Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Numbers 21:32-35
2). The Defeat of Og, King of Bashan (Numbers 21:32).
The defeat of Sihon did not pass unnoticed and when Israel advanced even further northwards Og, king of Bashan decided that enough was enough. Gathering his forces he came down from the north, from northern Gilead and Bashan, and faced up to Israel. Og was probably a giant of a man, and connected with a race similar to the Anakim (Deuteronomy 3:11). But that made no difference to Yahweh. Og was defeated and Gilead and Bashan were both taken and occupied and their cities subdued. The description is brief but the actual carrying out of it would again take some time.
Analysis.
a Moses spies out Jazer (Numbers 21:32 a).
b He defeats the Amorites there and captures their cities (Numbers 21:32 b).
c Og, king of Bashan, comes out to face up to Israel (Numbers 21:33).
c Yahweh assures Moses of victory (Numbers 21:34).
b He defeats Og and they possess his land (Numbers 21:35)
a They journey to the plains of Moab (Numbers 22:1).
‘ And Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took its towns, and drove out the Amorites who were there.'
After the defeat of Sihon Moses sent scouts to spy out Jazer, an Amorite city in Sihon's kingdom. It was taken with its towns and the Amorites were ‘driven out', possibly fleeing across the Jordan. Or they may have gone as refugees to Bashan thus prompting Og's subsequent action.
‘And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.'
The advance of the Israelite army then continued on ‘the way of Bashan'. It may be that they were pursuing the Amorites who had fled from Jazer. This prompted Og to bring his army to Edrei, possibly in response to pleas for help, and there they met in battle. Edrei is modern Dura.
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Fear him not, for I have delivered him into your hand, and all his people, and his land, and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.'
We are told that Yahweh had given Moses especial assurance of victory. This may have been because of the imposing stature of Og, who would be enough to frighten the Israelites, or it may simply have been an added encouragement on the way. In their enthusiasm over their victories it was important that they recognised that their victories came from Yahweh. Either way the promise was that Og and his people would be delivered into their hands, and would have done to them what had been done to Sihon and his Amorites.
‘So they smote him, and his sons and all his people, until none were left remaining to him, and they possessed his land.'
The end result was total defeat for Og. He and his sons were slain, and all the people exterminated, according to God's requirement for all ‘Canaanites' and ‘Amorites'. And finally they possessed his land. Although described so briefly it would in fact be an extended campaign.
More details of this conquest are given in Deuteronomy 3:1. While the details are here only given in summary form we must not underestimate the significance of the victories. They comforted Israel with the fact that they were well able to meet formidable foes and capture fortified cities, and they confirmed the power of Yahweh. And once they were completed and the land settled they were able to rejoice in the fact that Yahweh had given them the firstfruits of the land of milk and honey.
So quite unexpectedly as far as Israel were concerned they found themselves potential possessors of a huge area of fertile land which had plenty of water. It would still have to be settled, and parts would have to be reconquered in the future as the defeated former residents moved back while Israel were busy elsewhere, but it was a glorious firstfruits of what the future held for them. The taking over of this land by Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh is described in Numbers 32.
The clear lesson we learn from this is that it matters not how superior our antagonists may appear to be. If God is on our side we have nothing to fear. Nothing is too hard for Him.