Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Deuteronomy 3:1-7
Chapter 3 The Defeat of Og and the Division of Transjordan.
The first three verses of this chapter are an almost exact reproduction of Numbers 21:33) with slight changes to fit it into speech (altering ‘they' to ‘we'). They describe the defeat of Og, king of Bashan. This is then followed by a more full description of the defeat, and the dividing up of the land between Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. After this the call goes out to these tribes to fulfil their covenant to provide troops for he conquest. It ends with a plea from Moses that he be allowed to enter the land, which is refused.
Intrinsic to all that is mentioned is the certainty that Yahweh is about to give them their land to possess. The Amorites have been initially defeated, a foretaste of what is to come, the two and a half tribes have been settled on their land, their fighting men have been prepared for the invasion across the Jordan, Joshua has been commissioned, and Moses has been permitted to see the land that is to be theirs from Pisgah. The land now awaits.
The Defeat of Og, King of Bashan (Deuteronomy 3:1).
This passage may be analysed as follows:
a They went on ‘the way of Bashan' and Bashan came out to do battle with them with all his army (Deuteronomy 3:1).
b Yahweh tells them that they need not be afraid of him for Yahweh will deliver him into their hand as He had Sihon, King of the Amorites, and Yahweh delivered them into their hands and they smote Bashan and his army until none remained (Deuteronomy 3:2).
c They captured all his cities (60 of them), not one remained untaken (Deuteronomy 3:4).
d These were cities with high walls, and gates and bars (Deuteronomy 3:5 a).
c As well as these they captured a great many unwalled towns (Deuteronomy 3:5 b).
b They utterly destroyed them as they had Sihon and his Amorites and devoted them to Yahweh, for each was ‘a city of men' (they resisted) and this ‘devotion' to Yahweh included the women and children (Deuteronomy 3:6).
a But all the cattle and flocks, and the spoils of the cities, they took as a prey for themselves (Deuteronomy 3:7).
Note how in ‘a' the commencement of the battle finally results in the parallel in great booty (compare how previously the booty had been the central point in the previous analysis (Deuteronomy 2:35). This was important to Israel as it was preparing them for possession of a good land. In ‘b' Yahweh says he will deliver from Og as He had from Sihon and in the parallel it is stated that He had done this. In ‘c' they captured all the walled cities and in the parallel the unwalled towns. And central in ‘d' to all this was the size and strength of the cities they captured. It was a great boost to Israel.
‘ 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.'
The next road that they took was ‘the way to Bashan'. This immediately brought the Amorite king Bashan out to fight them with his armies. It will be noted that both in this case and in the case of Sihon the belligerency was on the part of the enemy. Until they crossed the Jordan this current Israel never initiated an attack unless they were first attacked.
‘ And Yahweh said to me, ‘Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him, and all his people, and his land, into your hand, and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.'
When this great king with his armies appeared there were no doubt some fearful hearts in the ranks of Israel. But Yahweh immediately assured Moses that he was with them, and that He would deliver Og, his armies, his cities and his land into the hands of Israel.
Here again Moses is being seen as ‘king' over his people (compare Deuteronomy 2:27), and the people are included with him in intent, thus the second person singular is used.
‘ So Yahweh our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we smote him until none were left to him remaining.'
The result was a resounding victory. God was acting on their behalf. The whole of Og's armies were slaughtered. As far as was possible not one was left alive. They were carrying out God's requirements to the letter.
‘ And we took all his cities at that time. There was not a city which we did not take from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a great many unwalled towns.'
Every city was taken. Not one was strong enough to stand up against them. There were threescore cities with high walls, gates and bars, and a great number of unwalled towns. ‘Threescore' (3 x 2 x 10 is three heavily intensified) probably indicates the completeness of the success. Bashan was a very fertile area and there were many small cities and towns in it.
‘ And we utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves.'
And the principle of the devotion of all humans to Yahweh was carried out. Every man, woman and child was put to the sword. Only the cattle and spoils of the city were spared. God's judgment on gross sin and idolatry of the worst kind was fulfilled. These were executions, not slaughter. Each of these worshipped false gods in Yahweh's own land, and the penalty for that was death. It is a reminder to us that in the end God will call all men into judgment even though it be delayed, as it had been for the Amorites for hundreds of years.