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Deuteronomy

About this book
Chapter 3

1 Next we set out on the route to Bashan, but King Og of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 2 The Lord, however, said to me, “Don’t be afraid of him because I have already given him, his whole army, and his land to you. You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon.” 3 So the Lord our God did indeed give over to us King Og of Bashan and his whole army, and we struck them down until not a single survivor was left. 4 We captured all his cities at that time—there was not a town we did not take from them—sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the dominion of Og in Bashan. 5 All of these cities were fortified by high walls, gates, and locking bars; in addition there were a great many open villages. 6 We put all of these under divine judgment just as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon—every occupied city, including women and children. 7 But all the livestock and plunder from the cities we kept for ourselves. 8 So at that time we took the land of the two Amorite kings in the Transjordan from Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion and the Amorites call it Senir), 10 all the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 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 13½ feet long and 6 feet wide according to standard measure.)⁠ 12 This is the land we brought under our control at that time: The territory extending from Aroer by the Wadi Arnon and half the Gilead hill country with its cities I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites. 13 The rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. (All the region of Argob, that is, all Bashan, is called the land of Rephaim.⁠ 14 Jair, son of Manasseh, took all the Argob region as far as the border with the Geshurites and Maacathites—namely Bashan—and called it by his name, Havvoth Jair, which it retains to this very day.) 15 I gave Gilead to Machir. 16 To the Reubenites and Gadites I allocated the territory extending from Gilead as far as Wadi Arnon (the exact middle of the wadi was a boundary) all the way to the Wadi Jabbok, the Ammonite border. 17 The rift valley and the Jordan River were also a border, from the Sea of Kinnereth to the sea of the rift valley (that is, the Salt Sea), beneath the slopes of Pisgah to the east. 18 At that time I instructed you as follows: “The Lord your God has given you this land for your possession. You warriors are to cross over equipped for battle before your fellow Israelites. 19 But your wives, children, and livestock (of which I know you have many) may remain in the cities I have given you. 20 You must fight until the Lord gives your countrymen victory as he did you and they take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them on the other side of the Jordan River.⁠ Then each of you may return to his own territory that I have given you.” 21 I also commanded Joshua at the same time, “You have seen everything the Lord your God did to these two kings; he will do the same to all the kingdoms where you are going. 22 Do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God will personally fight for you.” 23 Moreover, at that time I pleaded with the Lord, 24 “O, Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show me your greatness and strength. (What god in heaven or earth can rival your works and mighty deeds?) 25 Let me please cross over to see the good land on the other side of the Jordan River—this good hill country and the Lebanon!” 26 But the Lord was angry at me because of you and would not listen to me.⁠ Instead, he said to me, “Enough of that! Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and take a good look to the west, north, south, and east, for you will not be allowed to cross the Jordan. 28 Commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, because he will lead these people over and will enable them to inherit the land you will see.” 29 So we settled down in the valley opposite Beth Peor.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.108:23 and Deuteronomy 3:13

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Deuteronomy shares Ugarit's link between Bashan and the Rephaim, connecting memories of ancient inhabitants with traditions about honored dead ancestors.

Passages

KTU 1.108:23

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
And Anat the mighty drinks, lady of kingship, lady of dominion, lady of the high heavens, [la]dy of the crown; and Anat flies, soars [in] the high [heav]ens […] […] and El drinks […] […] king […] his god drinks […] […] Rashap […] arrives […] […] for Baal […] Rapiu, the eternal king, comes to you […] […] Rapiu, the eternal king, with strength, [Rapiu], the eternal king, with his might, with [his power], with his rule, with his splendor, for the Rephaim of the earth: your strength, your might, your power, your rule, your splendor, in the midst of Ugarit, […] the days of Shapshu and Yarih and the pleasant years of El.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Deuteronomy 3:13

Hebrew Bible
13 The rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. (All the region of Argob, that is, all Bashan, is called the land of Rephaim. 14 Jair, son of Manasseh, took all the Argob region as far as the border with the Geshurites and Maacathites—namely Bashan—and called it by his name, Havvoth Jair, which it retains to this very day.) 15 I gave Gilead to Machir. 16 To the Reubenites and Gadites I allocated the territory extending from Gilead as far as Wadi Arnon (the exact middle of the wadi was a boundary) all the way to the Wadi Jabbok, the Ammonite border. 17 The rift valley and the Jordan River were also a border, from the Sea of Kinnereth to the sea of the rift valley (that is, the Salt Sea), beneath the slopes of Pisgah to the east.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

References

“... II. Biblical geographical tradition agrees with the mythological and cultic data of the Ugaritic texts. According to KTU 1.108:1-3. the abode of the mlk 11m, the dead and deified king (DEL OutO LETE 1987:49-53), and his place of enthronement as rpll was in cJtrt-lzdry, in amazing correspondence with the Biblical tradition about the seat of king Og of Bashan, "one of the survivors of the Rephaim, who lived in Ashtarot and Edrei" (Josh 12:4 [NEB». This place Ism is also treated in KTU 1.100:41; 1.1 07: 17: and RS 86:2'235: 17 as the abode of the god mlk, the eponym of the mJkm, the deified kings, synonym of the rpllm. For the 'Canaanites' of Ugarit, the Bashan region, or a part of it, clearly represented 'HeU', the celestial and infernal abode of their deified dead kings, -Olympus and -Hades at the same time. It is possible that this localization of the Canaanite Hell is linked to the ancient tradi- tion of the place as the ancestral home of their dynasty, the rpllm. The Biblical text also recalls that "all Bashan used to be called the land/earth of the Rephaim" (Deut 3:13 [NEB]), an ambiguous wording that could equally be translated as "the 'hell' of the Rephaim". In any case, the link between Bnshan and the rpllInlRephaim in both tradi- tions speaks in favour of a very old usc of the two meanings of this last denomination: ancient dwellers of Northern Transjordan I inhabitants of 'Hell'. ...”
Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and and Pieter W. van der Horst, eds., Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, 2nd extensively rev. ed. (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 161–162.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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KTU 1.108:23 and Deuteronomy 3:13

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