(Cf. Numbers 21:33 ) We turned — i . e . took a new route— and went up ( וַנַּעַל , and we ascended). As Bashan was an upland region, they are very properly said to have gone up. Edrei , hod . Draa, with Roman and Arabian ruins, nearly three miles in circumference, but without inhabitants; not the same as the Edrei of Deuteronomy 3:10 . read more
EXPOSITION CONQUEST OF OG , KING OF BASHAN . The Amorites had wrested from Moab a portion of the territory taken by the Moabites and the Edomites from the giant aborigines; and Og, who was of the same giant race, ruled over the northern half of the region of Gilead and over all Bashan. This district also God purposed Israel to possess; and therefore, before crossing the Jordan , a diversion was made north. wards by the Israelites, for the purpose of... read more
The conquest of Og. Og, King of Bashan, was a yet more formidable adversary than Sihon. We read with wonder of that extraordinary territory over which he ruled, the region of Argob, with its sixty cities built of black stone, hard as iron, and perched amidst the masses of basaltic rock, which are the characteristic feature of the district, and which formed an apparently impregnable barrier against assault. The suddenness, completeness, and decisiveness of the conquest of this region,... read more
The destruction of Og, King of Bashan. We have here an account of another conquest, for which the victory over Sihon, King of the Amorites, prepared the people. Bashan was "called the land of the giants" ( Deuteronomy 3:13 ), and Og, the king, was manifestly the greatest of the giants—hence the particulars about his bedstead, as being nine cubits long and four broad ( Deuteronomy 3:11 ). In a rude age and country , force was the recognized ruler, and the biggest man in consequence... read more
Self-propagating conquest. There is solid truth in the French proverb: "It is the first step that costs." An untried course makes large demands on a man's thought, self-watchfullness, and energy; but when habit is acquired, the machinery of the soul works with smooth facility. Enterprises which are most arduous at the first, become by repetition as simple as a natural instinct. I. CONQUEST INDUCES NEW ENERGY . The joy of conquest is a spur to fresh endeavor. The appetite for... read more
Threescore cities ; probably the same as the Bashan-havoth jair, afterwards mentioned ( Deuteronomy 3:14 ). The region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. The region of Argob comprised the kingdom of Og, and Bashan was another name for the same country; extending from the Jabbok to Hermon, and embracing both the northern part of Gilead, and what was afterwards in a stricter sense Bashan, viz. the land north of the Wady Zerka ( hod . Jebel Ajlan) to Hermon. The name Argob is... read more
All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars ; literally, double gates and a bar . These cities, with their marvelous erections, are believed to be still existing in the Hauran. Over that district tire strewn a multitude of towns of various sizes, all constructed after the same remarkable fashion. "The streets are perfect, the walls perfect, and, what seems more astonish. tug, the stone doors are still hanging on their hinges, so little impression has been made during... read more
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John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 3:4
Verse 4 4.And we took all the cities. He here more fully relates what He had brieflytouched upon in Numbers. He says that sixty, well-fortified cities were taken, besides the villages. Hence we infer both the extent of the country, and also the special power of God in the aid He afforded them, in that they took, in so short a time, so many cities well closed in, and begirt with high walls; as if they were merely travelling, through a peaceful land in security, and with nothing to do. After the... read more