3 “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 2 But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ 3 So the Lord our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. 4 And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. 6 And we devoted them to destruction,1 as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every city, men, women, and children. 7 But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. 8 So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir), 10 all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 (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 cubits2 was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.3)
12 “When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning at Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities. 13 The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of Rephaim. 14 Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) 15 To Machir I gave Gilead, 16 and to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, the border of the Ammonites; 17 the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.
18 “And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel. 19 Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, 20 until the Lord gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the Lord your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’ 21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. 22 You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’
23 “And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, 24 ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? 25 Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. 28 But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ 29 So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.”
Section Overview: Conquest of Transjordan; Tribal Allotments in Transjordan; Final Prayer of Moses
The land of Bashan was a mountain range extending north from the Yarmuk River, just south of the Sea of Galilee, to the range of Mount Herman and east to the Hauran Mountains (Jebel Druze). It is not certain if the mountains to the west and east of this range were considered part of Bashan. The Israelites did not conquer the lands of Maacah and Geshur on the western side (known as the Golan Heights in modern Israel). The land of Bashan was ruled by the Amorite King Og, remembered for his size as one of the Rephaim.
Og, like Sihon, is not known from references outside of the Bible. Ashtaroth, one of the capitals of Og, is known from Egyptian execration texts (names of enemies were inscribed on a pot or statuette that was smashed). An Ugaritic text speaks of a god Rapha enthroned in Ashtaroth and ruling in Edrei, a text that reads remarkably like Joshua 12:4. Sihon’s capital, Heshbon, is preserved in the name of Tell Hesban in Jordan, at the northern edge of the Moabite plain. The kingdoms of Sihon and Og constituted most of the territory east of the Jordan. Israelite victory over these two kings was long celebrated in Israelite memory (Pss. 135:10–12; 136:17–22). This conquered territory is described in greater or lesser detail three times in Deuteronomy 3, indicating that this takeover was very significant.
The speeches of Moses explain that conquest and settlement were part of one process. The tribes of Reuben and Gad as well as half the tribe of Manasseh began to settle on the east side of the Jordan before the conquest of Canaan west of the Jordan. The condition of that settlement was that they support the other tribes in the conquest of their territory. Conquest and settlement were also part of the same process on the west side of Jordan. When Joshua was an old man, much of the inheritance of Israel was not yet in its possession (Josh. 13:1). God fought for Israel in conquering main centers such as Heshbon and Ashtaroth in Transjordan and Jericho, Ai, and Hazor west of the Jordan. These were key battles allowing Israel to move into the land, but conquest continued long after that to enable the people to settle in their promised inheritance. Jerusalem was first conquered by David about two hundred years later.
Section Outline
I.B. Wilderness Journeys (1:6–3:29) . . .
2. Journeys until Beth-peor (2:2–3:22) . . .
c. Possession of Transjordan (3:1–22)
(1) Conquest of Og (3:1–7)
(2) Territory of Transjordan (3:8–11)
(3) Tribal Allotments of Transjordan (3:12–17)
(4) Preparations to Cross the Jordan (3:18–22)
3. Prayer of Moses (3:23–29)
Response
Settlement of the Transjordan brings to a conclusion the saga of the life of Moses. It is a story of 120 years (Deut. 34:7), most of it lived in the wilderness. According to Stephen, Moses was forty years old when he intervened in Egypt, seeking to deliver the Israelites (Acts 7:23). This is likely a calculation based on the note that Moses was eighty years old when he returned to Egypt (Ex. 7:7). The life of Moses is divided into three periods, each of which involves some form of alienation. It begins in the Egyptian court in the care of Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses’ attempt to intervene on behalf of those he knows to be his people results in exile in Midian. While Moses is shepherding near Sinai, God appears to him in a fiery theophany and commissions him to lead Israel out of Egypt (Ex. 3:1–12). Moses returns to Sinai with the Israelites, as God makes a covenant with them.
After a two-year stay they arrive at Kadesh-barnea, but the rebellion there results in thirty-eight years in the Wilderness of Paran. With this background, one can appreciate the prayer of Moses in Deuteronomy 3:23–25. It would be a symbolic achievement just to step across the river, but this was not to be. The life goal of Moses is reduced to eighty years of wilderness wandering. During much of this time Moses must have concluded that his life work would end in ignominy. This was not merely his own shortcoming; it had to do with his association with this rebellious people (v. 26). His sacrifice on their behalf did not result in success during his lifetime.
Psalm 90 is marked as a prayer of Moses. It is the only psalm associated with Moses, but its strategic place in the psalter indicates that the Mosaic promise became very significant in later times. Psalm 90 begins the fourth division of the psalter, following a psalm that laments the failure of Israel and concludes with a plea for deliverance. The failure of the Davidic kings leads to a focus on Moses and the Promised Land. The fourth section of the psalter ends with Psalms 105–106, which recall the exodus and the failure of Israel. Within this section Psalms 93–100 focus on the rule of God as King, Judge, and Savior. The fourth division is further characterized by remembering the mercy shown to Moses (Psalm 103) and the beauty of creation ruled by God (Psalm 104). Psalm 90 is a fitting description of the life of Moses, as it begins with a lament of the fleeting nature of human life, no matter how many years a person may live. The experience of human life is toil, and it is lived under judgment that is the consequence of human failure. The lament ends in a prayer for mercy (Ps. 90:14–15) and asks that the reward of toil may be equal to the suffering endured. The prayer is that the labor of human life may somehow come to be a part of the work of God (Ps. 90:16–17), even when it is not evident how this could be the result.
The life of Moses is exemplary as the fulfillment of this prayer. Moses dies never having experienced the rest he worked for, that which he sacrificed his life to achieve. Yet his eighty years in the wilderness result in his being remembered as the prophet of Israel, probably influenced by the promise that God would provide an order of prophets for Israel like Moses (Deut. 18:15). At the time of his death at Mount Nebo, Moses could not have known what would become of his life sacrifice. He died in faith, knowing that God would fulfill his promise but also knowing that the covenant he enjoined on Israel would be broken, that they would ultimately experience the judgment of exile. Moses could not know that this Torah he left them would become the foundation of revelation that would endure even after Israel rejected its teaching. God indeed took the work of his hands and established it as part of the work of an eternal kingdom.