Deuteronomy 3

Chapter context

What is happening in Deuteronomy 3?

memorycovenantlove of Godlaw

Deuteronomy 3 belongs to the early movement of the book, especially the section often described as retrospective sermons on the wilderness years. Deuteronomy restates and interprets the law through a series of charged covenant sermons that call Israel to remember, love, obey, and choose life. Read this chapter with the wider themes of memory, covenant, and love of God in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ 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 And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. ³ So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. ⁴ And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ⁵ All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many. ⁶ And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city. ⁷ But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves. ⁸ And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon; ⁹ (Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;) ¹⁰ All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ¹¹ 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. ¹² And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites. ¹³ And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants. ¹⁴ Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day. ¹⁵ And I gave Gilead unto Machir. ¹⁶ And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; ¹⁷ The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdothpisgah eastward. ¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war. ¹⁹ But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you; ²⁰ Until the LORD have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the LORD your God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you. ²¹ And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest. ²² Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you. ²³ And I besought the LORD at that time, saying, ²⁴ O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? ²⁵ I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. ²⁶ But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter. ²⁷ Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan. ²⁸ But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see. ²⁹ So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor.

Study helps

Glossary

Bashan Place v. 1, 3-4, 6, 10-11, 13-14: Biblical region. Modern identification: Saham al Jawlan.
Edrei Place v. 1, 10: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Daraa.
Amorites People v. 2, 8-9: Highlanders, or hillmen, the name given to the descendants of one of the sons of Canaan ( Gen. 14:7 ), called Amurra or Amurri in the Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions.
Heshbon Place v. 2, 6: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell Hesban.
Argob Place v. 4, 13-14: Stony heap, an “island,” as it has been called, of rock about 30 miles by 20, rising 20 or 30 feet above the table-land of Bashan. Modern identification: Argob.
City People v. 4, 6: The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain ( Gen. 4:17 ). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12).
Jordan Place v. 8, 17-18, 20-21, 25, 27-28: Biblical river. Modern identification: Jordan River.
Mount Hermon Place v. 8-9: Biblical mountain. Modern identification: Mount Hermon.
Valley of the Arnon Place v. 8, 12, 16: Biblical valley. Modern identification: Wadi Mujib.
Senir Place v. 9: Biblical mountain. Modern identification: Mount Hermon.
Gilead Place v. 10, 12-13, 15-16: Biblical region. Modern identification: Tell edh Dhahab esh Sherqiyeh.
Salecah Place v. 10: Wandering, a city of Bashan assigned to the half tribe of Manasseh ( Deut. 3:10 ; Josh. 12:5 ; 13:11 ), identified with Salkhad, about 56 miles east of Jordan.
Ammon Place v. 11, 16: Biblical region. Modern identification: Amman.
Rabbah Place v. 11: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Amman.
Aroer Place v. 12: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Arair.
Havvoth-jair Place v. 14: Biblical region. Modern identification: Qamm.
Jabbok Place v. 16: Biblical river. Modern identification: Zarqa River.
Arabah Place v. 17: A name given to Abi-albon, or, as elsewhere called, Abiel, one of David’s warriors ( 2 Sam. 23:31 ; 1 Chr. 11:32 ), probably as being an inhabitant of Arabah ( Josh. 15:61 ), a town in the wilderness of Judah.
Chinnereth Place v. 17: Biblical body of water. Modern identification: Tel Kinrot.
Pisgah Place v. 17, 27: A part, a mountain summit in the land of Moab, in the territory of Reuben, where Balak offered up sacrifices ( Num. 21:20 ; 23:14 ), and from which Moses viewed the promised land ( Deut. 3:27 ). Modern identification: Rujm Siyaghah.
Salt Sea Place v. 17: (Heb. yam), signifies (1) “the gathering together of the waters,” the ocean ( Gen. 1:10 ); (2) a river, as the Nile ( Isa. 19:5 ), the Euphrates ( Isa. 21:1 ; Jer. 51:36 ); (3) the Red Sea. Modern identification: Dead Sea.
Joshua Tribe v. 21, 28: Jehovah is his help, or Jehovah the Saviour. The son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, the successor of Moses as the leader of Israel. He is called Jehoshua in Num. 13:16 (A. V. ), and Jesus in Acts 7:45 and Heb. 4:8 .
Lebanon Place v. 25: Biblical region. Modern identification: Jezzine.
Beth-peor Place v. 29: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Khirbet Ayun Musa.