King of Bashan. (Deut. 3: 11.) We have an account of this wonderful man; and his size must have been enormous, if we judge of it by his bedstead of iron. Nine cubits long, by four wide, makes in English measure, fifteen feet four inches long, and six feet ten in breadth. But what is length or strength in man, when opposed to those who fight in the strength of the Lord? Og proves to be in such a case, as his name is, "a cake baked in ashes." (See Num. xxi. 33.)
a king of Bashan; being a giant of the race of the Rephaim. Moses records the conquest of Og, and his destruction. After which his country was given to the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, Num 21:33. See GIANTS.
Og (giant), an Amoritish king of Bashan (Num 21:33; Num 32:33; Deu 4:47; Deu 31:4). In form he was a giant, so that his bedstead was preserved as a memorial of his huge stature (Deu 3:11; Jos 13:12) [BEDS]. He was defeated by the Israelites under Moses (Num 21:33; Deu 1:4; Deu 3:3); and his country, which contained many walled cities (Deu 3:4-10); was assigned to the tribe of Manasseh (Deu 3:13; Jos 13:30).
An Amoritish king of Bashan east of the Jordan, defeated and slain by the Israelites under Moses. He was a giant in stature, on e of the last of the Rephaim who had possessed that region; and his iron bedstead, fourteen feet long, was preserved after his death as a relic. Ashtaroth-carnaim and Edrei were his chief cities; but there were many other walled towns, and the land was rich in flocks and herds. It was assigned by Moses to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Num 21:33 32:33 Deu 1:4 3:1-13 4:47 31:4 Jos 2:10 12:4 13:30.\par
Og. (giant, literally long-necked). An Amoritish king of Bashan, whose rule extended over sixty cities. Jos 13:12. He was one of the last representatives of the giant race of Rephaim, and was, with his children and his people, defeated and exterminated by the Israelites at Edrei, immediately after the conquest of Sihon. Num 32:33; Deu 3:1-13 Also Deu 1:4; Deu 4:47; Deu 31:4; Jos 2:10; Jos 9:10; Jos 13:12; Jos 13:30. The belief in Og’s enormous stature is corroborated by an allusion to his iron bedstead preserved in "Rabbath of the children of Ammon." Deu 3:11. (B.C. 1461). See Giants.
An Amorite king of Bashan, ruling 60 cities, including Ashteroth Karnaim and Edrei (Jos 13:12; Jos 12:4; Gen 14:5). After conquering Sihon’s land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, Israel marched by way of Bashan which is N. of the Jabbok.
Either the Ammonites, like the Bedouin, followed in the wake of Israel’s armies as pillagers, and so got possession of it; or Israel sent it to Ammon as a pledge of their having no hostile intentions, the Lord having forbidden them to disturb Ammon, and as a visible token of Israel’s power in having overcome such mighty kings as Sihon and Og. It was nine cubits long and four broad. "Of iron," perhaps the black basalt of the country, which is called by the Arabs "iron," having 20 percent of that metal. His body was of course shorter. Knobel thinks Og’s "bier" is meant, a
After traversing the smooth pasture land, Israel suddenly came on the marvelous rock barrier of Argob, an oval basalt island, 60 miles by 20 miles, "all the girdle (Hebrew) of Argob" ("the stony country"), rising abruptly 30 ft. from the surrounding Bashan plains. The rocky fastnesses, on which Og’s 60 cities were, almost impregnable, compensated by security for their inconveniences. Had Og remained in them, Israel could not have dislodged him. God therefore saw it needful to encourage Israel in facing such a foe, "fear him not"; and God sent hornets which, as well as infatuation, drove Og into the open field where he was overthrown (Jos 24:12). God’s special interposition for Israel against Og is the theme of praise (Psa 135:11; Psa 136:20).
Og (ŏg) long-necked? A king of Bashan, of gigantic stature, Deu 3:11, who opposed the passage of the Israelites through his territories. Deu 3:1. He was defeated in a pitched battle in Edrei, and, together with his sons, was slain. Deu 1:4; Num 21:33-34. His sixty fenced and walled cities were given with Bashan and all his kingdom to the half-tribe of Manasseh. Deu 3:8; Deu 3:4; Num 32:33. He was a giant. Jos 13:12, and his long iron bedstead (?) (possibly sarcophagus of black basalt), was preserved as a memorial of his huge stature Deu 3:11.
The Amorite king of Bashan, one of the giant warriors who ruled over sixty cities, inhabited by a hardy and warlike race. He came against Israel, but was smitten by Moses, and his land was possessed by the half-tribe of Manasseh. His bedstead is spoken of as measuring 9 cubits by 4 cubits, about 13 feet 6 inches in length by 6 feet wide. Num 21:33; Deu 3:1-13; Neh 9:22; Psa 135:11; Psa 136:20. See BASHAN.
By: Emil G. Hirsch, E. Schreiber, Wilhelm Bacher, Jacob Zallel Lauterbach
—Biblical Data:
Amorite king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and was conquered by Moses and Israel in the battle of Edrei (Num. xxi. 33), sixty fortified cities, with high walls, gates, and bars, comprising the region of Argob, being taken and given to the children of Machir, son of Manasseh (Deut. iii. 13; Josh. xiii. 31). Og was one of the giants of the remnant of the Rephaim. His iron bedstead in Rabbath, the capital of Ammon, is described as having been nine cubits in length and four cubits in breadth (Deut. iii. 11).
—In Rabbinical Literature:
Og was not destroyed at the time of the Flood (Niddah 61a), for, according to one legend, the waters reached only to his ankles (Midr. Peṭirat Mosheh, i. 128, in Jellinek, "B. H." ii.). Another tradition states that he fled to Palestine, where there was no flood (Rashi to Niddah, ad loc.); while, according to a third legend, he sat on a rung of the ladder outside the ark, and, after he had sworn to be a slave to Noah and his children, received his food each day through a hole made in the side of the ark (Pirḳe R. El. ch. xxiii.). Og was known also as "Ha-Paliṭ" (see Gen. xiv. 13).
It was Og who brought the news to Abraham of the captivity of Lot. This he did, however, with an evil motive, for he thought that Abraham would seek to release Lot and would be killed in battle with the great kings, and that he, Og, would be able to marry the beautiful Sarah (Gen. R. xlii. 12). A long lease of life was granted him as a reward for informing Abraham, but because of his sinister motive he was destined to be killed by the descendants of Abraham. Og was present at the banquet which Abraham gave on the day Isaac was weaned (comp. Gen. xxi. 8). As Og had always declared that Abraham would beget no children, the guests teasingly asked him what he had to say now that Abraham had begotten Isaac, whereupon Og answered that Isaac was no true descendant since he could kill Isaac with one finger. It was in punishment for this remark, one legend declares, that he was condemned to live to see a hundred thousand descendants of Abraham and to be killed in battle against them. (Gen. R. liii. 14). When Jacob went to Pharaoh and blessed him (Gen. xlvii. 7), Og was present, and the king said to him: "The grandson of Abraham, who, according to thy words, was to have no descendants, is now here with seventy of them." As Og cast an evil eye upon the children of Israel, God foretold that he would fall into their hands (Deut. R. i. 22).
Death of Og.
During the battle of Edrei (Num. xxi. 33) Og sat on the city wall, his legs, which were eighteen ells long, reaching down to the ground; Moses did not know what monster he had before him until God told him that it was Og. Og hurled an entire mountain against the Israelites, but Moses intercepted it (Deut. R. l.c.). According to another legend, Og uprooted a mountain three miles long, intending to destroy all Israel at once by hurling it upon their camp, which was also three miles in length; but while he was carrying it upon his head a swarm of locusts burrowed through it, so that it fell round his neck. When he attempted to throw off this unwieldy necklace long teeth grew from both sides of his mouth and kept the mountain in place. Thereupon Moses, who was himself ten ells tall, took an ax of equal length, jumped upward ten ells, so that he could reach Og's ankles, and thus killed him (Ber. 54b).
Shabbat (151b) and 'Erubin (48a) also indicate that Og was regarded as an unusually large giant. A legend says that a grave-digger pursued a stag three miles inside of one of Og's bones without reaching the other end (Niddah 24b).
OG.—The king of Bashan, who, with his children and people, was defeated and destroyed by the Israelites at Edrei, directly after the defeat of Sihon. His rule extended over sixty cities, of which the two chief were Ashtaroth and Edrei (Jos 12:4). The whole of his kingdom was assigned to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half-Manasseh (Deu 3:1-13, Num 32:33; see also Deu 1:4; Deu 4:47; Deu 31:4, Jos 2:10; Jos 9:10; Jos 13:12; Jos 13:30). The conquest of this powerful giant king lingered long in the imagination of the Israelites as one of the chief exploits of the conquest (Psa 135:11; Psa 136:20). The impression of the gigantic stature of Og is corroborated by the writer of Deu 3:11, who speaks of the huge ‘iron bedstead’ (or sarcophagus) belonging to him. According to the measurements there given, this sarcophagus was nine cubits long and four cubits broad. It is, however, impossible to estimate his stature from these dimensions, owing to the tendency to build tombs unnecessarily large in order to leave an impression of superhuman stature. The ‘iron’ of which the sarcophagus was made, probably means black basalt. Many basaltic sarcophagi have been found on the east of the Jordan.
T. A. Moxon.
King of Basan (Bashan) in the country of the Amorrhites (Josias 12). He is described as lord over "the remnant of the Raphaims who dwelt in Astaroth, and in Edrai, and had dominion in Mount Hermon, and in Salecha, and in all Basan." He was a man of gigantic stature, whose bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, was shown in Rabbath (Deuteronomy 3). Many legends were spun about his name in the Orient and also in Europe.
Hearth-cake
(