Deuteronomy 3:1-29
1 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.
2 And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.
3 So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.
4 And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
5 All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many.
6 And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city.
7 But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves.
8 And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon;
9 (Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;)
10 All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
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.
12 And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites.
13 And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.
14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day.
15 And I gave Gilead unto Machir.
16 And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;
17 The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdothpisgaha eastward.
18 And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meetb for the war.
19 But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you;
20 Until the LORD have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the LORD your God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you.
21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest.
22 Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.
23 And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,
24 O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?
25 I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.
26 But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.
27 Get thee up into the top of Pisgah,c and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.
29 So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor.
Deuteronomy 3:9. Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion. The LXX, willing to adapt the language of the sacred writings to their own age, say, “Which Hermon the Phœnicians call Sanior.” See notes on Psalms 133.
Deuteronomy 3:11. Og, king of Bashan, the remnant of the giants. Though Og was the last of the race east of the Jordan, there was a family of them in Philistia, in the west. 1 Samuel 17. The bedstead of this tyrant was preserved in Rabbath, (afterwards called Philadelphia) by the children of Ammon, as a monument of the enormous race. The oresh of Og, here rendered bedstead, was fifteen feet long, and nine feet six inches broad; he was a monster of bones and fat, and no doubt taller than Goliath. See on Genesis 6:4.
Deuteronomy 3:17. Chinnereth; called in the New Testament, Genesareth. The sea of the plain was the sea of Sodom, once a plain.
Deuteronomy 3:25. That goodly mountain and Lebanon. By the goodly mountain, some have thought that Moriah, on which Solomon built the temple, was understood. It is not however improbable, that Moses here calls Lebanon a high or goodly mountain, which was famed for its tall cedars. Sir J. Maundrell measured one tree, twelve yards and six inches in the girt; the spread of its branches was thirty seven yards. This range of hills, extending from the vicinity of Sidon toward Damascus, is divided by a pass at the entering of Hamath. The eastern range was called Anti-Libanus, and is higher than the western. Its elevation is about nine thousand feet, and covered with snow nine months in the year; but is very fruitful in grass, vines, and corn. Two streams issue from it, the Jor and the Dan, which unite in the Jordan. At Easter, the time of barley harvest, this river overflows its banks by the melting of the snow. See Joshua 1:4.
Deuteronomy 3:27. Get thee up to the top of Pisgah, the highest summit of the ridge of Abarim. See chap. 34.
REFLECTIONS.
Moses, proceeding with the history, narrates the tremendous destruction of Og and all his people, who wantonly provoked the war through presumption and pride. Sixty walled towns, besides the villages, were involved in the common ruin. The cutting off of this nation is a striking figure of the destruction which awaits all hardened and presumptuous sinners, who reject the kind and peaceful overtures of grace, and cannot permit the Lord's people to pass quietly on their way to heaven. He is not afraid of the infidel giants who have lifted up their voice against his word.
The venerable Moses, accustomed to trace the hand of God in all that befel Israel, was not unmindful to improve those victories for the encouragement of Joshua, as a pledge of what the Lord would do against all their remaining foes. The christian, on the same ground, should be encouraged from past victories over indwelling sin, to expect in the sanctification of his soul, the full accomplishment of all the great promises of the new covenant.
Moses having charged Joshua and Eleazar to carry into effect the covenant for Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, to have their inheritance on the eastern bank of Jordan, now repeats it to the congregation, that the faith of the nation might be pledged for the performance of the treaty; for the righteous God desires to be surrounded by a people who keep their word, though they have sworn to their own hurt. It is good for aged men to charge young people to be faithful, and for dying ministers to charge their successors and all the congregation to keep in purity every precept, doctrine, and institution of Christ.
Seeing the victories and glory of Israel already begun, the venerable prophet and legislator felt a desire springing up in his heart to have the sentence against himself reversed, that he might see his Israel safely established in the land. And who would not have felt the same desire? But Joshua was now appointed; and the best of saints must not ask favours which interfere with the rights and duties of another. Life and all its mercies must be asked, with deference and submission to the wise and gracious counsel of heaven. Mark well: God compounded with his favourite servant by letting him see the land, and Moses was content. Lord, let me see thy Canaan by faith, and be content to leave the body, with its native dust, in this desert land. Let me die here. I am not better than my fathers; but let me live with them for ever in thy eternal joy.