Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Deuteronomy 3:8-17
A Description of the Whole Land That Is Captured (Deuteronomy 3:8).
a They took out of the hands of the two kings of the Amorites in Transjordan the land from Mount Hermon in the north to the River Arnon (the border with Moab) in the south, all being in Beyond Jordan eastwards (Deuteronomy 3:8).
b This included Sihon's cities in the plain (tableland), and all Gilead, both north and south, and all Bashan (Deuteronomy 3:10).
c Included in this was the kingdom of Og who was a giant of a man and ‘of the demi-gods' (Rephaim) and had a huge iron bedstead (or basalt sarcophagus) (Deuteronomy 3:11).
d The land taken in possession included from Aroer on the Moabite border with (going northward) the southern half of Gilead and its cities (Deuteronomy 3:12 a).
d This last was given to the Reubenites and to the Gadites (Deuteronomy 3:12 b).
c The northern part of Gilead and all Bashan was given to the half-tribe of Manasseh. It is called ‘the land of the demi-gods' (Rephaim) (Deuteronomy 3:13).
b General Jair of the half-tribe of Manasseh was given a wide region in Bashan which was called ‘the encampments of Jair', while Machir, a sub-tribe of the half-tribe of Manasseh, was given Gilead proper (northern Gilead, the land in Deuteronomy 3:13). (Deuteronomy 3:14).
a The Reubenites and Gadites received the southern part of Gilead down to the border of Moab, to the banks of the river Arnon which flowed through the valley of Arnon. They also received the Jordan rift valley east of Jordan from the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) in the north to the Dead Sea in the south (Deuteronomy 3:16).
‘ And we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were in Beyond Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon to mount Hermon,'
Thus the whole of the land of the two kings of the Amorites was taken and possessed, from the River Arnon in the South (the border river of Moab) to Mount Hermon in the north. All of them being in Beyond Jordan.
‘ (which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir),'
A note is added here to make clear which mountain was indicated. It was called Sirion by the Sidonians, (mentioned in the Ugaritic texts), and Senir by the Amorites (mentioned in Assyrian texts). This note could have been added at any time. Or it could be an aside by Moses showing off his knowledge, possibly learned from scouts or travellers or Amorite prisoners prior to execution, with a view to indicating that there God's land came in contact with the greater world.
‘ All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, to Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.'
The whole extent of the land is then described. It took in all the cities of the Moabite plain, ‘all Gilead', a wide ranging region above the Moabite plain extending to Bashan, and ‘all Bashan', and included the great cities of Salecah and Edrei. (Gilead can sometimes refer to a region in the north adjacent to Bashan, but ‘all Gilead' was a wider expression and covered much of Transjordan. It is also possible that the geographical term ‘Gilead' could sometimes be used as an overall term to refer to the whole of the land north of Moab including some parts or all of Bashan (Deuteronomy 2:36; Deuteronomy 34:1; Judges 10-12; Judges 20:1; 2 Kings 15:29). This is confirmed in external archaeological records.
Salecah was a city in the extreme east of Bashan possibly modern Salhad, on a southern spur of Mount Hauran. Edrei is probably modern Der‘a, occupying a key point for communications in the Bashan area.
‘ (For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his sarcophagus (literally ‘resting place, place of lying down') was a sarcophagus of basalt. Is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, after the cubit of a man).'
Here we learn that in Bashan Og was the only surviving remnant of the Rephaim. His great size was probably one reason why he had been made king. He would be a fearsome war-leader. He was buried in a sarcophagus of basalt (the colour of iron), the great size of which was well known, nine cubits by four cubits (roughly four metres/thirteen and a half feet, by two metres/six feet). This did not mean that he was that size. In death as in life kings liked to exaggerate what they were. Similar sarcophagi have been discovered in Phoenicia. It was possibly carried to Ammon to prevent anticipated degrading treatment.
This was possibly a footnote (but see analysis where it is balanced by Deuteronomy 3:13) added later by a discerning writer, although if he had had his sarcophagus ready, and it was swiftly carried to Ammon once he was dead, in order to escape desecration, news easily could have reached Moses of where it was. Men loved to carry such information to rulers, hoping for a reward.
Some translate ‘bedstead of iron.' This is equally possible. The words mean ‘a resting place of iron' (therefore possibly the colour of iron), a ‘place of lying down', which makes possible both translations. If it was a bedstead its being made of iron would emphasise Og's greatness and possibly his overall size. At this time iron was comparatively rare.
‘ And this land we took in possession at that time, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill-country of Gilead, and its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites, and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, even all Bashan.
He emphasises that they took overall possession of a large area of land, and then he caused the land to be divided up between the Reubenites and Gadites, who appear to have worked very closely together, and the half-tribe of Manasseh which included the sub-tribes Machir and Jair. From Aroer on the River Arnon, probably to the River Jabbok (half the hill-country of Gilead), together with its cities was given to the Reubenites and Gadites, the rest of Gilead from the Jabbok to the Yarmuk, and the whole of Bashan was given to the half tribe of Manasseh.
‘ (The same is called the land of Rephaim. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, up to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth-jair, to this day).'
This land was called ‘The land of Rephaim.' This was possibly because it was ruled over by Og, the giant of a king, who was seen as descended from the Rephaim, who like the Anakim were a genetically huge people. They were seen as very sinister. Or it may signify that it was a ghostly land. The term is later applied to ghosts.
Argob, probably from regeb ‘a clod', probably refers to a fertile area of arable land and appears to be the name of Og's territory, which included all Bashan. This appears to have been allocated to Jair of Manasseh, the general who captured it, right up to the Golan Heights (the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites). He renamed it Havvoth-jair (‘the camps (tent-villages) of Jair'). In the time of Solomon these tent-villages were said to be in Gilead (1 Kings 4:13). This may have been due to migration, they bred cattle and sheep and may well therefore have moved territory, but it is more likely due to a different use of the designation Gilead, which has in fact various definitions geographically (see above and compare Numbers 32:41). Gilead was a name very fluid in its use as we know from external sources.
This description of the activities of Jair is intended to be a stimulus and a reminder that everyone in Israel must play their part in the possession of the land. It was God's gift, but all must participate in claiming it, just as Jair did.
‘ And I gave Gilead to Machir. And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even down to the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and its border, even to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon, the Arabah also, and the Jordan and its border, from Chinnereth even to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward.'
Gilead (or Upper Gilead) was given to the sub-tribe of Machir, (another section of the half-tribe of Manasseh); from the River Arnon up to Upper Gilead, including Lower Gilead was given to the Reubenites and the Gadites. This latter included the Arabah (the Jordan valley) between the sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) and the Dead Sea (the Salt Sea). The eastern border was the River Jabbok. It is clear that the whole area had been scouted, probably after the victory over Og, in order to root out opposition and to deal with fleeing refugees. It was necessary to make the whole area safe before crossing the Jordan.
That the Gadites were still a recognised group in the area in the 9th century BC is testified to by the Moabite stone of Mesha, king of Moab. All this detail helps to confirm that this was spoken at the time when all this information was directly relevant and needed to be communciated to the people so as to keep them informed.