Israel defeats the Canaanite king of Arad after vowing cherem ('total destruction'). The people complain again and are punished with venomous serpents; God provides a bronze serpent on a pole as a means of healing. Israel journeys around Edom, sings at the well of Beer, and wins decisive victories over Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan, conquering the Transjordanian territory.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
The bronze serpent is one of the strangest remedies in the Torah: the instrument of punishment becomes the instrument of healing. Those bitten must look at a nachash nechoshet ('bronze serpent,' v. 9) to live — not a magical cure but a visible act of trust in God's word. The chapter also preserves fragments of ancient poetry: a quotation from the lost sefer milchamot YHWH ('Book of the Wars of the LORD,' v. 14), and the well song ('spring up, O well!' v. 17), one of the few joyful songs in Numbers.
Translation Friction
The term ha'atarim (v. 1) is debated — it may be a place-name or may derive from tur ('to scout'), connecting to the spies of chapter 13. We transliterated it as a proper noun while noting the ambiguity. The verb hacharamti ('devote to total destruction,' v. 2) carries the full weight of cherem — forfeiting all spoils to God — and resists reduction to a single English word. We used 'devote to total destruction' to preserve both the religious dedication and the violent outcome.
Connections
The bronze serpent (v. 9) is referenced in 2 Kings 18:4 (Hezekiah destroys it when it becomes an idol) and in John 3:14-15, where Jesus applies it to His own crucifixion. The victories over Sihon and Og (vv. 21-35) become a permanent part of Israel's theological memory, recited in Deuteronomy 2-3, Psalm 135:11, and Psalm 136:19-20. The conquered territory becomes the inheritance of Reuben and Gad in Numbers 32.
When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was approaching by the route of Atharim, he attacked Israel and captured some of them as prisoners.
KJV And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
הָאֲתָרִיםha'atarim
"Atharim"—the scouts, the spies, a route name, the tracks
The meaning is debated: it may be a place name, or it may derive from tur (to scout/spy), connecting to the spies of chapter 13. KJV translates 'the spies' but most modern translations treat it as a proper noun for the route.
Translator Notes
The Canaanite king of Arad strikes preemptively when he hears Israel is moving via derekh ha'atarim (the route of Atharim — possibly 'the way of the scouts,' connecting to the spies sent earlier). The verb vayyishb (he captured) with shevi (captivity, prisoners) shows Israel vulnerable — a rare military setback that prompts the vow in v. 2.
Israel made a vow to the LORD, saying, "If You will truly deliver this people into our hand, we will devote their cities to total destruction."
KJV And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
הַחֲרַמְתִּיhacharamti
"devote to total destruction"—utterly destroy, place under the ban, devote to God by destruction, consecrate through annihilation
The cherem (ban, devotion) means forfeiting all spoils — nothing is taken for personal gain. By vowing cherem, Israel declares this battle belongs entirely to God, both the victory and the aftermath.
Translator Notes
The neder (vow) uses the conditional im-naton titten (if giving You give — if You truly deliver) with the infinitive absolute for emphasis. The commitment to hacharamti (devote to cherem — total destruction) of their cities is a complete dedication of the spoils to God, forfeiting any plunder. This voluntary vow transforms a defensive battle into a sacred act.
The LORD listened to Israel's plea and delivered the Canaanites over. They devoted them and their cities to total destruction, so the place was named Hormah.
KJV And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
God responds to the vow: vayyishma YHWH beqol Yisra'el (the LORD listened to Israel's voice). The place is renamed Chormah, from the same root ch-r-m as cherem (destruction/devotion). The name commemorates the fulfilled vow — the site of total consecration through destruction. This contrasts with the earlier defeat at Hormah in Numbers 14:45, where Israel attacked without divine authorization.
They set out from Mount Hor along the route toward the Sea of Reeds, going around the land of Edom. The people grew deeply frustrated on the journey.
KJV And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase vattiqtsar nefesh ha'am (the soul/life of the people grew short) conveys emotional exhaustion — their patience was literally 'cut short.' They must detour around Edom (who refused passage in 20:14-21), making an already long wilderness journey even longer. This frustration sets the stage for the complaint and serpent episode.
The people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why did you bring us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no real food and no water, and we are disgusted with this worthless bread!"
KJV And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
The manna — God's miraculous daily provision — is dismissed as qeloqel (worthless, contemptible). The double-q intensification of the root q-l-l (to be light, trivial) expresses maximum contempt for what should have inspired maximum gratitude.
Translator Notes
The complaint escalates to include God directly — bElohim uveMosheh (against God and against Moses). Their accusation is contradictory: ein lechem (there is no food) yet they despise the lechem haqqeloqel (the worthless/miserable bread) — meaning the manna. The word qeloqel (contemptible, light, worthless) from the root q-l-l shows profound ingratitude. Their nefesh qatsah (their soul loathed/was disgusted) uses visceral rejection language.
Seraph ('burning one') describes the burning effect of their bite. The same root produces the seraphim of Isaiah's throne vision (Isa 6:2), suggesting a connection between the serpentine and the divine-messenger. The Negev region is known for its dangerous snake species.
Translator Notes
The hannechashim hasseraphim (the burning serpents) — seraph means 'burning,' referring either to the burning sensation of their venom or to their fiery appearance. The same root s-r-ph gives us the seraphim of Isaiah 6. The serpents are sent by God (vayshalach YHWH) as a direct consequence of the people's complaint — divine judgment matching the offense.
The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned — we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD to remove the serpents from us." So Moses prayed on behalf of the people.
KJV Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Confession (chatanu — we have sinned) and intercession (hitpallel — pray) are the two responses to judgment. The people acknowledge the sin precisely: dibbarnuv baYHWH vavakh (we spoke against the LORD and against you). Moses' intercession (vayyitpallel Mosheh be'ad ha'am — Moses prayed on behalf of the people) follows the same pattern as his intercessions in Exodus 32 and Numbers 14.
The LORD said to Moses, "Make yourself a serpent figure and mount it on a pole. Then anyone who has been bitten, when they look at it, will live."
KJV And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
The nes (pole/standard) is the same word used for a military banner or signal flag. Its dual meaning — a physical pole and a sign/miracle — layers the event: the serpent on the pole is both a practical display and a miraculous sign of divine healing.
Translator Notes
God does not remove the serpents but provides a remedy within the crisis. The saraph (burning/venomous figure) on a nes (pole, standard, banner) becomes a means of healing through the act of looking (ra'ah). The cure requires intentional gaze — an act of faith in the divine instruction. Jesus references this passage in John 3:14-15, drawing a parallel to his own being 'lifted up.'
So Moses made a bronze serpent and mounted it on the pole. Whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the bronze serpent and survive.
KJV And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
The deliberate wordplay between nachash (serpent) and nechoshet (bronze/copper) ties the material to the creature it represents. Bronze was associated with both durability and fiery color — visually evoking the 'burning' serpents.
Translator Notes
Moses fashions a nechash nechoshet (serpent of bronze/copper) — note the wordplay between nachash (serpent) and nechoshet (bronze/copper), both from related roots. The bronze serpent becomes an ongoing remedy: im nashakh hannachash et-ish (if the serpent bit a man) vehibbit (and he looked) — healing required active participation, not passive proximity. This object later became an idol and was destroyed by King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4), who called it Nehushtan.
KJV And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The itinerary resumes after the serpent episode. Ovot (Oboth) is an encampment site in the Transjordan region, marking Israel's southward detour around Edom before turning north toward Moab. The name may relate to ov ('spirit medium' or 'waterskin'), though its etymology is uncertain.
They traveled from Oboth and camped at Iye-Abarim in the wilderness east of Moab, toward the sunrise.
KJV And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ije-abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Iyyei ha'Avarim ('ruins of the crossings' or 'heaps of Abarim') is in the wilderness facing Moab from the east (mimmizrach hashemesh — from the rising of the sun). The Abarim range, whose name means 'crossings' or 'regions beyond,' is the mountain chain from which Moses will later view the Promised Land (Num 27:12).
Numbers 21:12
מִשָּׁ֖ם נָסָ֑עוּ וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ בְּנַ֥חַל זָֽרֶד׃
From there they traveled on and camped at the Wadi Zered.
KJV From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Nachal Zered (Wadi Zered, or 'valley of Zered') marks a significant geographic boundary. Deuteronomy 2:13-14 identifies the crossing of Zered as the point when the old wilderness generation had fully died out — 38 years after Kadesh-Barnea. The name may derive from a root meaning 'luxuriant growth.'
From there they traveled on and camped on the far side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends from the Amorite border — for the Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
KJV From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Arnon River (Wadi Mujib in modern Jordan) is a deep gorge that served as the border between Moab to the south and Amorite territory to the north. Israel positions itself me'ever Arnon (on the far side of the Arnon) — in the wilderness strip emerging from Amorite territory. This geographic precision matters because Israel was forbidden to attack Moab (Deut 2:9).
This is why the Book of the Wars of the LORD says: "Waheb in Suphah, and the ravines of the Arnon,
KJV Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
סֵפֶר מִלְחֲמֹת יְהוָהsepher milchamot YHWH
"Book of the Wars of the LORD"—scroll of YHWH's battles, record of divine wars, military annals of the LORD
A lost Israelite text that apparently recorded victories attributed to God. Its citation here proves the Torah authors used earlier written sources and expected their audience to recognize the reference.
Translator Notes
The Sepher Milchamot YHWH (Book of the Wars of the LORD) is a now-lost ancient Israelite text cited here as a geographic/military source. The fragment begins with et-Vahev besuphah — extremely obscure words, possibly a place name 'Waheb in Suphah.' This is one of several lost books referenced in the Hebrew Bible (cf. Book of Jashar, Josh 10:13), demonstrating that biblical authors drew on earlier written sources.
and the slopes of the ravines that extend toward the settlement of Ar and lean against the border of Moab."
KJV And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The quotation from the lost book continues: eshed hannechalim (the slopes/watershed of the ravines) extends toward shevet Ar (the settlement of Ar — a Moabite city). The fragment describes the Arnon's ravine system near the Moabite border, establishing the geographic context of Israel's approach. The word eshed (slope, outpouring, watershed) occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.
From there they went to Beer — that is the well where the LORD told Moses, "Assemble the people and I will give them water."
KJV And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Be'erah means 'to the well' — the place name Be'er (Beer) simply means 'well.' Unlike the earlier water crises at Massah/Meribah (Ex 17, Num 20), this provision comes without complaint or striking a rock. God simply promises: ettenah lahem mayim (I will give them water). The simplicity of the gift contrasts with the previous episodes' conflict.
Then Israel sang this song: "Rise up, O well! Sing out to it!
KJV Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The shirah (song) uses the jussive ali (rise up! spring up!) — a command addressed to the well itself. Enu-lah (sing/respond to it) invites the people into antiphonal celebration. This is one of the few wilderness songs of joy rather than complaint, and one of the oldest poetic fragments in the Torah — a workers' well-digging song transformed into worship.
A well that leaders dug, that the nobles of the people excavated with the scepter, with their staffs." From the wilderness they went to Mattanah,
KJV The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The song celebrates leaders doing manual labor: sarim (princes/leaders) and nedivei ha'am (nobles of the people) dig with a mechoqeq (scepter/ruler's staff) and mish'anotam (their walking staffs). The image of rulers digging with royal implements inverts social expectations. The itinerary resumes: umimmidbar Mattanah (from the wilderness to Mattanah) — the name Mattanah means 'gift,' possibly alluding to the gift of water.
from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
KJV And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The place names form a theologically suggestive sequence: Mattanah ('gift'), Nachali'el ('valley/torrent of God'), Bamot ('high places'). Some rabbinic interpreters read this as an allegory: God's gift (Torah) becomes a torrent of divine wisdom, which then elevates its recipients to the heights. Whether or not the allegory is intended, the etymological progression is striking.
and from Bamoth to the valley in the territory of Moab, at the peak of Pisgah, which overlooks the wasteland.
KJV And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The itinerary reaches rosh haPisgah (the peak/head of Pisgah) — the same mountain from which Moses will later view the Promised Land (Deut 3:27, 34:1). It overlooks the Yeshimon (wasteland, desolation) — the barren landscape east of the Dead Sea. The destination foreshadows the narrative's climax: Israel is approaching the land of promise.
Israel sent envoys to Sihon, king of the Amorites, with this message:
KJV And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Israel initiates diplomacy: malakhim (messengers, envoys) are sent to Sichon melekh ha'Emori (Sihon king of the Amorites). This parallels the earlier embassy to Edom (20:14), but unlike Edom — whom Israel was forbidden to attack — the Amorites will face military consequences for their refusal. Sihon's kingdom controlled the territory between the Arnon and the Jabbok rivers.
"Let us pass through your land. We will not turn aside into fields or vineyards. We will not drink water from any well. We will travel along the King's Highway until we have crossed your territory."
KJV Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's high way, until we be past thy borders.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
דֶּרֶךְ הַמֶּלֶךְderekh hammelekh
"the King's Highway"—royal road, main highway, king's route, public thoroughfare
A major north-south trade and military route through Transjordan, still identifiable today. The name suggests a maintained, official road — the ancient equivalent of an interstate highway, under royal jurisdiction.
Translator Notes
The request mirrors the embassy to Edom (20:17) almost verbatim: no trespass into fields or vineyards (sadeh, kerem), no use of local wells (mei ve'er), travel restricted to derekh hammelekh (the King's Highway) — a major international trade route running north-south through Transjordan. The appeal promises minimal disruption and complete respect for sovereignty.
But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. Instead, Sihon assembled his entire fighting force and marched out against Israel into the wilderness. He arrived at Jahaz and engaged Israel in battle.
KJV And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Sihon's refusal (lo natan — he did not allow/give) escalates to military aggression: vayyeesof (he gathered) his entire army and vayyetse (went out) into the midbar (wilderness) to attack. He comes to Yahtsa (Jahaz), a site later mentioned in the Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone). Sihon initiates the conflict — Israel's subsequent conquest is presented as a defensive response to Amorite aggression.
Israel struck him down with the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok — as far as the Ammonite border, because the Ammonite border was fortified.
KJV And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Israel defeats Sihon lefi charev (by the mouth/edge of the sword) and takes possession (vayyirash — dispossessed, inherited) of his territory. The boundaries are precise: from Arnon (southern border, modern Wadi Mujib) to Yabboq (Jabbok, northern border, modern Zarqa River), stopping at the Ammonite frontier. The note ki az gevul benei Ammon (because the Ammonite border was strong/fortified) explains why Israel didn't continue east — Ammon's defenses held, and God had forbidden attacking Ammon (Deut 2:19).
Israel captured all these cities and settled in all the Amorite cities — in Heshbon and all its surrounding towns.
KJV And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Cheshbon (Heshbon, modern Hesban in Jordan) was Sihon's capital city. The phrase bekhol benoteyha (in all its daughters — meaning its satellite towns or dependent villages) uses the common Hebrew metaphor of a capital 'mother city' with smaller 'daughter' settlements. Israel's settlement is immediate — they inhabit the conquered cities rather than destroying them.
Heshbon had been the capital of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the previous king of Moab and seized all his territory as far as the Arnon.
KJV For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This historical note explains why the territory between Arnon and Jabbok was Amorite rather than Moabite. Sihon had previously conquered it from melekh Mo'av harishon (the former/previous king of Moab). This detail is legally significant: Israel did not take Moabite land (forbidden by God) but Amorite land that Sihon had previously taken from Moab — a chain of conquest that removes any Moabite territorial claim.
That is why the ballad-singers say: "Come to Heshbon! Let the city of Sihon be rebuilt and established!
KJV Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
הַמֹּשְׁלִיםhammoshelim
"ballad-singers"—proverb-speakers, composers of parables, poets, ballad-singers, those who recite mashal
From mashal — a flexible genre encompassing proverbs, parables, taunting poems, and victory ballads. These are professional or traditional poets whose compositions became part of the cultural record.
Translator Notes
The moshelim (proverb-speakers, ballad-singers, those who compose mashal — a poetic genre) are cited for an ancient war song. The song appears to have originally celebrated Sihon's conquest of Moab, but is now cited with dramatic irony — Sihon's own victory song becomes the backdrop for his defeat. Bo'u Cheshbon (Come to Heshbon!) was once a triumphant Amorite rallying cry.
For fire burst out from Heshbon, a blaze from the stronghold of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab and the rulers of the heights of the Arnon.
KJV For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The ballad describes Sihon's earlier conquest of Moab in military metaphor: esh (fire) and lehavah (flame/blaze) represent his destructive campaign sweeping from Heshbon southward. It consumed Ar Mo'av (Ar of Moab, a major Moabite city) and the ba'alei bamot Arnon (lords/masters of the Arnon heights) — Moabite rulers controlling the high ground along the Arnon ravine.
Devastation for you, Moab! You are ruined, people of Chemosh! He abandoned his sons as refugees and his daughters to captivity under Sihon, king of the Amorites.
KJV Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
כְּמוֹשׁKemosh
"Chemosh"—the national god of Moab, Moabite deity
Chemosh was the chief deity of Moab, attested in the 9th-century BCE Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone). The song's mockery implies Chemosh's impotence — he could not prevent his people's defeat, contrasting with the LORD who fights for Israel.
Translator Notes
The taunt song mocks Moab's god: am-Kemosh (people of Chemosh — Moab's national deity, known from the Mesha Stele). Chemosh natan (he gave over) his own worshipers — sons as peleitim (refugees, fugitives) and daughters to shevit (captivity). The implication: Chemosh was powerless to protect his people. The song's original purpose was Amorite propaganda; its citation here adds another layer of irony.
We shot them down — Heshbon is destroyed all the way to Dibon! We laid waste as far as Nophah, which extends to Medeba."
KJV We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The song's conclusion is textually difficult: vanniram (we shot/hurled at them) may also be parsed as 'their dominion' (niram — their lamp/dominion has perished). The geographic sweep of destruction runs from Heshbon to Divon (Dibon, the Moabite capital known from the Mesha Stele), to Nophach (Nophah, location uncertain), to Medeva (Medeba, modern Madaba). The song maps Sihon's complete conquest of Moabite territory.
Numbers 21:31
וַיֵּ֙שֶׁב֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּאֶ֖רֶץ הָאֱמֹרִֽי׃
So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.
KJV Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
A concise summary: vayyeshev Yisra'el be'erets ha'Emori (Israel settled in the land of the Amorites). This land — previously Moabite, then Amorite, now Israelite — will become the inheritance of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh (Num 32). The chain of possession matters legally and theologically.
Moses sent scouts to reconnoiter Jazer. They captured its surrounding towns and dispossessed the Amorites living there.
KJV And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Moses sends scouts leraggel (to spy out, reconnoiter) Ya'zer (Jazer) — a strategic town. They capture its benoteyha (daughter-towns, satellite settlements) and vayyoresh (dispossessed) the resident Amorites. The ketiv/qere note in the Hebrew — vayyirash/vayyoresh — reflects a textual variant between 'he inherited' and 'he dispossessed,' both from the root y-r-sh which carries both meanings simultaneously.
They turned and advanced along the road to Bashan. Og, king of Bashan, marched out against them — he and his entire army — to give battle at Edrei.
KJV And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
עוֹג מֶלֶךְ הַבָּשָׁןOg melekh haBashan
"Og, king of Bashan"—Og ruler of Bashan, the Bashanite king
Og is remembered as a giant — Deuteronomy 3:11 describes his iron bedstead as nine cubits long (roughly 13.5 feet). His defeat became a touchstone of God's power, celebrated in Psalms 135:11 and 136:20.
Translator Notes
The campaign moves north: derekh haBashan (the road to Bashan — the fertile plateau region of northern Transjordan, modern Golan Heights area). Og melekh haBashan — a legendary figure later described as the last of the Rephaim giants (Deut 3:11) — meets them at Edre'i (Edrei, modern Der'a in Syria). Like Sihon, Og initiates the conflict by marching out (vayyetse) to battle.
The LORD said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you — him, his entire army, and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon."
KJV And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
God's command al-tira oto (do not fear him) suggests Og's reputation was genuinely intimidating — a giant king with a powerful army. The perfect tense natatti (I have given — already given) treats the victory as accomplished fact before the battle occurs. The parallel to Sihon (ka'asher asita leSichon — as you did to Sihon) frames the two Transjordan conquests as a matched pair of divine victories.
They struck him down along with his sons and his entire army until no survivor remained, and they took possession of his land.
KJV So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The chapter ends with total victory: vayyakku oto (they struck him down) — Og, his sons (banav), and all his people, ad-bilti hish'ir-lo sarid (until not a survivor remained to him). The verb vayyireshu (they took possession of, they dispossessed) closes the double conquest of Transjordan — Sihon's territory from Arnon to Jabbok, and now Og's Bashan extending further north. Israel enters the Balaam narrative (ch 22) as a military power that has defeated two kings.