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Easy-to-Read Version

Deuteronomy 3:11

(Og was the king of Bashan. He was one of the few Rephaites still alive. His bed was made from iron, and it was over 13 feet long and 6 feet wide. The bed is still in the city of Rabbah, where the Ammonites live.)

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Bashan;   Bed;   Cubit;   Iron;   Israel;   Og;   Rabbah;   Rephaim;   Reubenites;   Thompson Chain Reference - Beds;   Cubits;   Giants;   Iron;   Og;   Rabbah;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Beds;   Desert, Journey of Israel through the;   Iron;   Measures;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Bed;   Giants;   Iron;   Og;   Rabbath;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Ammon;   Cubit;   Measurement;   Palestine;   Rabbah;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Amorites;   Bed;   Bedstead;   Giants;   Og;   Rabbah;   Sihon;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Bed;   Giants;   Og;   Rabbah;   Weights and Measures;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Bed, Bedroom;   Beth-Rapha;   Giants;   Iron;   Og;   Rabbah;   Rabbath;   Rephaim;   Weights and Measures;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Alexandria;   Giant;   Mining and Metals;   Og;   Rabbah;   Rephaim;   Weights and Measures;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Bed, Bedstead;   Cubit;   Giant;   Og;   Rabbah, Rabbath ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Og;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Giant;   Hauran;   Measures;   Og;   Rabbah;   Rephaim;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Bedstead;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Argob;   Bible;   Giant;   Iron;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bed;   Cubit;   Deuteronomy;   Giants;   Iron (1);   Og;   Pentateuch;   Rabbah;   Remnant;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Beds;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Abraham;   Bed;   Furniture, Household;   Giants;   Iron;   Og;   Parable;   Pentateuch;   Rabbah (Rabbath);  

Parallel Translations

Complete Jewish Bible
‘Og king of Bashan was the last survivor of the Refa'im. His bed was made of iron; it is still in Rabbah with the people of ‘Amon. It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide, using the normal cubit [thirteen-and-a-half by six feet].
Darby Translation
For only Og the king of Bashan remained of the residue of giants: behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? its length was nine cubits, and its breadth four cubits, after the cubit of a man.
Hebrew Names Version
(For only `Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Refa'im; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; isn't it in Rabbah of the children of `Ammon? nine cubits was the length of it, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.)
JPS Old Testament (1917)
For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.--
American Standard Version
(For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.)
Bible in Basic English
(For Og, king of Bashan, was the last of all the Rephaim; his bed was made of iron; is it not in Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon? It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide, measured by the common cubit.)
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For only Og kyng of Basan, remayned of the remnaunt of the giauntes, whose bed was a bed of iron: And is it not yet at Rabbath among ye children of Ammon? Nine cubites doth the length therof contayne, and foure cubites the breadth of it, after the cubite of a man.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For onely Og King of Bashan remained of the remnant of the gyants, whose bed was a bed of yron: is it not at Rabbath among the children of Ammon? the length thereof is nine cubites, and foure cubites the breadth of it, after the cubite of a man.
George Lamsa Translation
For only Og the king of Mathnin remained of the remnant of the giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; and behold, it is in Rabbath of the children of Ammon, nine cubits long and four cubits broad, according to the measure of the cubit of giants.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For only Og the king of Basan was left of the Raphain: behold, his bed was a bed of iron; behold, it is in the chief city of the children of Ammon; the length of it is nine cubits, and the breadth of it four cubits, according to the cubit of a man.
English Revised Version
(For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.)
The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible
(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
Amplified Bible
(For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the [giants known as the] Rephaim. Behold, his bed frame was a bed frame of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? It was nine cubits (12 ft.) long and four cubits (6 ft.) wide, using the cubit of a man [the forearm to the end of the middle finger].)
Contemporary English Version
King Og was the last of the Rephaim, and his coffin is in the town of Rabbah in Ammon. It is made of hard black rock and is thirteen and a half feet long and six feet wide.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, only Og, king of Bashan was left remaining of the remnant of the giants, lo! his bedstead, was a bedstead of iron, is not, the same, in Rabbath of the sons of Ammon? nine cubits, the length thereof and four cubits, the breadth thereof, by the fore-arm of a man.
Lexham English Bible
(For only Og, king of Bashan, was left from the remnant of the Rephaim. Indeed, his bedstead—it was a bedstead of iron. It is in Rabbah of the Ammonites. Nine cubits is its length, and four cubits is its width according to the cubit of a man.)
Good News Translation
(King Og was the last of the Rephaim. His coffin, made of stone, was six feet wide and almost fourteen feet long, according to standard measurements. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)
King James Version (1611)
For onely Og King of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedsted was a bedsted of yron: is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? Nine cubites was the length thereof, and foure cubites the breadth of it, after the cubite of a man.
King James Version
For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
THE MESSAGE
Og king of Bashan was the last remaining Rephaite. His bed, made of iron, was over thirteen feet long and six wide. You can still see it on display in Rabbah of the People of Ammon.
New International Version (1984)
(Only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
New English Translation
Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaites. (It is noteworthy that his sarcophagus was made of iron. Does it not, indeed, still remain in Rabbath of the Ammonites? It is thirteen and a half feet long and six feet wide according to standard measure.)
New International Version
(Og king of Bashan was the last of the Rephaites. His bed was decorated with iron and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
New American Standard Bible
(For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron; it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. Its length was nine cubits, and its width four cubits by the usual cubit.)
New King James Version
For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants. [fn] Indeed his bedstead was an iron bedstead. (Is it not in Rabbah of the people of Ammon?) Nine cubits is its length and four cubits its width, according to the standard cubit.
New Living Translation
(King Og of Bashan was the last survivor of the giant Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)
Literal Translation
For only Og the king of Bashan remained of the rest of the giants. Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, nine cubits long and four cubits broad, by the cubit of a man?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For onely Og the kynge of Basan remayned ouer of the giauntes. Beholde, his yron bed is here at Rabath amonge the children of Ammon, nyne cubites longe, and foure cubites brode, after the cubite of a man.
Update Bible Version
(For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; look, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the width of it, after the cubit of a man.)
Webster's Bible Translation
For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead [was] a bedstead of iron; [is] it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits [was] the length of it, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
World English Bible
(For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; isn't it in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length of it, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.)
Douay-Rheims Bible
For only Og king of Basan remained of the race of the giants. His bed of iron is shewn, which is in Rabbath of the children of Ammon, being nine cubits long, and four broad after the measure of the cubit of a man’s hand.
Revised Standard Version
(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Reph'aim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)
New Life Bible
(For only Og king of Bashan was left of the children of the Rephaim. His bed was made of iron. It is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. It was as long as five steps, and as wide as two long steps.)
New Revised Standard
(Now only King Og of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. In fact his bed, an iron bed, can still be seen in Rabbah of the Ammonites. By the common cubit it is nine cubits long and four cubits wide.)
New Century Version
(Only Og king of Bashan was left of the few Rephaites. His bed was made of iron, and it was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide! It is still in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)
Christian Standard Bible®
(Only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed was made of iron. Isn't it in Rabbah of the Ammonites? It is 13 feet six inches long and six feet wide by a standard measure.)
English Standard Version
(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For Og aloone, kyng of Basan, was left of the generacioun of giauntis; and his yrun bed is schewid, which is in Rabath, of the sones of Amon, and hath nyne cubitis of lengthe, and foure cubitis of breede, at the mesure of a cubit of mannus hond.
Young's Literal Translation
for only Og king of Bashan had been left of the remnant of the Rephaim; lo, his bedstead [is] a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the sons of Ammon? nine cubits its length, and four cubits its breadth, by the cubit of a man.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
(For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was an iron bedstead; it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. Its length was nine cubits and its width four cubits by ordinary cubit.)

Contextual Overview

1 "We turned and went on the road to Bashan. King Og of Bashan and all his men came out to fight against us at Edrei. 2 The Lord said to me, ‘Don't be afraid of Og. I have decided to give him to you. I will give you all his men and his land. You will defeat him just as you defeated Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon.' 3 "So the Lord our God let us defeat King Og of Bashan. We destroyed him and all his men. Not one of them was left. 4 Then we took all the cities that belonged to Og at that time. We took all the cities from Og's people—60 cities in the area of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan. 5 All these cities were very strong. They had high walls, gates, and strong bars on the gates. There were also many towns that did not have walls. 6 We destroyed them just as we destroyed the cities of King Sihon of Heshbon. We completely destroyed every city and all the people in them, even the women and the babies. 7 But we kept all the cattle and the valuable things from the cities for ourselves. 8 "In that way we took the land from the two Amorite kings. We took that land on the east side of the Jordan River, from Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon. 9 (The people from Sidon call Mount Hermon, Sirion, but the Amorites called it Senir.) 10 We took all the cities in the high plain and all of Gilead. We took all of Bashan, all the way to Salecah and Edrei. Salecah and Edrei were cities of Og's kingdom of Bashan."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
giants Genesis 14:5
Rabbath
2 Samuel 12:26; Jeremiah 49:2; Ezekiel 21:20; Amos 1:14
Rabbah
nine cubits.
1 Samuel 17:4; Amos 2:9
Reciprocal: Genesis 6:4 - giants;  Genesis 6:15 - cubits;  Numbers 13:33 - saw the giants;  Numbers 21:34 - Fear him;  Deuteronomy 2:21 - great;  Deuteronomy 3:2 - Fear;  Joshua 12:4 - the remnant;  Joshua 12:6 - gave it;  Joshua 13:12 - Og;  Joshua 13:25 - Rabbah;  2 Samuel 11:1 - Rabbah;  2 Samuel 12:27 - Rabbah;  2 Samuel 21:16 - of the sons;  1 Chronicles 11:23 - five;  1 Chronicles 20:1 - Rabbah;  Ezekiel 40:5 - by;  Ezekiel 40:10 - they three;  John 21:8 - cubits;  Revelation 13:18 - the number

Cross-References

Genesis 4:10
Then the Lord said, "What have you done? You killed your brother and the ground opened up to take his blood from your hands. Now his blood is shouting to me from the ground. So you will be cursed from this ground.
Psalms 50:21
When you did these things, I said nothing. So you thought that I was just like you. But I will not be quiet any longer. I will correct you and make clear what I have against you.
Romans 3:20
because no one can be made right with God by following the law. The law only shows us our sin.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants,.... The meaning seems to be, either that he was the only one that was left of the race of the giants the Ammonites found when they took possession of this country, Deuteronomy 2:20 or that was left when the Amorites took it from the Ammonites; and who having by some means or other ingratiated himself into their affections, because of his stature, strength, and courage, and other qualifications they might discern in him, made him their king:

behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron: his body being so large and bulky, he might think it most proper and safest for him to have a bedstead made of iron to lie upon, or to prevent noxious insects harbouring in it; nor was it unusual to have bedsteads made of other materials than wood, as of gold, silver, and ivory; See Gill on Amos 6:4. Some learned men have been of opinion, that the beds of Typho in Syria, made mention of by Homer, refer to this bedstead of Og:

is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? which was the royal city of the Ammonites, in the times of David, 2 Samuel 12:26, now called Philadelphia, as Jerom says. This bedstead might be either sent thither by Og, before the battle at Edrei, for safety, or rather might be sold by the Israelites to the inhabitants of Rabbath, who kept it, as a great curiosity:

nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man; a common cubit, so that it was four yards and a half long, and two yards broad. Onkelos renders it, after the king's cubit; and the king's cubit at Babylon, according to Herodotus, was larger by three fingers than the common one; such as the cubit in Ezekiel 40:5, which was a cubit and an hand's breadth; and this makes the dimensions of the bedstead yet larger. And by this judgment may be made of the tallness of Og's stature, though this is not always a sure rule to go by; for Alexander, when in India, ordered his soldiers to make beds of five cubits long, to be left behind them, that they might be thought to be larger men than they were, as Diodorus Siculus and Curtius relate; but there is little reason to believe that Og's bedstead was made with such a view. Maimonides observes, that a bed in common is a third part larger than a man; so that Og, according to this way of reckoning, was six cubits high, and his stature doubly larger than a common man's; but less than a third part may well be allowed to a bed, which will make him taller still; the height of Og is reckoned by Wolfius to be about thirteen feet eleven inches of Paris measure.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Giants - Or Rephaim: see the marginal reference note.

A bedstead of iron - The “iron” was probably the black basalt of the country, which not only contains a large proportion, about 20 percent, of iron, but was actually called “iron,” and is still so regarded by the Arabians. Iron was indeed both known and used, principally for tools (see e. g. Deuteronomy 19:5 and compare Genesis 4:22 note), at the date in question by the Semitic people of Palestine and the adjoining countries; but bronze was the ordinary metal of which weapons, articles of furniture, etc., were made.

The word translated “bedstead” is derived from a root signifying “to unite” or “bind together,” and so “to arch” or “cover with a vault.” The word may then certainly mean “bier,” and perhaps does so in this passage. Modern travelers have discovered in the territories of Og sarcophagi as well as many other articles made of the black basalt of the country.

Is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? - Probably after the defeat and death of Og at Edrei the remnant of his army fled into the territory of the friendly Ammonites, and carried with them the corpse of the giant king.

After the cubit of a man - i. e. after the usual and ordinary cubit, counted as people are accustomed to count. Taking 18 inches to the cubit, the bedstead or sarcophagus would thus be from thirteen to fourteen feet long.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Og king of Bashan remained - Og was the last king of the Amorites; his kingdom appears to have taken its name from the hill of Bashan; the country has been since called Batanaea.

Remnant of giants - Of the Rephaim. See on Deuteronomy 2:10; (note), Deuteronomy 2:11; (note).

His bedstead was - of iron - Iron was probably used partly for its strength and durability, and partly to prevent noxious vermin from harbouring in it.

Is it not in Rabbath, of the children of Ammon? - The bedstead was probably taken in some battle between the Ammonites and Amorites, in which the former had gained the victory. The bedstead was carried a trophy and placed in Rabbath, which appears, from 2 Samuel 12:26, to have been the royal city of the children of Ammon.

Nine cubits was the length - four cubits the breadth - Allowing the bedstead to have been one cubit longer than Og, which is certainly sufficient, and allowing the cubit to be about eighteen inches long, for this is perhaps the average of the cubit of a man, then Og was twelve feet high. This may be deemed extraordinary, and perhaps almost incredible, and therefore many commentators have, according to their fancy, lengthened the bedstead and shortened the man, making the former one-third longer than the person who lay on it, that they might reduce Og to six cubits; but even in this way they make him at least nine feet high.

On this subject the rabbins have trifled most sinfully. I shall give one specimen. In the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel on Numbers 21:33-35, it is said that "Og having observed that the camp of the Israelites extended six miles, he went and tore up a mountain six miles in its base, and put it on his head, and carried it towards the camp, that he might throw it on the Israelites and destroy them; but the word of the Lord prepared a worm, which bored a hole in the mountain over his head, so that it fell down upon his shoulders: at the same time his teeth growing out in all directions, stuck into the mountain, so that he could not cast it off his head. Moses, (who was himself ten cubits high), seeing Og thus entangled, took an axe ten cubits long, and having leaped ten cubits in height, struck Og on the ankle bone, so that he fell and was slain."

From this account the distance from the sole of Og's foot to his ankle was thirty cubits in length! I give this as a very slight specimen of rabbinical comment. I could quote places in the Talmud in which Og is stated to be several miles high! This relation about Og I suppose to be also an historical note added by a subsequent hand.


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