3:1 Next we set out on 1 the route to Bashan, 2 but King Og of Bashan and his whole army 3 came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 4 3:2 The Lord, however, said to me, “Don’t be afraid of him because I have already given him, his whole army, 5 and his land to you. You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon.” 3:3 So the Lord our God did indeed give over to us King Og of Bashan and his whole army and we struck them down until not a single survivor was left. 6 3:4 We captured all his cities at that time – there was not a town we did not take from them – sixty cities, all the region of Argob, 7 the dominion of Og in Bashan. 3:5 All of these cities were fortified by high walls, gates, and locking bars; 8 in addition there were a great many open villages. 9 3:6 We put all of these under divine judgment 10 just as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon – every occupied city, 11 including women and children.
1 tn Heb “turned and went up.”
2 sn Bashan. This plateau country, famous for its oaks (Isa 2:13) and cattle (Deut 32:14; Amos 4:1), was north of Gilead along the Yarmuk River.
3 tn Heb “people.”
4 sn Edrei is probably modern Deràa, 60 mi (95 km) south of Damascus (see Num 21:33; Josh 12:4; 13:12, 31; also mentioned in Deut 1:4).
5 tn Heb “people.”
6 tn Heb “was left to him.” The final phrase “to him” is redundant in English and has been left untranslated.
7 sn Argob. This is a subdistrict of Bashan, perhaps north of the Yarmuk River. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 314.
8 tn Or “high walls and barred gates” (NLT); Heb “high walls, gates, and bars.” Since “bars” could be understood to mean “saloons,” the qualifying adjective “locking” has been supplied in the translation.
9 tn The Hebrew term פְּרָזִי (pÿraziy) refers to rural areas, at the most “unwalled villages” (KJV, NASB “unwalled towns”).
10 tn Heb “we put them under the ban” (נַחֲרֵם, nakharem). See note at 2:34.
11 tn Heb “city of men.”
12 tn Heb “from the remnant of the Rephaites.”
13 tn Or “dispossessed them.”