Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 3:1-6
Context3:1 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.
[3:1] 1 tn Heb “turned and went up.”
[3:1] 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.
[3:1] 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).
[3:3] 6 tn Heb “was left to him.” The final phrase “to him” is redundant in English and has been left untranslated.
[3:4] 7 sn Argob. This is a subdistrict of Bashan, perhaps north of the Yarmuk River. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 314.
[3:5] 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.
[3:5] 9 tn The Hebrew term פְּרָזִי (pÿraziy) refers to rural areas, at the most “unwalled villages” (KJV, NASB “unwalled towns”).
[3:6] 10 tn Heb “we put them under the ban” (נַחֲרֵם, nakharem). See note at 2:34.
