1Katahi tatou ka tahuri, ka haere ki runga na te huarahi ki Pahana: na ka puta mai a Oka kingi o Pahana ki te tu i a tatou, a ia me tona iwi katoa, ki Eterei whawhai ai. 2A ka mea a Ihowa ki ahau, Kei wehi i a ia: ta te mea kua hoatu ia e ahau ki tou ringa, me tona iwi katoa, me tona oneone; a ka rite tau meatanga ki a ia ki tau i mea ai ki a Hihona, ki te kingi o nga Amori, i noho ra i Hehepona. 3Na homai ana e Ihowa, e to tatou Atua, ki to tatou ringa a Oka hoki, te kingi o Pahana me tona iwi katoa; a patua ana ia e tatou, a kahore tetahi morehu ona i mahue. 4Na ka horo i a tatou i taua wa ano ona pa katoa, kahore he pai i kore te tangohia e tatou i a ratou, e ono tekau nga pa, ko nga wahi katoa o Arakopa, o te rangatiratanga o Oka i Pahana. 5Ko enei pa katoa hanga rawa ki nga taiepa teitei, ki nga tatu, ki nga tutaki; haunga nga kainga noho koraha, tona tini. 6I huna katoatia enei e tatou, i peratia me ta tatou i mea ai ki a Hihona, ki te kingi o Hehepona, huna iho nga tangata o nga pa katoa, me nga wahine, me nga tamariki. 7Ko nga kararehe ia, me nga taonga o nga pa, i tangohia ma tatou. 8Na i taua wa ano ka tangohia e tatou i te ringa o nga kingi tokorua o nga Amori te whenua i tenei taha o Horano, o te awa, o Aranona atu a tae noa ki Maunga Heremona; 9Ko Heremona i huaina e nga Haironi ko Hiriona; na nga Amori ia i hua ko Heniri; 10Ko nga pa katoa o te mania, me Kireara katoa, me Pahana katoa, a tae noa ki Hareka, ki Eterei, nga pa hoki o te rangatiratanga o Oka i Pahana. 11Ko Oka anake hoki, ko te kingi o Pahana, i mahue, he morehu no nga tangata roroa. Na ko tona moenga he moenga rino; kahore iana i Rapata, i nga tama a Amona? e iwa whatianga te roa, e wha hoki whatianga te whanui, ki to te tangata whatianga. 12A ko tenei whenua i riro mai na i a tatou i taua wa, i Aroera atu, i tera i te awa, i Aranona, me tetahi taha o te whenua maunga o Kireara, me ona pa, i hoatu e ahau ki nga Reupeni ratou ko nga Kari. 13A, ko te wahi o Kireara i mahue me Pahana katoa, te rangatiratanga o Oka, i hoatu e ahau ki tetahi taanga o te hapu o Manahi; ko nga wahi katoa o Arakopa me Pahana katoa e kiia nei ko te whenua o nga tangata roroa. 14Na Haira tama a Manahi i tango te whenua katoa o Arakopa, a tae noa ki nga rohe o Kehuri, o Maakati; a huaina iho te ingoa ki tona, ko Pahana Hawotohaira, a tenei ano inaianei. 15A tukua atu ana e ahau a Kireara mo Makiri. 16I tukua e ahau ki nga Reupeni ratou ko nga Kari te wahi i Kireara a tae noa ki te awa, ki Aranona, ki waenganui o te awa me te rohe ano, a tae noa ki te awa, ki Iapoko, ko te rohe ia ki nga tama a Amona. 17Me te mania hoki, me Horano, me tona rohe, e takoto atu ana i Kinereta, taea noatia te moana i te mania, te Moana Tote, i raro i Ahatotopihika, whaka te rawhiti. 18A i whakahau ahau i a koutou i taua wa, i mea, Kua homai e Ihowa e to koutou Atua tenei whenua kia nohoia: haere, e nga maia katoa, me a koutou patu i mua i o koutou tuakana, i nga tama a Iharaira. 19Ko a koutou wahine ia me a koutou potiki me a koutou kararehe, e mohio ana hoki ahau he tini a koutou kararehe, me noho ki o koutou pa i hoatu e ahau ki a koutou; 20Kia meinga ra ano e Ihowa o koutou tuakana kia okioki, kia penatia me koutou na, kia whiwhi ano ratou ki te whenua ka homai nei e Ihowa, e to koutou Atua, ki a ratou i tawahi o Horano: katahi koutou ka hoki, tera, tera, ki tona kainga i hoatu e ahau ki a koutou. 21A i whakahau ano ahau i a Hohua i taua wa, i mea, Kua kite ou kanohi i nga mea katoa i mea ai a Ihowa, to koutou Atua, ki enei kingi tokorua: ka penatia e Ihowa nga rangatiratanga katoa ka whiti atu nei koe ki reira. 22Kei wehi koutou i a ratou: na te mea, ma Ihowa, ma to koutou Atua, ta koutou whawhai. 23I inoi ano ahau i taua wa ki a Ihowa, i mea, 24E te Ariki, e Ihowa, kua timata nei koe te whakakite ki tau pononga i tou nui, i tou ringa kaha: ko wai hoki te Atua i te rangi, i te whenua ranei, e pena ana te mahi me au mahi, he rite ranei ki a koe te kaha? 25Tena ra, kia whiti atu ahau kia kite i tena whenua pai i tawahi o Horano, i tena maunga pai, i Repanona ano hoki. 26Otiia i riri mai a Ihowa ki ahau, mo ta koutou hoki, kahore ano hoki i rongo ki ahau: na ka mea mai a Ihowa ki ahau, Kati ra tau; kaua e korero mai ano ki ahau i tenei mea. 27Piki atu ki te tihi o Pihika, ka anga ai ou kanohi whaka te hauauru, whaka te raki, whaka te tonga, whaka te rawhiti, a ma ou kanohi e titiro atu; ta te mea e kore koe e whiti i tenei Horano. 28Engari whakahaua a Hohua, whakatenatenangia hoki, whakamaiatia: ta te mea ko ia te haere atu i te aroaro o tenei iwi, mana ratou e whakawhiwhi ki te whenua e kite ai koe. 29Na ka noho tatou ki te raorao i te ritenga atu o Petepeoro.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 CONQUEST OF OG, KING OF BASHAN. (Deu. 3:1-20)
we turned, and went up the way to Bashan--Bashan ("fruitful" or "flat"), now El-Bottein, lay situated to the north of Gilead and extended as far as Hermon. It was a rugged mountainous country, valuable however for its rich and luxuriant pastures.
Og the king of Bashan came out against us--Without provocation, he rushed to attack the Israelites, either disliking the presence of such dangerous neighbors, or burning to avenge the overthrow of his friends and allies.
2 The Lord said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand--Og's gigantic appearance and the formidable array of forces he will bring to the field, need not discourage you; for, belonging to a doomed race, he is destined to share the fate of Sihon [
Num 21:25].
3 Argob was the capital of a district in Bashan of the same name, which, together with other fifty-nine cities in the same province, were conspicuous for their lofty and fortified walls. It was a war of extermination. Houses and cities were razed to the ground; all classes of people were put to the sword; and nothing was saved but the cattle, of which an immense amount fell as spoil into the hands of the conquerors. Thus, the two Amorite kings and the entire population of their dominions were extirpated. The whole country east of the Jordan--first upland downs from the torrent of the Arnon on the south to that of the Jabbok on the north; next the high mountain tract of Gilead and Bashan from the deep ravine of Jabbok--became the possession of the Israelites.
9 Hermon--now Jebel-Es-Sheick--the majestic hill on which the long and elevated range of Anti-Lebanon terminates. Its summit and the ridges on its sides are almost constantly covered with snow. It is not so much one high mountain as a whole cluster of mountain peaks, the highest in Palestine. According to the survey taken by the English Government Engineers in 1840, they were about 9376 feet above the sea. Being a mountain chain, it is no wonder that it should have received different names at different points from the different tribes which lay along the base--all of them designating extraordinary height: Hermon, the lofty peak; "Sirion," or in an abbreviated form "Sion" (
Deut 4:48), the upraised, glittering; "Shenir," the glittering breastplate of ice.
11 only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants--literally, "of Rephaim." He was not the last giant, but the only living remnant in the trans-jordanic country (
Josh 15:14), of a certain gigantic race, supposed to be the most ancient inhabitants of Palestine.
behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron--Although beds in the East are with the common people nothing more than a simple mattress, bedsteads are not unknown. They are in use among the great, who prefer them of iron or other metals, not only for strength and durability, but for the prevention of the troublesome insects which in warm climates commonly infest wood. Taking the cubit at half a yard, the bedstead of Og would measure thirteen and a half feet, so that as beds are usually a little larger than the persons who occupy them, the stature of the Amorite king may be estimated at about eleven or twelve feet; or he might have caused his bed to be made much larger than was necessary, as Alexander the Great did for each of his foot soldiers, to impress the Indians with an idea of the extraordinary strength and stature of his men [LE CLERC]. But how did Og's bedstead come to be in Rabbath, of the children of Ammon? In answer to this question, it has been said, that Og had, on the eve of engagement, conveyed it to Rabbath for safety. Or it may be that Moses, after capturing it, may have sold it to the Ammonites, who had kept it as an antiquarian curiosity till their capital was sacked in the time of David. This is a most unlikely supposition, and besides renders it necessary to consider the latter clause of this verse as an interpolation inserted long after the time of Moses. To avoid this, some eminent critics take the Hebrew word rendered "bedstead" to mean "coffin." They think that the king of Bashan having been wounded in battle, fled to Rabbath, where he died and was buried; hence the dimensions of his "coffin" are given [DATHE, ROOS].
12 this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer . . . gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites--The whole territory occupied by Sihon was parcelled out among the pastoral tribes of Reuben and Gad. It extended from the north bank of the Arnon to the south half of mount Gilead--a small mountain ridge, now called Djelaad, about six or seven miles south of the Jabbok, and eight miles in length. The northern portion of Gilead and the rich pasture lands of Bashan--a large province, consisting, with the exception of a few bleak and rocky spots, of strong and fertile soil--was assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh.
14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob--The original inhabitants of the province north of Bashan, comprising sixty cities (
Deut 3:4), not having been extirpated along with Og, this people were afterwards brought into subjection by the energy of Jair. This chief, of the tribe of Manasseh, in accordance with the pastoral habits of his people, called these newly acquired towns by a name which signifies "Jair's Bedouin Villages of Tents."
unto this day--This remark must evidently have been introduced by Ezra, or some of the pious men who arranged and collected the books of Moses.
15 I gave Gilead unto Machir--It was only the half of Gilead (
Deut 3:12-
Deut 3:13) which was given to the descendants of Machir, who was now dead.
16 from Gilead--that is, not the mountainous region, but the town Ramoth-gilead,
even unto the river Arnon half the valley--The word "valley" signifies a wady, either filled with water or dry, as the Arnon is in summer, and thus the proper rendering of the passage will be--"even to the half or middle of the river Arnon" (compare
Josh 12:2). This prudent arrangement of the boundaries was evidently made to prevent all disputes between the adjacent tribes about the exclusive right to the water.
25 I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon--The natural and very earnest wish of Moses to be allowed to cross the Jordan was founded on the idea that the divine threatening might be conditional and revertible. "That goodly mountain" is supposed by Jewish writers to have pointed to the hill on which the temple was to be built (
Deut 12:5;
Exod 15:2). But biblical scholars now, generally, render the words--"that goodly mountain, even Lebanon," and consider it to be mentioned as typifying the beauty of Palestine, of which hills and mountains were so prominent a feature.
26 speak no more unto me of this matter--that is, My decree is unalterable.