Places in the Bible · Region

Bashan

Bashan is a region mentioned in 53 verses. Its most likely location is Bashan. The name means “in the tooth, in ivory.”

panorama of a plain in Bashan
panorama of a plain in Bashan · Photo: Shayshal2 (CC-BY-SA-4.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Where is Bashan?

Approx. 32.7811, 35.9347 · OpenStreetMap · Google Maps

Possible modern locations

IdentificationTypeConfidence
BashanregionHigh

Bashan in the Bible dictionary

Light soil, first mentioned in Gen. 14:5, where it is said that Chedorlaomer and his confederates “smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth,” where Og the king of Bashan had his residence. At the time of Israel’s entrance into the Promised Land, Og came out against them, but was utterly routed (Num. 21:33-35; Deut. 3:1-7). This country extended from Gilead in the south to Hermon in the north, and from the Jordan on the west to Salcah on the east. Along with the half of Gilead it was given to the half-tribe of Manasseh (Josh. 13:29-31). Golan, one of its cities, became a “city of refuge” (Josh. 21:27). Argob, in Bashan, was one of Solomon’s commissariat districts (1 Kings 4:13). The cities of Bashan were taken by Hazael (2 Kings 10:33), but were soon after reconquered by Jehoash (2 Kings 13:25), who overcame the Syrians in three battles, according to the word of Elisha (19). From this time Bashan almost disappears from history, although we read of the wild cattle of its rich pastures (Ezek. 39:18; Ps. 22:12), the oaks of its forests (Isa. 2:13; Ezek. 27:6; Zech. 11:2), and the beauty of its extensive plains (Amos 4:1; Jer. 50:19). Soon after the conquest, the name “Gilead” was given to the whole country beyond Jordan. After the Exile, Bashan was divided into four districts,

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain. Full dictionary entry →

Verses that mention Bashan

  • Numbers 21:33

    And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.

  • Numbers 32:33

    And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.

  • Deuteronomy 1:4

    After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei:

  • Deuteronomy 3:1

    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.

  • Deuteronomy 3:3

    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.

  • Deuteronomy 3:4

    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.

  • Deuteronomy 3:6

    And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city.

  • 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 3:13

    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.

All 53 references