Deuteronomy 3 · Verse 11

Deuteronomy 3:11

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.
Deuteronomy 3:11, King James Version

Deuteronomy 3:11 in other translations

BSB(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.)
WEB(For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron. Isn’t it in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its width, after the cubit of a man.)
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.)
YLTfor only Og king of Bashan had been left of the remnant of the Rephaim; lo, his bedstead is a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the sons of Ammon? nine cubits its length, and four cubits its breadth, by the cubit of a man.
DARBYFor only Og the king of Bashan remained of the residue of giants: behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? its length was nine cubits, and its breadth four cubits, after the cubit of a man.
BBE(For Og, king of Bashan, was the last of all the Rephaim; his bed was made of iron; is it not in Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon? It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide, measured by the common cubit.)
WebsterFor 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 of it, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.

What does Deuteronomy 3:11 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
11. only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants--literally, "of Rephaim." He was not the last giant, but the only living remnant in the trans-jordanic country (Jos 15:14), of a certain gigantic race, supposed to be the most ancient inhabitants of Palestine. behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron--Although beds in the East are with the common people nothing more than a simple mattress, bedsteads are not unknown. They are in use among the great, who prefer them of iron or other metals, not only for strength and durability, but for the prevention of the troublesome insects which in warm climates commonly infest wood. Taking the cubit at half a yard, the bedstead of Og would measure thirteen and a half feet, so that as beds are usually a little larger than the persons who occupy them, the stature of the Amorite king may be estimated at about eleven or twelve feet; or he might have caused his bed to be made much larger than was necessary, as Alexander the Great did for each of his foot soldiers, to impress the Indians with an idea of the extraordinary strength and stature of his men [Le Clerc]. But how did Og's bedstead come to be in Rabbath, of the children of Ammon? In answer to this question, it has been said, that Og had, on the eve of engagement, conveyed it to Rabbath for safety. Or it may be that Moses, after capturing it, may have sold it to the Ammonites, who had kept it as an antiquarian curiosity till their capital was sacked in the time of David. This is a most unlikely supposition, and besides renders it necessary to consider the latter clause of this verse as an interpolation inserted long after the time of Moses. 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].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 11 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 2Sam 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. In the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel on Num 21:33-35, it is said that "Og having observed that the camp of the Israelites extended six miles, he went and tore up a mountain six miles in its base, and put it on his head, and carried it towards the camp, that he might throw it on the Israelites and destroy them; but the word of the Lord prepared a worm, which bored a hole in the mountain over his head, so that it fell down upon his shoulders: at the same time his teeth growing out in all directions, stuck into the mountain, so that he could not cast it off his head. Moses, (who was himself ten cubits high), seeing Og thus entangled, took an axe ten cubits long, and having leaped ten cubits in height, struck Og on the ankle bone, so that he fell and was slain." From this account the distance from the sole of Og's foot to his ankle was thirty cubits in length! I give this as a very slight specimen of rabbinical comment. I could quote places in the Talmud in which Og is stated to be several miles high! This relation about Og I suppose to be also an historical note added by a subsequent hand.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:1-11

Og was very powerful, but he did not take warning by the ruin of Sihon, and desire conditions of peace. He trusted his own strength, and so was hardened to his destruction. Those not awakened by the judgments of God on others, ripen for the like judgments on themselves.

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 3:1-11 →

Deuteronomy 3:11 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כִּ֣יkiforH3588
רַק\־rak-onlyH7535
ע֞וֹגogOgH5747
מֶ֣לֶךְMe.lekh[the] king ofH4428
הַבָּשָׁ֗ןha.ba.Shan<the> BashanH1316
נִשְׁאַר֮nish.'Arhe survivedH7604
מִיֶּ֣תֶרmi.Ye.terfrom [the] remnant ofH3499
הָרְפָאִים֒ha.re.fa.'Imthe RephaitesH7497
הִנֵּ֤הhi.Nehthere!H2009
עַרְשׂוֹ֙ar.Sosarcophagus hisH6210
עֶ֣רֶשׂ'E.res[was] a sarcophagus ofH6210
בַּרְזֶ֔לbar.ZelironH1270
הֲלֹ֣הha.Loh¿ notH3808
הִ֔ואhi'[is] itH1931
בְּרַבַּ֖תbe.ra.Batin Rabbah ofH7237
בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei[the] people ofH1121
עַמּ֑וֹןa.MonAmmonH5983
תֵּ֧שַׁעTe.sha'[was] nineH8672
אַמּ֣וֹת'a.MotcubitsH520
אָרְכָּ֗הּ'a.re.Kahlength itsH753
וְאַרְבַּ֥עve.'ar.Ba'and [was] fourH702
אַמּ֛וֹת'a.MotcubitsH520
רָחְבָּ֖הּra.che.Bahbreadth itsH7341
בְּאַמַּת\־be.'a.mat-by a cubit ofH520
אִֽישׁ\׃'Isha humanH376

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Deuteronomy 3:11

  • Genesis 14:5

    And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

  • 2 Samuel 12:26

    And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.

  • Jeremiah 49:2

    Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the Lord.

  • Deuteronomy 2:20

    (That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;

  • Ezekiel 21:20

    Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.

  • 2 Samuel 11:1

    And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

  • Amos 1:14

    But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:

  • Deuteronomy 2:11

    Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims.

  • 1 Samuel 17:4

    And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

  • Amos 2:9

    Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
giants.
Ge 14:5
Rabbath.
2Sa 12:26; Jer 49:2; Eze 21:20; Am 1:14
Rabbah. nine cubits.
1Sa 17:4; Am 2:9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Deuteronomy 3:10

    All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

  • Deuteronomy 3:11

    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.

  • Deuteronomy 3:12

    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.

Read all of Deuteronomy 3

Deuteronomy 3:11 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Porque sólo Og rey de Basán había quedado de los gigantes que quedaron. He aquí su cama, una cama de hierro, ¿no está en Rabbath de los hijos de Ammón?; la longitud de ella de nueve codos, y su anchura de cuatro codos, al codo de un hombre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Car Og, le roi de Basan, était seul demeuré du reste des Rephaïm. Voici, son lit, un lit de fer, n’est-il pas dans Rabba des fils d’Ammon? Sa longueur est de neuf coudées, et sa largeur de quatre coudées, en coudées d’homme.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Denn nur Og, der König von Basan, war von dem Überrest der Riesen übriggeblieben. Siehe, sein Bett, ein Bett von Eisen, ist es nicht in Rabba der Kinder Ammon? seine Länge mißt neun Ellen und seine Breite vier Ellen, nach dem Ellenbogen eines Mannes.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Solus quippe Og rex Basan restiterat de stirpe gigantum. Monstratur lectus ejus ferreus, qui est in Rabbath filiorum Ammon, novem cubitos habens longitudinis, et quatuor latitudinis ad mensuram cubiti virilis manus.