Deuteronomy 3:1
in Deuteronomy 3Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet us in battle at Edrei.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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, unto battle at Edrei.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 3
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan
on Deuteronomy 3:1-3
The account runs close to Numbers 21:33-35, down to the words "Do not fear him" and the charge to treat Og as Sihon. Here Moses tells it in the second person to the children of the men who died in the wilderness, handing the battle over as evidence. Edrei sat at the southern edge of Bashan, and Og left his walls to meet Israel there.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan,....
It was wonderful that he did not take warning by the ruin of Sihon, and send to desire conditions of peace; but he trusted to his own strength, and so was hardened to his destruction. Note, Those that are not awakened by the judgments of God upon others, but persist in their defiance of heaven, are ripening apace for the like judgments upon themselves, Jer. iii.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
ונפן ונעל AND WE TURNED AND WENT UP — every journey towards the north (from the wilderness towards Canaan) is “uphill”.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַנֵּ֣פֶן | vanefen | and we turned | H6437 → | 135 times |
| וַנַּ֔עַל | vanaal | and we went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| דֶּ֖רֶךְ | derekh | [the] way of | H1870 → | 707 times |
| הַבָּשָׁ֑ן | habashan | <the> Bashan | H1316 → | 60 times |
| וַיֵּצֵ֣א | vaiyetze' | and he came forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| עוֹג֩ | ʾog | Og | H5747 → | 22 times |
| מֶֽלֶךְ־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| הַבָּשָׁ֨ן | habashan | <the> Bashan | H1316 → | 60 times |
| לִקְרָאתֵ֜נוּ | likratenu | to meet us | H7122 → | 139 times |
| ה֧וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עַמּ֛וֹ | amo | people his | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה | lamilchamah | for <the> battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
| אֶדְרֶֽעִי׃ | ʾedrei | Edrei | H154 → | 8 times |
וַנֵּ֣פֶןand we turned
vanefenH6437 →135 times
וַנַּ֔עַלand we went up
vanaalH5927 →890 times
דֶּ֖רֶךְ[the] way of
derekhH1870 →707 times
הַבָּשָׁ֑ן<the> Bashan
habashanH1316 →60 times
וַיֵּצֵ֣אand he came forth
vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times
עוֹג֩Og
ʾogH5747 →22 times
מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of
melekh-H4428 →2525 times
הַבָּשָׁ֨ן<the> Bashan
habashanH1316 →60 times
לִקְרָאתֵ֜נוּto meet us
likratenuH7122 →139 times
ה֧וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
עַמּ֛וֹpeople his
amoH5971 →1873 times
לַמִּלְחָמָ֖הfor <the> battle
lamilchamahH4421 →320 times
אֶדְרֶֽעִי׃Edrei
ʾedreiH154 →8 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 1:4This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.
it leads to
- Numbers 21:21–35
Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 12:2–6
Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. He ruled from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along the middle of the valley, up to the Jabbok River (the border of…
- Joshua 13:10–12
and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the Ammonites;
- Deuteronomy 2:26
So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying,
- Nehemiah 9:22
You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.
- Numbers 21:21–35
Through
Psalms 136:20and Og king of Bashan— His loving devotion endures forever.
it leads to
- Numbers 21:33
Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet them in battle at Edrei.
- Deuteronomy 3:1–29
Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet us in battle at Edrei.
- Numbers 21:33
Through
Deuteronomy 29:7When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we defeated them.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 2:24
“Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in…
- Deuteronomy 2:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
