammonites and Amorites, in which the former had gained the victory. The bedstead was carried a trophy and placed in Rabbath, which appears, from 2Sa 12:26, to have been the royal city of the children of Ammon.
Nine cubits was the length – four cubits the breadth] Allowing the bedstead to have been one cubit longer than Og, which is certainly sufficient, and allowing the cubit to be about eighteen inches long, for this is perhaps the average of the cubit of a man, then Og was twelve feet high. This may be deemed extraordinary, and perhaps almost incredible, and therefore many commentators have, according to their fancy, lengthened the bedstead and shortened the man, making the former one-third longer than the person who lay on it, that they might reduce Og to six cubits; but even in this way they make him at least nine feet high.
On this subject the rabbins have trifled most sinfully. I shall give one specimen. In the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel on Nu 21:33-35, it is said that “Og having observed that the camp of the Israelites extended six miles, he went and tore up a mountain six miles in its base, and put it on his head, and carried it towards the camp, that he might throw it on the Israelites and destroy them; but the word of the Lord prepared a worm, which bored a hole in the mountain over his head, so that it fell down upon his shoulders: at the same time his teeth growing out in all directions, stuck into the mountain, so that he could not cast it off his head. Moses, (who was himself ten cubits high,) seeing Og thus entangled, took an axe ten cubits long, and having leaped ten cubits in height, struck Og on the ankle bone, so that he fell and was slain.”
From this account the distance from the sole of Og’s foot to his ankle was thirty cubits in length! I give this as a very slight specimen of rabbinical comment. I could quote places in the Talmud in which Og is stated to be several miles high! This relation about Og I suppose to be also an historical note added by a subsequent hand.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The other giants of Bashan were destroyed before; and therefore when Og was killed, the Israelites work was done.
In Rabbath of the children of Ammon; where it might now be, either because the Ammonites in some former-battle with Og had taken it as a spoil; or because after Ogs death the Ammonites desired to have this monument of his greatness, and the Israelites permitted them to carry it away to their chief city.
After the cubit of a man, to wit, of ordinary stature. So his bed was four yards and a half long, and two yards broad.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. only Og king of Bashan remainedof the remnant of giantsliterally, “of Rephaim.” Hewas not the last giant, but the only living remnant in thetrans-jordanic country (Jos 15:14),of a certain gigantic race, supposed to be the most ancientinhabitants of Palestine.
behold, his bedstead was abedstead of ironAlthough beds in the East are with the commonpeople nothing more than a simple mattress, bedsteads are notunknown. They are in use among the great, who prefer them of iron orother metals, not only for strength and durability, but for theprevention of the troublesome insects which in warm climates commonlyinfest wood. Taking the cubit at half a yard, the bedstead of Ogwould measure thirteen and a half feet, so that as beds are usually alittle larger than the persons who occupy them, the stature of theAmorite king may be estimated at about eleven or twelve feet; or hemight have caused his bed to be made much larger than was necessary,as Alexander the Great did for each of his foot soldiers, to impressthe Indians with an idea of the extraordinary strength and stature ofhis men [LE CLERC].But how did Og’s bedstead come to be in Rabbath, of the children ofAmmon? In answer to this question, it has been said, that Og had, onthe eve of engagement, conveyed it to Rabbath for safety. Or it maybe that Moses, after capturing it, may have sold it to the Ammonites,who had kept it as an antiquarian curiosity till their capital wassacked in the time of David. This is a most unlikely supposition, andbesides renders it necessary to consider the latter clause of thisverse as an interpolation inserted long after the time of Moses. Toavoid this, some eminent critics take the Hebrew word rendered”bedstead” to mean “coffin.” They think that theking of Bashan having been wounded in battle, fled to Rabbath, wherehe died and was buried; hence the dimensions of his “coffin”are given [DATHE, ROOS].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants,…. The meaning seems to be, either that he was the only one that was left of the race of the giants the Ammonites found when they took possession of this country, De 2:20 or that was left when the Amorites took it from the Ammonites; and who having by some means or other ingratiated himself into their affections, because of his stature, strength, and courage, and other qualifications they might discern in him, made him their king:
behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron: his body being so large and bulky, he might think it most proper and safest for him to have a bedstead made of iron to lie upon, or to prevent noxious insects harbouring in it; nor was it unusual to have bedsteads made of other materials than wood, as of gold, silver, and ivory;
[See comments on Am 6:4]. Some learned men r have been of opinion, that the beds of Typho in Syria, made mention of by Homer s, refer to this bedstead of Og:
is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? which was the royal city of the Ammonites, in the times of David, 2Sa 12:26, now called Philadelphia, as Jerom says t. This bedstead might be either sent thither by Og, before the battle at Edrei, for safety, or rather might be sold by the Israelites to the inhabitants of Rabbath, who kept it, as a great curiosity:
nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man; a common cubit, so that it was four yards and a half long, and two yards broad. Onkelos renders it, after the king’s cubit; and the king’s cubit at Babylon, according to Herodotus u, was larger by three fingers than the common one; such as the cubit in
Eze 40:5, which was a cubit and an hand’s breadth; and this makes the dimensions of the bedstead yet larger. And by this judgment may be made of the tallness of Og’s stature, though this is not always a sure rule to go by; for Alexander, when in India, ordered his soldiers to make beds of five cubits long, to be left behind them, that they might be thought to be larger men than they were, as Diodorus Siculus w and Curtius x relate; but there is little reason to believe that Og’s bedstead was made with such a view. Maimonides observes y, that a bed in common is a third part larger than a man; so that Og, according to this way of reckoning, was six cubits high, and his stature doubly larger than a common man’s; but less than a third part may well be allowed to a bed, which will make him taller still; the height of Og is reckoned by Wolfius z to be about thirteen feet eleven inches of Paris measure.
r Vid. Dickinson. Delph. Phaenieizant. c. 2. p. 12. s Iliad. z. t De loc. Heb. fol. 94. C. u Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 175. w Bibliothec. l. 17. p. 563. x Hist. l. 9. c. 3. y Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 47. p. 325. z Apud Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 401.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Even in Abraham’s time, the giant tribe of Rephaim was living in Bashan (Gen 14:5). But out of the remnant of these, king Og, whom the Israelites defeated and slew, was the only one left. For the purpose of recalling the greatness of the grace of God that had been manifested in that victory, and not merely to establish the credibility of the statements concerning the size of Og (“just as things belonging to an age that has long passed away are shown to be credible by their remains,” Spinoza, etc.), Moses points to the iron bed of this king, which was still in Rabbath-Ammon, and was nine cubits long and four broad, “after the cubit of a man,” i.e., the ordinary cubit in common use (see the analogous expression, “a man’s pen,” Isa 8:1). , for , synonymous with . There is nothing to amaze is in the size of the bed or bedstead given here. The ordinary Hebrew cubit was only a foot and a half, probably only eighteen Dresden inches (see my Archologie, ii. p. 126, Anm. 4). Now a bed is always larger than the man who sleeps in it. But in this case Clericus fancies that Og “intentionally exceeded the necessary size, in order that posterity might be led to draw more magnificent conclusions from the size of the bed, as to the stature of the man who was accustomed to sleep in it.” He also refers to the analogous case of Alexander the Great, of whom Diod. Sic. (xvii. 95) affirms, that whenever he was obliged to halt on his march to India, he made colossal arrangements of all kinds, causing, among other things, two couches to be prepared in the tents for every foot-soldier, each five cubits long, and two stalls for every horseman, twice as large as the ordinary size, “to represent a camp of heroes, and leave striking memorials behind for the inhabitants of the land, of gigantic men and their supernatural strength.” With a similar intention Og may also have left behind him a gigantic bed as a memorial of his superhuman greatness, on the occasion of some expedition of his against the Ammonites; and this bed may have been preserved in their capital as a proof of the greatness of their foe.
(Note: “It will often be found, that very tall people are disposed to make themselves appear even taller than they actually are” (Hengstenberg, Diss. ii. p. 201). Moreover, there are still giants who are eight feet high and upwards. “According to the N. Preuss. Zeit. of 1857, there came a man to Berlin 8 feet 4 inches high, and possibly still growing, as he was only twenty years old; and he was said to have a great-uncle who was nine inches taller” ( Schultz).)
Moses might then refer to this gigantic bed of Og, which was known to the Israelites; and there is no reason for resorting to the improbable conjecture, that the Ammonites had taken possession of a bed of king Og upon some expedition against the Amorites, and had carried it off as a trophy to their capital.
(Note: There is still less probability in the conjecture of J. D. Michaelis, Vater, Winer, and others, that Og’s iron bed was a sarcophagus of basalt, such as are still frequently met with in those regions, as much as 9 feet long and 3 1/2 feet broad, or even as much as 12 feet long and 6 feet in breadth and height (vid., Burckhardt, pp. 220, 246; Robinson, iii. p. 385; Seetzen, i. pp. 355, 360); and the still further assumption, that the corpse of the fallen king was taken to Rabbah, and there interred in a royal way, is altogether improbable.)
“ Rabbath of the sons of Ammon,” or briefly Rabbah, i.e., the great (Jos 13:25; 2Sa 11:1), was the capital of the Ammonites, afterwards called Philadelphia, probably from Ptolemaeus Philadelphus; by Polybius, ; by Abulfeda, Ammn, which is the name still given to the uninhabited ruins on the Nahr Ammn, i.e., the upper Jabbok (see Burckhardt, pp. 612ff. and v. Raumer, Pal. p. 268).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(11) Of the remnant of giantsi.e., of the nation of Rephaim in these parts. (See Note on Gen. 14:5.)
His bedstead.The word may mean either bedstead or coffin. Both the word for bedstead and the word for iron have given rise to some discussion and difficulty. An iron bedstead and an iron coffin are almost equally improbable. Basalt has been suggested as an alternative. But though there is basalt in Argob, there is none in Rabbath-Ammon. Conder, who has recently explored Rabbath, has discovered a remarkable throne of stone on the side of a hill there, and he suggests that the Hebrew word rendered bedstead, which properly signifies a couch with a canopy, may apply to this. The word for iron (barzl) in Talmudical language means also a prince, and this meaning has been suggested for the name Barzillai, which we find in the same district in later times. His canopied throne was a princely one, and yet remains in Rabbath of the Ammonites, would be the meaning of the passage, on this hypothesis. The dimensions of the throne recently discovered are said to be nearly those given in this verse.
After the cubit of a man–Ish (not adam) the distinctive and emphatic word for a man. Some think that the cubit of any man is meant; others that the man himself for whom it was made, viz., Og, is intended. (Comp. Rev. 21:17, according to the measure of a mani.e., of an angel.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Only Og remained of the giants In Abraham’s time the Rephaim were living in Bashan. Gen 14:5.
His bedstead was of iron It has been suggested that this was a sarcophagus of basalt. The black basalt of that region contains a large proportion of iron.
Is it not in Rabbath Ammon Afterward called Philadelphia, now identified with
Amman about twenty-two miles from the Jordan.
After the cubit of a man That is, the ordinary cubit, usually reckoned as eighteen inches. That there was more than one cubit is clear. It has been supposed that Og, in preparing his sarcophagus, intentionally exceeded the necessary size, so as to convey an exaggerated impression of his extraordinary stature. In like manner Diodorus Siculus (xvii, 95) says that Alexander, in his march to India, caused two couches to be prepared for every footsoldier, each five cubits long.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 11. Only Ogremained of the remnant of the giants Rephaim, who were the ancient inhabitants of the country, and of a gigantic size, descended from Rapha; as the Anakims were descended from Anak, of the race of the giants also. Og was the last of the Rephaim of the country of Bashan: His bedstead was a bedstead of iron, to support his gigantic body: bedsteads of iron, brass, and other metals, as Scheuchzer remarks, are not unusual in the warm countries, as a defence against the multitude of insects. In heathen writers, we have frequent mention of beds of silver and gold; as also in Scripture, Est 1:6. Pro 25:11. See Calmet. This bed of Og’s was nine cubits in length, and four in breadth, after the cubit of a man; i.e. not according to the exact geometrical cubit, but somewhat less, such as the cubits of men commonly are. This is mentioned to shew of what an enormous size Og was, whom Maimonides computes to have been six cubits high, reckoning the bedstead to have been made, according to common custom, a third part longer than the person who lay in it. Now six cubits answer to ten feet and a half of our measure. So Goliath is said to have been six cubits and a span in height. 1Sa 17:4. Le Clerc, however, conjectures, that Og might order his bed to be made longer than was sufficient, to give posterity a higher idea of the gigantic personage who lay in it. The same is said to have been done by Alexander the Great, before his return from India. “He ordered each of his foot-soldiers,” says Diodorus, “to erect two beds of the length of five cubits;” the reason whereof he subjoins, “in order to leave with the inhabitants signs of the enormous size and strength of his men.” Agreeable hereto, Sir John Chardin tells us, in his “Travels,” that the people of the East are extremely fond of corporeal greatness; and always consider it as a sign of the greatness of the soul, of courage, strength, and virtue: “We found in Bactriana mummies of eight feet; but it is most likely that the people of this country bound up their dead at the greatest length possible, that posterity, discovering their bodies, might conceive a very high opinion of their persons and actions.” See Chardin’s Travels, vol. 9: p. 162. Concerning the giants, see the learned Huet,
Demonstr. Evang. prop. 4: cap. 8 and Theod. Ryckii, Dissert. de Gigantibus.
Is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon Rabbath was the capital city of the Ammonites, and, according to Eusebius, was afterwards called Philadelphia, being repaired and very much embellished by Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt. But how came this bedstead into the hands of the children of Ammon? The very learned Bishop Huet answers, that Og, fearing the worst, might send his bed and the best of his effects to the Ammonites; or Moses might sell this and other parts of the spoil to the children of Ammon; or, which is full as probable, Og might be one of those giants whom the Ammonites dispossessed, chap. Deu 2:21 and whose palace they had plundered, preserving this bedstead as a monument of their victories. See Masius upon Joshua 12. An anonymous author pretends, that Virgil, AEneid, 9: ver. 715 alludes to this bed of Og, when speaking of that of Typhaeus, the famous Inarime, that is to say, Inaramea or Syria; and he thinks that the passage of the Latin poet is taken from the Iliad 2: ver. 783 which, according to Dickenson, has an undoubted reference to this extraordinary bed. See Delphi Phoenis. cap. 2: p. 14 and Bibliotheque Britannique, tom. 15: p. 187.
REFLECTIONS.Moses continues a relation of their conquest. Og and his people fell like Sihon before them. Though his own stature and strength were wonderful, as may be judged by his bedstead of iron, and his courage equal to it, (for he came out to meet Israel,) yet he himself fell by their sword, and all his subjects perished with him; whilst his country and goods became a prey, according to God’s promise and power, who delivered them into Israel’s hand. Note; (1.) There is no might nor wisdom against the Lord. (2.) They who refuse to be warned by the fall of others and continue to provoke their judgments, will perish with them.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The extraordinary stature and size of this man deserves the Reader’s attention. Supposing a cubit to be about half a yard, then it will follow that this giant’s bedstead was four yards and a half long, and two yards in breadth; and as if wood was not sufficiently strong to support him, the whole was made of iron. But, Reader, remark how alike strength and weakness are when opposed by the arm of GOD. Oh! that every, poor, timid believer, would keep in remembrance at all times his Almighty strength, which is ever engaged on the side of his people, and which is not unfrequently perfected in his people’s weakness. Pray read that sweet scripture, Isa 41:14-16 , etc.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Deu 3:11 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead [was] a bedstead of iron; [is] it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits [was] the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
Ver. 11. Og, a king of Bashan, remained,] sc., In Bashan; and he seems to have been of the remnant of those Rephaims, whom Chedorlaomer and his company smote in Ashteroth. Gen 14:5 Jos 13:12
Is it not in Rabbath?
a The Jews fable that he escaped in the flood by riding astride on the ark!
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
giants. Hebrew “Rephaim”, descendants of one Rapha, a branch of the Nephilim. See App-25.
behold. A special various reading called Sevir (see App-34) reads “and behold”.
bedstead = bed or couch, but not the usual word which is mishkab. It is ‘eres, and is exactly the same measurement as the tomb of Marduk in Babylon. The mythological significance of ‘eres (Bab. irsu) is nuptial bed, or funeral couch. Probably = tomb.
iron. Probably basalt.
is it not. ? Figure of speech Erotesis (App-6), f’or emphasis.
Rabbath was the capital of Ammon, where the temple of Milchom was: and where Og’s tomb would naturally be.
children = sons.
cubits. See App-51.
cubit of a man = a common cubit = a man’s forearm.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
giants: Gen 14:5
Rabbath: 2Sa 12:26, Jer 49:2, Eze 21:20, Amo 1:14, Rabbah
nine cubits: 1Sa 17:4, Amo 2:9
Reciprocal: Gen 6:4 – giants Gen 6:15 – cubits Num 13:33 – saw the giants Num 21:34 – Fear him Deu 2:21 – great Deu 3:2 – Fear Jos 12:4 – the remnant Jos 12:6 – gave it Jos 13:12 – Og Jos 13:25 – Rabbah 2Sa 11:1 – Rabbah 2Sa 12:27 – Rabbah 2Sa 21:16 – of the sons 1Ch 11:23 – five 1Ch 20:1 – Rabbah Eze 40:5 – by Eze 40:10 – they three Joh 21:8 – cubits Rev 13:18 – the number
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 3:11. Only Og remained of the remnant of giants Namely, in those parts; for there were other giants among the Philistines, and elsewhere. When the Ammonites drove out the Zamzummims, mentioned Deu 2:20, Og might escape, and so be said to be left of the remnant of the giants, and afterward, fleeing to the Amorites, perhaps was made their king, because of his gigantic stature. His bedstead was a bedstead of iron Bedsteads of iron, brass, and other metals, are not unusual in the warm countries, as a defence against vermin. In Rabbath Where it might now be, either because the Ammonites, in some former battle with Og, had taken it as a spoil; or because, after Ogs death, the Ammonites desired to have this monument of his greatness, and the Israelites permitted them to carry it away to their chief city. Nine cubits
So his bed was four yards and a half long, and two yards broad.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3:11 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his {d} bedstead [was] a bedstead of iron; [is] it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits [was] the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
(d) The more terrible this giant was, the greater reason they had to glorify God for the victory.