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Deuteronomy 3:11

in Deuteronomy 3

(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.)

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

(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.)

KJV

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.

This verse in Deuteronomy 3

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
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. Deu 19:5 and compare Gen 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.

This site's exposition

For only Og king of Bashan had remained

Og is the last of "the remnant of the Rephaim". His "bed of iron", about thirteen feet by six, stood in Rabbah for readers then to check.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

In Rabbath - Where it might now be, either because the Ammonites in some former battle with Og, had taken it as a spoil: or because after Og's death, the Ammonites desired to have this monument of his greatness, and the Israelites permitted them to carry it away to their chief city. Nine cubits - So his bed was four yards and an half long, and two yards broad.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

); his personal strength was extraordinary, a monument of which was preserved by the Ammonites in his bedstead, which was shown as a rarity in their chief city.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

To avoid this, some eminent critics take the Hebrew word rendered "bedstead" to mean "coffin." They think that the king of Bashan having been wounded in battle, fled to Rabbath, where he died and was buried; hence the dimensions of his "coffin" are given [DATHE, ROOS].

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

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 Deu 2:10 (note), Deu 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 2Sa 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. […]

The words behind it

25 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • רַק־only

    rak-H7535 →109 times

  • ע֞וֹגOg

    ogH5747 →22 times

  • מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of

    melekhH4428 →2525 times

  • הַבָּשָׁ֗ן<the> Bashan

    habashanH1316 →60 times

  • נִשְׁאַר֮he survived

    nisharH7604 →133 times

  • מִיֶּ֣תֶרfrom [the] remnant of

    miyeterH3499 →102 times

  • הָרְפָאִים֒the Rephaites

    harefaimH7497 →25 times

  • הִנֵּ֤הthere!

    hinehH2009 →843 times

  • עַרְשׂוֹ֙sarcophagus his

    arsoH6210 →

  • עֶ֣רֶשׂ[was] a sarcophagus of

    ʾeresH6210 →

  • בַּרְזֶ֔לiron

    barzelH1270 →76 times

  • הֲלֹ֣ה¿ not

    halohH3808 →5168 times

  • הִ֔וא[is] it

    hi'H1931 →1879 times

  • בְּרַבַּ֖תin Rabbah of

    berabatH7237 →

  • בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • עַמּ֑וֹןAmmon

    amonH5983 →106 times

  • תֵּ֧שַׁע[was] nine

    tesha'H8672 →

  • אַמּ֣וֹתcubits

    ʾamotH520 →247 times

  • אָרְכָּ֗הּlength its

    ʾarekahH753 →

  • וְאַרְבַּ֥עand [was] four

    vearba'H702 →

  • אַמּ֛וֹתcubits

    ʾamotH520 →247 times

  • רָחְבָּ֖הּbreadth its

    rachebahH7341 →

  • בְּאַמַּת־by a cubit of

    beamat-H520 →247 times

  • אִֽישׁ׃a human

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Amos 2:9

    Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like that of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and…

    it leads to

    • Job 18:16

      The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away.

    • Malachi 4:1

      “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…

  • Through

    Jeremiah 49:2

    Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned.…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 4:19

      My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm…

    • Ezekiel 21:20

      Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

  • Through

    Genesis 14:5

    In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 2:10–11

      (The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites.

    • Genesis 15:20

      Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,

    • Deuteronomy 1:4

      This 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.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 12:26

    Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 20:1–3

      In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, Joab led out the army and ravaged the land of the Ammonites. He came to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained…

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.