Deuteronomy 3 commentary

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.

This country was settled on the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh: see Nu 32. Moses repeats the condition of the grant to which they agreed. When at rest, we should desire to see our brethren at rest too, and should be ready to do what we can towards it; for we are not born for ourselves, but are members one of another.

Moses encouraged Joshua, who was to succeed him. Thus the aged and experienced in the service of God, should do all they can to strengthen the hands of those who are young, and setting out in religion. Consider what God has done, what God has promised. If God be for us, who can be against us, so as to prevail? We reproach our Leader if we follow him trembling. Moses prayed, that, if it were God's will, he might go before Israel, over Jordan into Canaan. We should never allow any desires in our hearts, which we cannot in faith offer up to God by prayer. God's answer to this prayer had a mixture of mercy and judgment. God sees it good to deny many things we desire. He may accept our prayers, yet not grant us the very things we pray for. It God does not by his providence give us what we desire, yet if by his grace he makes us content without, it comes to much the same. Let it suffice thee to have God for thy Father, and heaven for thy portion, though thou hast not every thing thou wouldst have in the world. God promised Moses a sight of Canaan from the top of Pisgah. Though he should not have the possession of it, he should have the prospect of it. Even great believers, in this present state, see heaven but at a distance. God provided him a successor. It is a comfort to the friends of the church of Christ, to see God's work likely to be carried on by others, when they are silent in the dust. And if we have the earnest and prospect of heaven, let these suffice us; let us submit to the Lord's will, and speak no more to Him of matters which he sees good to refuse us.

4. And we took all the cities. He here more fully relates what He had brieflytouched upon in Numbers. He says that sixty, well-fortified cities were taken, besides the villages. Hence we infer both the extent of the country, and also the special power of God in the aid He afforded them, in that they took, in so short a time, so many cities well closed in, and begirt with high walls; as if they were merely travelling, through a peaceful land in security, and with nothing to do.

After the eighth verse, lie repeats connectedly what he had separately related respecting the two kingdoms; and in order that the places might be more certainly identified, he mentions two other names for mount Hermon, stating that it was called Sirion by the Sidonians, and Shenir by the Amorites. Finally, he adds that Og, king of Bashan, was a giant, and the only survivorof that race. As a memorialof his lofty stature, he alleges his iron bedstead, the length of which was as much as nine cubits, according to the common measure of that period. By this circumstance he again magnifies the marvellous help of God, in that he was overcome by the children of Israel, who might, by his stature, have singly terrified a whole army.

The enormous stature of the giants is apparent from this passage. Herodotus records, Herod, Clio, Section 68. that the body of Orestes, disinterred by command of the oracle, was seven cubits in length. Pliny, Pliny, 7:16. although he does not cite his authority, subscribes to this testimony. Gellius Gellius, lib. 3:10. thinks that this was fabulous, as also what Homer Homer, I1. lib. 12:381-3, 446-9; lib. 20:286, 7. writes with respect to the diminution of men’s height in process of time; but his erroneous view is confuted by almost universal consent. What Pliny Pliny, lib. 7:16. himself relates is indeed incredible, that in Crete a body was discovered, by an opening of the earth, forty-six cubits long, which some thought to be the body of Orion, and others of Etion. But if we believe that there were giants, (which is not only affirmd by the sacred Scriptures, but also recorded by almost all ancient writers,) we need not be surprised if they were more than eight cubits in height. Although, however, the race of giants began to disappear in the time of Moses, still, in after ages, there existed persons who approached to this ancient stature, Fr. “Comme sous l’empire d’Auguste il y avoit un homme haut de dix pieds, et sous l’empire de Claude un un peu moindre;” as under the empire of Augustus there was a man ten feet high, and, under that of Claudius, one somewhat shorter. Pliny, loc. cit., records the exhibition at Rome, by the Emperor Claudius, of an Arab named Gabbara, whose height was nine feet nine inches; and adds, that in the reign of Augustus, there lived two persons, Posio and Secundilla, who were half a foot higher than Gabbara, and who, on account of their wonderful size, were buried in the cemetery of the Sallustian gardens. as in the time of Augustus and Claudius there was one man about ten feet in height, and another nine feet nine inches. Moses, therefore, intimates nothing more than that this monstrous race of men gradually died out, so that the enormous height of Og, king of Bashan, was an unusual sight.

Numbers 22

Numbers 22:1-41

1. And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab, on this side Jordan by Jericho.

1. Inde profecti sunt filii Israel, et castrametati sunt in campestribus Moab trans Jordanem Jericho.

2. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that israel had done to the Amorites.

2. Quum autem vidisset Balac filius Sippor qumcunque fecerat Israel Emorrhaeo:

3. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many; and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.

3. Timuit Moab propter populum valde, quod multus esset: et anxius fuit Moab propter filios Israel.

4. And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.

4. Dixit igitur Moab ad seniores Madian, Nunc lambet congregatio haec omnes circuitus nostros, quemadmodum lambit bos gramen agri. Porto Balac filius Sippor erat rex Moab tempore illo.

5. He sent messengers therefore unto Baalam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me.

5. Misit igitur legatos ad Balaam filium Beor in Pethor, quae erat juxta flumen terrae filiorum populi sui, ut vocaret eum, dicendo, En populus egressus est ex Aegypto, ecce, operuit superficiem terrae, et habitat contra me.

6. Come now, therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

6. Nunc ergo veni, obsecro, maledic mihi populum hunc, quia fortior me est: fortepotero, et percutiam eum, expellamque e terra. Novi enim quod cui benedixeris benedictus erit, et cui maledixeris maledictus erit.

7. And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Baalam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

7. Profecti ergo sunt seniores Madian, et divinationes in manu eorum: et pervenerunt ad Balaam, et retulerunt ei vrrba Balac.

8. And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me. And the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.

8. Ille vero dixit eis, Pernoctate hic nocte ista, et reddam vobis responsum, quemadmodum loquetur Jehova ad me. Manseruntque principes Moab cum Balaam.

9. And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?

9. Et venit Deus ad Balaam, ac dixit, Qui sunt viri isti qui sunt apud te?

10. And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying,

10. Respondit Balaam Deo, Balac filius Sippor rex Moab misit ad me:

11. Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out.

11. En populus iste qui egressus est ex AEgypto operuit superficiem terrae: nunc ergo veni, maledic mihi illi: forte potero pugnare cum eo, et expellere eum.

12. And God said unto Baalam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.

12. Et dixit Deus ad Balaam, Ne eas cum illis, neque maledicas populo qui benedictus est.

13. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you

13. Surrexit itaque Balaam mane, et dixit ad principes Balac, Revertimini ad terram vestram: quia renuit Jehova concedere mihi, ut eam vobiscum.

14. And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.

14. Et surrexerunt principes Moab, et perverternut ad Balac, ac dixerunt, Renuit Balaam venire nobiscum.

15. And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honorable than they.

15. Rursus ergo misit Balac principes plures, et nobiliores istis.

16. And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me;

16. Qui venientes ad Balaam dixerunt ei, Sic dixit Balac filius Sippor, Noli quaeso prohibere teipsum ne venias ad me:

17. For I will promote thee unto very great honor, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.

17. Nam honorando honorabo te valde, et quicquid dixeris mihi, faciam: veni igitur obsecro, et maledic mihi populo huic.

18. And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.

18. Respendens autem Balaam dixit servis Balac, Etiamsi daturus sit mihi Balac plenam domum suam argento et auro, non possim transgredi sermonem Jehoare Dei mei, ut faciam aliquid, sive parvum, sive magnum.

19. Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more.

19. Nunc ergo manete, obsecro, hic vos quoque hac nocte, ut sciam quid addet Jehova loqui mihi.

20. And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.

20. Tunc venit Deus ad Balaam nocte, et dixit ei, Si vocandum te venerint viri isti, surge, vade cum eis: veruntamen quod dixero tibi, illud facies.

21. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

21. Surrexit itaque Balaam mane,et stravit asinam suam, et perrexit cum principibus Moab.

22. And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. (Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.)

22. Iratus vero est furor Dei quod ipse iret cum illis: stetitque angelus Jehovae in ipsa via, in adversarium illi: ipse autem equitabat super asinam suam, et duo pueri ejus erant cum co.

23. And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field; and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.

23. At videns asina angelum Jehovae stantem in via, et gladium ejus evaginatam in manu ejus, declinavit ilia e via, et ivit in agrum: itaque percussit Balaam asinam ut declinare faceret eam in viam.

24. But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.

24. Stetitque postea angelus Jehovae in semita vinearum: maceria una erat hinc, et maceria altera inde.

25. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; and he smote her again.

25. Videns vero secundo asina angelum Jehovae, coarctavit sese parieti, coarctavit quoque pedem Balaam ad parietem: propterea addidit percutere cam.

26. And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.

26. Addidit praeterea angelus Jehovae transire, et stetit in loco angusto ubi nulla erat via ad declinandum sire ad dextram sire ad sinistram.

27. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.

27. Quum autem vidisset asina angelum Jehovah, succubuit sub Balaam, unde iratus furor Balaam percussit asinam baculo.

28. And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass; and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

28. Et aperuit Jehova os asinae, dixitque ilia ad Balaam, Quid feci tibi, quod percussisti me jam tribus vicibus:

29. And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.

29. Tunc dixit Balaam ad asinam, Quia illusisti mihi, utinam esset gladius in manu mea, certe nunc occiderem te.

30. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.

30. Dixit autem asina ad Balaam, Nonne sum asina tua? super me equitasti ex quo esse coepisti usque ad diem hanc, nunquid solita sum facere tibi sic? Qui respondit, Nequaquam.

31. Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.

31. Et detexit Jehova oculos Balaam, viditque angelum Jehovae stantem in via, et gladium ejus evaginatum in manu ejus: tum demisso capite adoravit pronus in faciem suam.

32. And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:

32. Et alloquutus est eum angelus Jehovae, Quare percussisti asinam tuam jam tribus vicibus? en ego egressus sum in adversarium tibi, quia declinavit a via coram me.

33. And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.

33. Et vidit me asina, declinavit-que ante me jam tribus vicibus: quod si non declinasset a facie mea, jam nunc etiam te occidissem, et ipsam vivam reservassem.

31. And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.

34. Dixit igitur Balaam ad angelum Jehovae, Peccavi: non enim sciebam quod tu stares in occursum mei in via: Nunc autem si malum est in oculis tuis, revertar mihi.

35. And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

35. Angelus vero Jehovae dixit ad Balaam, Vade cum istis viris: veruntamen verbum quod loquar ad te illud loqueris. Abiit igitur Balaam cum principibus Balac:

36. And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast.

36. Audiens vero Balac quod adveniret Balaam, egressus est in occursam ejus in civitatem quandam Moab, quae erat juxta terminun Arnon, quae est in extremo finium.

37. And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honor?

37. Et dixit Balac ad Balaam, Annon mittendo misi ad te ad accersendum te? an vere non possum honorare te?

38. And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.

38. Respondit autem Balaam ad Balac, Ecce veni ad te: nunc autem nunquid omnino potero loqui quicquam? Verbum quod posuerit Deus in ore meo, illud loquar.

39. And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjath-huzoth.

39. Et perrexit Balaam cum Balac, et pervenerunt in civitatem Husoth:

40. And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.

40. Et mactavit Balac boves, et oves: misitque ad Balaam et ad principes qui cum ipso erant.

41. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.

41. Postera autem die accepit Balac ipsum Balaam, et ascendere fecit eum in excelsa Baal, et vidit illinc extremum populi.

12. And this land, which we possessed at that time. In this passage Moses confirms his decision, that the possession of the country beyond Jordan should be insured to the Reubenites and Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh. For, since it had fallen to them exceptionally, the matter might be brought into controversy with posterity. Lest, then, any should disturb them, he again declares that they were the rightful possessors of that district. Moreover, inasmuch as the very gift of it might be called in question, since it was situated outside the bounds of the inheritance promised by God, Moses anticipates this objection also, asserting that God had not in vain given it to be possessed by His people. Hence it follows that the right of inhabiting it was conferred upon them. Lest, then, so unequal a partition should be made a subject of contention, he marks out their boundaries on every side, as though he set up the authority of God as a wall and rampart against any who should presume to invade it.

With reference to the names of the places, the Dead Sea is called the Sea of Salt, and the Lake of Genesera or Gennesareth, Chinnereth. As to the “outpourings of the hill,” translators are not agreed; for some consider Ashdoth-Pisgah to be the proper name of a city. אשדת הפסגה A.V. “Ashdoth-Pisgah;” marg., “The springs of Pisgah, or, of the hill.” The LXX. in like manner only substitutes Greek letters for the Hebrew, treating both words as proper names. But when the same words occur at the close of the next chapter, our translators have placed their previous marginal translation in their text, and the LXX. instead of Φασγὰ have τὴν λαξευτήν, as though פסגה were an appellative, from פסג to cut. In construing אשדת as a noun, from אשד and rendering it effusions, C. followed S.M., as also in putting the hill for Pisgah. Our translators and Luther have agreed in rendering the former word springs, when it occurs in Joshua 10:40, and 12:8; whilst the LXX. and Diodati have treated it as a proper name in both those texts. — W I prefer, however, to take the word “outpourings” (effusionum) appellatively, not for fountains and streams, but for the root (of the hill) where the ground by a gentle descent seems in a manner to pour itself forth. We shall presently see that Pisgah was one of the summits of Mount Abarim.

18. And I commanded you at that time. This address is directed only to those to whom an inheritance was given on the other side of Jordan; but Moses declares that he had introduced an agreement that the two tribes and a half should not enjoy their possession until they had accommpanied their brethren in the subjugation of the land of Canaan. He says, therefore, that he had given them a place, not where they were at once to settle themselves, but where they might deposit their wives and cattle, until the whole people were peaceably established in their land.

Deuteronomy 4

Deuteronomy 4:41-43

41. Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan, toward the sun-rising;

41. Tunc separavit Moses tres urbes trans Jordanem ad exortum solis:

42. That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that, fleeing unto one of these cities, he might live:

42. Ut fugeret illuc homicida qui occidisset proximum suum nesciens, (vel, per errorem, vel, per incogitantiam,) quem non odisset ab heri et nudiustertius: ut fugeret ad unam ex urbibus istis, et viveret.

43. Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.

43. Bezer in deserto, in terra planitiei a Rubenitis: Ramoth Galaad a Gaditis, et Golan in Basan a Manasse.

21. And I commanded Joshua at that time. He repeats what we have already seen, that he exhorted Joshua together with the whole people to prepare themselves to occupy the land with alacrity, relying as well upon God’s promise, as upon the numerous proofs of His assistance, which were so many pledges of the future continuance of His grace.

23 And I besought the Lord. “I had besought, etc.” — Lat. Others have, “I besought;” but I have preferred using the pluperfect tense, because, in my opinion, Moses interrupts himself to show why he had resigned his office to another, and did not rather declare that he would be their leader, as heretofore, and at the same time an example to the people of courage. He says, therefore, that when he had prayed that he might be permitted to enter the land, he received a refusal. For it is not probable that, after he had substituted Joshua for himself, he straightway conceived a desire, which was in direct opposition to it.

The drift of the prayer is that God, by granting him permission to enter the land, should thus fill up to the full the measure of His grace towards him: for he enumerates the blessings already vouchsafed to him, as the ground of his confidence in asking, and that God, who is not wont to forsake the work of His own hands, might carry on to the end the mercies He had begun. For this reason he says that the might of God had been shown him; modestly hinting that it was natural to expect that he should be a partaker of the crowning blessing, in order that the end might correspond with the beginning. He also magnifies the power of God as proclaimed by the miracles; that so magnificent a work might not be interrupted. On the other hand, he speaks in commendation of the goodness of the land, and expressly shows that his desire to see it springs from earnest piety; for I willingly subscribe to the opinion of those who understand Sion by the “goodly mountain;” for, with the exception of Lebanon, there was no other mountain so delectable in the land; whereas Lebanon, as if next to it in rank, is mentioned in the second place.

26. But the Lord was wroth with me. Some imagine that God was offended by such a longing as this; but Moses is rather giving the reason why he did not obtain what he sought, viz., because he had been already excluded from it. For, although he by no means enters into debate with God, as if he had been unjustly condemned for the faults of others, still he indirectly reflects upon the people, since it was well that they should be all reminded that the punishment which had been inflicted upon God’s distinguished servant was incurred by the guilt of them all. We have elsewhere seen See ante, on Deuteronomy 1:37. p. 137. how it was that the penalty of their common transgression was with justice imposed upon Moses.

Its mitigation then follows, when God commands him to get up into the top of Mount Abarim, which is here called Pisgah, and elsewhere Nebo, that he might nevertheless enjoy a sight of the promised land.

In conclusion, he more clearly explains why he exhorted Joshua, viz., because he was about to go over before the people; and in the last verse he assigns the reason of their delay, and why they remained so long in the valley near Mount Abarim; for it is precisely as if he had said that they were retained by the extension of God’s hand, in order that they should not proceed any further until Joshua had been installed as his successor.

Deuteronomy 4

Deuteronomy 4:21, 22

21. Furthermore, the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should go in unto that good land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance;

21. Jehova iratus fuit contra me propter verba vestra, juravitque quod non transirem Jordanem, neque ingrederer terram bonam, quam Jehova Deus tuus dat tibi in haereditatcm.

22. But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.

22. Ego enim morior in hac terra, neque transeo Jordanem: vos antem transitis, ut possideatis terram istam bonam.

CHAPTER 3

De 3:1-20. Conquest of Og, King of Bashan.

1. 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.

Og the king of Bashan came out against us--Without provocation, he rushed to attack the Israelites, either disliking the presence of such dangerous neighbors, or burning to avenge the overthrow of his friends and allies.

2. The Lord said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand--Og's gigantic appearance and the formidable array of forces he will bring to the field, need not discourage you; for, belonging to a doomed race, he is destined to share the fate of Sihon [Nu 21:25].

3-8. Argob was the capital of a district in Bashan of the same name, which, together with other fifty-nine cities in the same province, were conspicuous for their lofty and fortified walls. It was a war of extermination. Houses and cities were razed to the ground; all classes of people were put to the sword; and nothing was saved but the cattle, of which an immense amount fell as spoil into the hands of the conquerors. Thus, the two Amorite kings and the entire population of their dominions were extirpated. The whole country east of the Jordan--first upland downs from the torrent of the Arnon on the south to that of the Jabbok on the north; next the high mountain tract of Gilead and Bashan from the deep ravine of Jabbok--became the possession of the Israelites.

9. Hermon--now Jebel-Es-Sheick--the majestic hill on which the long and elevated range of Anti-Lebanon terminates. Its summit and the ridges on its sides are almost constantly covered with snow. It is not so much one high mountain as a whole cluster of mountain peaks, the highest in Palestine. According to the survey taken by the English Government Engineers in 1840, they were about 9376 feet above the sea. Being a mountain chain, it is no wonder that it should have received different names at different points from the different tribes which lay along the base--all of them designating extraordinary height: Hermon, the lofty peak; "Sirion," or in an abbreviated form "Sion" (De 4:48), the upraised, glittering; "Shenir," the glittering breastplate of ice.

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].

12-13. this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer ... gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites--The whole territory occupied by Sihon was parcelled out among the pastoral tribes of Reuben and Gad. It extended from the north bank of the Arnon to the south half of mount Gilead--a small mountain ridge, now called Djelaad, about six or seven miles south of the Jabbok, and eight miles in length. The northern portion of Gilead and the rich pasture lands of Bashan--a large province, consisting, with the exception of a few bleak and rocky spots, of strong and fertile soil--was assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh.

14. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob--The original inhabitants of the province north of Bashan, comprising sixty cities (De 3:4), not having been extirpated along with Og, this people were afterwards brought into subjection by the energy of Jair. This chief, of the tribe of Manasseh, in accordance with the pastoral habits of his people, called these newly acquired towns by a name which signifies "Jair's Bedouin Villages of Tents."

unto this day--This remark must evidently have been introduced by Ezra, or some of the pious men who arranged and collected the books of Moses.

15. I gave Gilead unto Machir--It was only the half of Gilead (De 3:12, 13) which was given to the descendants of Machir, who was now dead.

16. from Gilead--that is, not the mountainous region, but the town Ramoth-gilead,

even unto the river Arnon half the valley--The word "valley" signifies a wady, either filled with water or dry, as the Arnon is in summer, and thus the proper rendering of the passage will be--"even to the half or middle of the river Arnon" (compare Jos 12:2). This prudent arrangement of the boundaries was evidently made to prevent all disputes between the adjacent tribes about the exclusive right to the water.

25. I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon--The natural and very earnest wish of Moses to be allowed to cross the Jordan was founded on the idea that the divine threatening might be conditional and revertible. "That goodly mountain" is supposed by Jewish writers to have pointed to the hill on which the temple was to be built (De 12:5; Ex 15:2). But biblical scholars now, generally, render the words--"that goodly mountain, even Lebanon," and consider it to be mentioned as typifying the beauty of Palestine, of which hills and mountains were so prominent a feature.

26. speak no more unto me of this matter--that is, My decree is unalterable.

All the region of Argob - כל חבל ארגב col chebel Argob, all the cable or cord of Argob; this expression, which is used in various other parts of Scripture, (see, in the original, Amo 7:17; Mic 2:5; Deu 32:9; Psa 16:6), shows that anciently land was measured by lines or cords of a certain length, in a similar way to that by the chain among us, and the schoenus or cord among the Egyptians. Some think that it was the region of Argob that was afterwards called the region of Trachonites.

Hermon the Sidonians call - Shenir - I suppose this verse to have been a marginal remark, which afterwards got incorporated with the text, or an addition by Joshua or Ezra.

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.

Bashan-havoth-jair - Bashan of the cities of Jair; see Num 32:41.

From Chinnereth - See on Num 34:11 (note).

The prayer of Moses recorded in these two verses, and his own reflections on it, Deu 3:26, are very affecting. He had suffered much both in body and mind in bringing the people to the borders of the promised land; and it was natural enough for him to wish to see them established in it, and to enjoy a portion of that inheritance himself, which he knew was a type of the heavenly country. But notwithstanding his very earnest prayer, and God's especial favor towards him, he was not permitted to go over Jordan! He had grieved the Spirit of God, and he passed a sentence against him of exclusion from the promised land. Yet he permitted him to see it, and gave him the fullest assurances that the people whom he had brought out of Egypt should possess it. Thus God may choose to deprive those of earthly possessions to whom he is nevertheless determined to give a heavenly inheritance.

Let it suffice thee - רב לך rab lach, there is an abundance to thee - thou hast had honor enough already, and may well dispense with going over Jordan. He surely has no reason to complain who is taken from earthly felicity to heavenly glory. In this act God showed to Moses both his goodness and severity.

But charge Joshua, etc. - Give him authority in the sight of the people, let them see that he has the same commission which I gave to thee. Encourage him; for he will meet with many difficulties in the work to which he is called. And strengthen him - show him my unfailing promises, and exhort him to put his trust in me alone; for he shall go over before this people, and shall cause them to inherit the land; of this let him rest perfectly assured.

Beth-peor - This was a city in the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites; and as בית beth signifies a house, the place probably had its name from a temple of the god Peor, who was worshipped there. Peor was nearly the same among the Moabites that Priapus was among the Romans - the obscene god of an obscene people. This we have already seen.

It is very likely that what God speaks here, both concerning Moses and Joshua, was designed to be typical of the procedure of his justice and grace in the salvation of man.

1. The land of Canaan was a type of the kingdom of heaven.

2. The law, which shows the holiness of God and the exceeding sinfulness of sin, could not bring the people to the possession of that kingdom.

3. Moses may probably be considered here as the emblem of that law by which is the knowledge of sin, but not redemption from it

4. Joshua, the same as Jesus, the name signifying a Savior, is appointed to bring the people into the rest which God had provided for them; thus it is by Jesus Christ alone that the soul is saved - fitted for and brought into the possession of the heavenly inheritance, (see Joh 1:17; Gal 2:16; Gal 3:12, Gal 3:13, Gal 3:24); for he is the end of the law - the great scope and design of the law, for righteousness - for justification, to them that believe; Rom 10:4. Such a use as this every pious reader may make of the circumstances recorded here, without the danger of pushing analogy or metaphor beyond their reasonable limits.

On this side Jordan - So it was when Moses wrote this book; but afterward when Israel passed over Jordan it was called the land beyond Jordan.

Sirion - Elsewhere called Mount Gilead, and Lebanon, and here Shenir, and Sirion, which several names are given to this one mountain partly by several people, and partly in regard of several tops and parts of it.

All Gilead - Gilead is sometimes taken for all the Israelites possessions beyond Jordan, and so it comprehends Bashan; but here for that part of it which lies in and near mount Gilead, and so it is distinguished from Bashan and Argob.

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.

Unto this day - This must be put among those passages which were not written by Moses, but added by those holy men, who digested the books of Moses into this order, and inserted some few passages to accommodate things to their own time and people.

Gilead - That is, the half part of Gilead. To Machir - That is, unto the children of Machir, son of Manasseh, for Machir was now dead.

Half the valley - Or rather to the middle of the river: for the word rendered half signifies commonly middle, and the same Hebrew word means both a valley and a brook or river. And this sense is agreeable to the truth, that their land extended from Gilead unto Arnon, and, to speak exactly, to the middle of that river; for as that river was the border between them and others, so one half of it belonged to them, as the other half did to others, Jos 12:2. The same thing is expressed in the same words in the Hebrew which are here, though our translators render the self - same words there, from the middle of the river, which here they render, half of the valley. There the bounds of Sihon's kingdom, which was the same portion here mentioned as given to Reuben and Gad, are thus described, from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the river of Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon.

The plain - The low country towards Jordan. The sea of the plain - That is, that salt sea, which before that dreadful conflagration was a goodly plain.

You - Namely, the Reubenites and Gadites. All that are meet - In such number as your our brethren shall judge necessary. They were in all above an hundred thousand. Forty thousand of them went over Jordan before their brethren.

I besought the Lord - We should allow no desire in our hearts, which we cannot in faith offer unto God by prayer.

Thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness - Lord, perfect what thou hast begun. The more we see of God's glory in his works, the more we desire to see. And the more we are affected with what we have seen of God, the better we are prepared for farther discoveries.

Let me go over - For he supposed God's threatening might be conditional and reversible, as many others were. That goodly mountain - Which the Jews not improbably understood of that mountain on which the temple was to be built. This he seems to call that mountain, emphatically and eminently, that which was much in Moses's thoughts, though not in his eye.

He shall go over - It was not Moses, but Joshua or Jesus that was to give the people rest, Heb 4:8. 'Tis a comfort to those who love mankind, when they are dying and going off, to see God's work likely to be carried on by other hands, when they are silent in the dust.

2 And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not : for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land into thy hand, and thou shalt do unto him, as thou didst unto Sihon King of the Amorite, which dwelt at Heshbon.

Though he be of so frightful a look and stature, ver. 11.

Marginal references: Num. 21. 24.

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.

A Province within Bashan, or at least subject and belonging to Bashan, as appears from ver. 13. and 1 King. 4. 13. called Argob possibly from the name of a man its former Lord and owner.

5 All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars , besides unwalled towns a great many.

Which may encourage you in your attempt upon Canaan notwithstanding the fenced cities which the spies told you of and you must expect to find.

8 And we took at that time out of the hand of the two Kings of the Amorite, the land that was on this side Jordan , from the river of Arnon, unto mount Hermon e:

So it was when Moses wrote this book, but afterward when Israel passed over Iordan it was called the land beyond Iordan.

9 (Which Hermon the Zidonians call Sirion: and the Amorite call it Shenir.)

f Elsewhere called mount Gilead, and Libanus or Libanon, and here Shenir, and Sirion, and, by abbreviation, Sion, Deut. 4. 48. Which several names are given to this one mountain partly by several people, and partly in regard of several tops and parts of it, whence Sc[illegible: 1+ letters]nir and Hermon are mentioned as distinct places, Cant. 4. 8.

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.

Gilead is sometimes taken largely for all the Israe[illegible: 1+ letters]ites possessions beyond Iordan, and so it comprehends Bashan, but here more strictly for that part of it which lies in and near mount Gilead, and so it is distinguished from Bashan and Argob.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1+ letters]osh. 12. 5. [illegible: 1+ letters]d 13. 11.

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 .

The other giants of Bashan were destroyed before; and therefore when Og was killed, the Israelites work was done.

Where it might now be, either because the Ammonites in some former battel with Og had taken it as a spoil: or because after Ogs death, the Ammonites desired to have this monument of his greatness and the Israelites permitted them to carry it away▪ to their chief city.

To wit, of ordinary stature. So his bed was four yards and an half long, and two yards broad.

Marginal references: 2 S[illegible: 1+ letters]m. 12. 26. Jer. 49. 2.

14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the countrey of Argob, unto the coasts of Geshuri , and Maachathi , and called them after his own name Bashan Havoth-Jair unto this day .

Or, Geshurites, a people towards the North of Canaan, 2 Sam. 3. 3. and 15. 8. See also Ios. 13. 13.

Of whom see 2 Sam. 3. 3. and 10. 6.

This must be put among those other passages which were not written by Moses, but added by those holy men who digested the books of Moses into this order and inserted some very few passages to accommodate things to their own time and people.

Marginal references: 1 Chro. 2. 2[illegible: 1+ letters].; Num. 32. 41.

15 And I gave Gilead unto Machir .

(i. e.) The half part of Gilead, as appears from ver. 12, 13. See on Numb. 32. 40.

(i. e.) Unto the children of Machir son of Manasseh, for Ma[illegible: 1+ letters]hir was now dead.

Marginal references: Num. 32. [illegible: 1+ letters]9.

16 And unto the Reubenite, and unto the Gadite I gave from Gilead even unto the River Arnon, half the valley , and the border, even unto the river Jabbok , which is the border of the children of Ammon ▪

Or rather to the middle of the River: for the word rendred half signifies commonly middle, and the same Hebrew word signifying both a valley and a brook or river, it seems more reasonable to understand it of a River, as the same word is here rendred in the next foregoing clause of this verse, than of a valley, which was not mentioned before, especially seeing there is here an article added which seems to be emphatical, and to note that River, to wit, now mentioned. Adde to this, that there was no such valley, much less any half-valley, belonging both unto the Reubenites and Gadites. But according to the other translation the sense is plain and agreeable to the truth, that their Land extended from Gilead unto Arnon, and, to speak exactly, to the middle of that River, for as that River was the border between them and others, so one half of it belonged to them, as the other half did to others. And that this is no subtil device, as some may think it, but the truth of the thing and the reall meaning of the place, will appear by comparing this place with two others, 1. with Ios. 12. 2. where the same thing is expressed in the same words in the Hebrew which are here, though our translatours render the self-same words there, from the middle of the River, which here they render, half of the valley; and where the bounds of Sihons Kingdom, which was the same portion here mentioned as given to Reuben and Gad, are thus described, from Aroer, which is upon the ba[illegible: 1+ letters]k of the River of Arnon, and from the middle of the River, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Iabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon. 2. With Deut. 2. 36. From Aroer, which is by the brink of the River of Arnon, and from the city that is by the River, or rather, as the Hebrew hath it, in the River, i. e. from Ar, which was the chief city of the Moabites, and therefore denied to the Israelites, as is here implyed, and more fully expressed Deut. 2. 9. which City was seated in an Island in the middle of the River. So that here we have a just and full reason why the border of this Land given to Reuben and Gad is so nicely and critically described here, even to the middle of a River, which although in truth and strictness it be the bound of those Lands which are divided by a River, yet is not usually expressed in the deleription of borders, either in Scripture or other Autnours▪ because here was an eminent City of the Meabites in the middle of this River, which by this curious and exact description is excepted from their possession, as God would have it to be.

The meanning seems to be this, And the border, to wit, of their Land, was. which [illegible: 1 word] substantive is commonly understood, or went [illegible: 1 word] ▪ (as the phrase is I[illegible: 1+ letters]. 15. 6, 7, &c.) from thence, to [illegible: 1 word], from the River Ar[illegible: 1+ letters]on, even unto the River Iabbok, for so indeed their border did proceed.

Object. This was the border between them and the [illegible: 1 word], as is evident▪ and therefore not the border of the Ammonites. [illegible: 1 word]. It bordered upon the [illegible: 1 word] in one part, and upon the Ammonites in another part, to wit, in that part which is remoter from Iordan, and so both are true.

Marginal references: Num 21. 24. Josh. 12. [illegible: 1+ letters].

17 The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof from Chinnereth , even unto the sea of the plain even the salt sea, under Ashdoth Pisgah eastward.

The Low Country towards Iordan.

Of which see on Numb. 34. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. Ios. 12. 3.

(i. e.) That salt Sea, as it here follows, which before that dreadful conflagration was a goodly plain, called the plain of Iordan, Gen. 13. 10.

The proper name of a City, of which Ios. 13. 20.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1+ letters]nder the springs of Pisgah, or the hill.

18 And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren, the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war .

To wit, the Reubenites and Gadites mentioned ver. 16. to whom he now turns his speech by an Apostrophe.

In such number as your brethren shall judge necessary. See Ios. 1. 14. and 4. 13.

Marginal references: Num. 32. 20.; Heb. sons of power.

20 Until the LORD have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the LORD your God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then shall ye return every man unto his possession which I have given you.

A peaceable and fixed possession.

Marginal references: Josh. 22. 4.

25 I pray thee let me go over , and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain , and Lebanon e.

For he supposed Gods threatning might be conditional and reversible, as many others were.

Or, that blessed mountain, which the Jews not improbably understand of that mountain on which the Temple was to be built. For as Moses desired and determined to prepare an habitation for God, Exod. 15. 2. and knew very well that God would chuse a certain place for his habitation, and to put his name there, Deut. 12. 5. So he also knew that it was the manner both of the true worshippers of God and of Idolaters to worship their God in high-places, and particularly that Abraham did worship God in the mount of M[illegible: 1+ letters]a, Gen. 22. 2. and therefore did either reasonably conjecture that God would chuse some certain mountain for the place of his habitation▪ or possibly understood by revelation that in that very mount of M[illegible: 1+ letters] where Abraham performed that eminent and glorious act of worship there also the children of Abraham should have their place of constant and settled worship. This he seems to call that mountain, emphatically and eminently, that which was much in Moses his thoughts, though not in his eye, and the blessed (as the Hebrew tob oft signifies) or the goodly mountain. Or, the mountain may be here put for the mountainous countries, as that word is oft used, as Gen. 36. 9. Numb. 13. 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. and 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. 7. Deut. 1. 7. Ios. 10. 6. and 11. 16, 21. &c. And it is known that a great part of the glory and beauty and profit of this Country lay in its Hills or Mountains. See Deut. 11. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. and 33. 15. And that goodly mountain may by an Enallage of the number be put for those goodly mountains in Canaan, which were many. Thus also he proceeds gradually in this desire and description, and prays that he may see in general the good Land that is beyond Iordan, and then particularly, the goodly mountains of it, and especially that famous mount of Lebanon, which was so celebrated for its tall and large Cedars, and other Trees and excellent Plants. See Psal. 29. 5. and 1[illegible: 1+ letters]4. 16. Isa. 2. 13. and 14. 8.

26 But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes , and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee , speak no more unto me of this matter.

By occasion of your sins which provoked me to unadvised words and carriages, Psal. 106. 32, 33. See Numb. 20. 12. Deut. 31. 2. and 34. 4.

That this is my pleasure and unalterable resolution. Compare 2 C[illegible: 1+ letters]r. 12. 8, 9▪

Marginal references: Num. 20. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. and 27. 14. chap. 1. 37. and 32. 51.

27 Get thee up into the top of Pisgah , and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

Of which see on Numb. 27. 12.

Towards the Land of Canaan and its several quarters.

Marginal references: Num. 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].; Or, [illegible: 1 word].

28 But charge Joshua , and encourage him, and strengthen him : for he shall go over m before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.

Give him commission and authority and a command to execute his trust and conduct the people.

With exhortations and promises and assurances of my presence and help and of good success.

Marginal references: Num. 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].

29 So we abode in the vally over against Beth-Peor .

The House or Temple of Peor, or of Baal-Peor, of which see Numb. 25. 3. whence this place or city had its name.

Marginal references: Deut. 34. 6.

Deu 3:1-9

The Help of God in the Conquest of the Kingdom of Og of Bashan. - Deu 3:1. After the defeat of king Sihon and the conquest of his land, the Israelites were able to advance to the Jordan. But as the powerful Amoritish king Og still held the northern half of Gilead and all Bashan, they proceeded northwards at once and took the road to Bashan, that they might also defeat this king, whom the Lord had likewise given into their hand, and conquer his country (cf. Num 21:33-34). They smote him at Edrei, the modern Draà, without leaving him even a remnant; and took all his towns, i.e., as is here more fully stated in Deu 3:4., “sixty towns, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.” These three definitions refer to one and the same country. The whole region of Argob included the sixty towns which formed the kingdom of Og in Bashan, i.e., all the towns of the land of Bashan, viz., (according to Deu 3:5) all the fortified towns, besides the unfortified and open country towns of Bashan. חבל, the chain for measuring, then the land or country measured with the chain. The name “region of Argob,” which is given to the country of Bashan here, and in Deu 3:4, Deu 3:13, Deu 3:14, and also in 1Ki 4:13, is probably derived from רגוב, stone-heaps, related to רגב, a clump or clod of earth (Job 21:33; Job 38:38). The Targumists have rendered it correctly טרכונא (Trachona), from τραθών, a rough, uneven, stony district, so called from the basaltic hills of Hauran; just as the plain to the east of Jebel Hauran, which resembles Hauran itself, is sometimes called Tellul, from its tells or hills (Burckhardt, Syr. p. 173).The derivation is a much more improbable one, “from the town of Argob, πρὸς Γέρασαν πόλιν Ἀραβίας, according to theOnomast., fifteen Roman miles to the west of Gerasa, which is called Ῥαγαβᾶ by Josephus (Ant. xiii. 15, 5).”

This district has also received the name of Bashan, from the character of its soil; for בּשׁן signifies a soft and level soil. From the name given to it by the Arabic translators, the Greek name Βαταναία, Batanaea, and possibly also the modern name of the country on the north-eastern slope of Hauran at the back of Mount Hauran, viz., Bethenije, are derived.

The name Argob probably originated in the north-eastern part of the country of Bashan, viz., the modern Leja, with its stony soil covered with heaps of large blocks of stone (Burckhardt, p. 196), or rather in the extensive volcanic region to the east of Hauran, which was first of all brought to distinct notice in Wetzstein's travels, and of which he says that the “southern portion, bearing the name Harra, is thickly covered with loose volcanic stones, with a few conical hills among them, that have been evidently caused by eruptions” (Wetzstein, p. 6). The central point of the whole is Safa, “a mountain nearly seven hours’ journey in length and about the same in breadth,” in which “the black mass streaming from the craters piled itself up wave upon wave, so that the centre attained to the height of a mountain, without acquiring the smoothness of form observable in mountains generally,” - “the black flood of lava being full of innumerable streams of stony waves, often of a bright red colour, bridged over with thin arches, which rolled down the slopes out of the craters and across the high plateau” (Wetzstein, pp. 6 and 7). At a later period this name was transferred to the whole of the district of Hauran (= Bashan), because not only is the Jebel Hauran entirely of volcanic formation, but the plain consists throughout of a reddish brown soil produced by the action of the weather upon volcanic stones, and even “the Leja plain has been poured out from the craters of the Hauran mountains” (Wetzstein, p. 23). Through this volcanic character of the soil, Hauran differs essentially from Balka, Jebel Ajlun, and the plain of Jaulan, which is situated between the Sea of Galilee and the upper Jordan on the one side, and the plain of Hauran on the other, and reaches up to the southern slope of the Hermon. In these districts the limestone and chalk formations prevail, which present the same contrast to the basaltic formation of the Hauran as white does to black (cf. v. Raumer, Pal. pp. 75ff.). - The land of the limestone and chalk formation abounds in caves, which are not altogether wanting indeed in Hauran (as v. Raumer supposes), though they are only found in eastern and south-eastern Hauran, where most of the volcanic elevations have been perforated by troglodytes (see Wetzstein, pp. 92 and 44ff.). But the true land of caves on the east of the Jordan is northern Gilead, viz., Erbed and Suêt (Wetzst. p. 92). Here the troglodyte dwellings predominate, whereas in Hauran you find for the most part towns and villages with houses of one or more stories built above the surface of the ground, although even on the eastern slope of the Hauran mountains there are hamlets to be seen, in which the style of building forms a transition from actual caves to dwellings built upon the ground. An excavation is first of all made in the rocky plateau, of the breadth and depth of a room, and this is afterwards arched over with a solid stone roof. The dwellings made in this manner have all the appearance of cellars or tunnels. This style of building, such as Wetzstein found in Hibbike for example, belongs to the most remote antiquity. In some cases, hamlets of this kind were even surrounded by a wall. Those villages of Hauran which are built above the surface of the ground, attract the eye and stimulate the imagination, when seen from a distance, in various ways. “In the first place, the black colour of the building materials present the greatest contrast to the green around them, and to the transparent atmosphere also. In the second place, the height of the walls and the compactness of the houses, which always form a connected whole, are very imposing. In the third place, they are surmounted by strong towers. And in the fourth place, they are in such a good state of preservation, that you involuntarily yield to the delusion that they must of necessity be inhabited, and expect to see people going out and in” (Wetzstein, p. 49). The larger towns are surrounded by walls; but the smaller ones as a rule have none: “the backs of the houses might serve as walls.” The material of which the houses are built is a grey dolerite, impregnated with glittering particles of olivine. “The stones are rarely cemented, but the fine and for the most part large squares lie one upon another as if they were fused together.” “Most of the doors of the houses which lead into the streets or open fields are so low, that it is impossible to enter them without stooping; but the large buildings and the ends of the streets have lofty gateways, which are always tastefully constructed, and often decorated with sculptures and Greek inscriptions.” The “larger gates have either simple or (what are most common) double doors. They consist of a slab of dolerite. There are certainly no doors of any other kind.” These stone doors turn upon pegs, deeply inserted into the threshold and lintel. “Even a man can only shut and open doors of this kind, by pressing with the back or feet against the wall, and pushing the door with both hands” (Wetzstein, pp. 50ff.; compare with this the testimony of Buckingham, Burckhardt, Seetzen, and others, in v. Raumer's Palestine, pp. 78ff.).

Now, even if the existing ruins of Hauran date for the most part from a later period, and are probably of a Nabataean origin belonging to the times of Trajan and the Antonines, yet considering the stability of the East, and the peculiar nature of the soil of Hauran, they give a tolerably correct idea of the sixty towns of the kingdom of Og of Bashan, all of which were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, or, as it is stated in 1Ki 4:13, “with walls and brazen bars.”It is also by no means impossible, that many of the oldest dwellings in the ruined towers of Hauran date from a time anterior to the conquest of the land by the Israelites. “Simple, built of heavy blocks of basalt roughly hewn, and as hard as iron, with very thick walls, very strong stone gates and doors, many of which were about eighteen inches thick, and were formerly fastened with immense bolts, and of which traces still remain; such houses as these may have been the work of the old giant tribe of Rephaim, whose king, Og, was defeated by the Israelites 3000 years ago” (C. v. Raumer, Pal. p. 80, after Porter's Five Years in Damascus).

The brazen bars were no doubt, like the gates themselves, of basalt or dolerite, which might easily be mistaken for brass. Besides the sixty fortified towns, the Israelites took a very large number of הפּרזי ערי, “towns of the inhabitants of the flat country,” i.e., unfortified open hamlets and villages in Bashan, and put them under the ban, like the towns of king Sihon (Deu 3:6, Deu 3:7; cf. Deu 2:34-35). The infinitive, החרם, is to be construed as a gerund (cf. Ges. §131, 2; Ewald, §280, a.). The expression, “kingdom of Og in Bashan,” implies that the kingdom of Og was not limited to the land of Bashan, but included the northern half of Gilead as well. In Deu 3:8-11, Moses takes a retrospective view of the whole of the land that had been taken on the other side of the Jordan; first of all (Deu 3:9) in its whole extent from the Arnon to Hermon, then (Deu 3:10) in its separate parts, to bring out in all its grandeur what the Lord had done for Israel. The notices of the different names of Hermon (Deu 3:9), and of the bed of king Og (Deu 3:11), are also subservient to this end. Hermon is the southernmost spur of Antilibanus, the present Jebel es Sheikh, or Jebel et Telj. The Hebrew name is not connected with חרם, anathema, as Hengstenberg supposes (Diss. pp. 197-8); nor was it first given by the Israelites to this mountain, which formed part of the northern boundary of the land which they had taken; but it is to be traced to an Arabic word signifying prominens montis vertex, and was a name which had long been current at that time, for which the Israelites used the Hebrew name שׂיאן (Sion = נשׂיאן, the high, eminent: Deu 4:48), though this name did not supplant the traditional name of Hermon. The Sidonians called it Siron, a modified form of שׁריון   (1Sa 17:5), or נשׂיון (Jer 46:4), a “coat of mail;” the Amorites called it Senir, probably a word with the same meaning. In Psa 29:6, Sirion is used poetically for Hermon; and Ezekiel (Eze 27:4) uses Senir, in a mournful dirge over Tyre, as synonymous with Lebanon; whilst Senir is mentioned in 1Ch 5:23, and Shenir in Sol 4:8, in connection with Hermon, as a part of Antilibanus, as it might very naturally happen that the Amoritish name continued attached to one or other of the peaks of the mountain, just as we find that even Arabian geographers, such as Abulfeda and Maraszid, call that portion of Antilibanus which stretches from Baalbek to Emesa (Homs, Heliopolis) by the name of Sanir.

Deu 3:10

The different portions of the conquered land were the following: המּישׁר, the plain, i.e., the Amoritish table-land, stretching from the Arnon to Heshbon, and in a north-easterly direction nearly as far as Rabbath-Ammon, with the towns of Heshbon, Bezer, Medeba, Jahza, and Dibon (Deu 4:43; Jos 13:9, Jos 13:16-17, Jos 13:21; Jos 20:8; Jer 48:21.), which originally belonged to the Moabites, and is therefore called “the field of Moab” in Num 21:20. “The whole of Gilead,” i.e., the mountainous region on the southern and northern sides of the Jabbok, which was divided into two halves by this river. The southern half, which reached to Heshbon, belonged to the kingdom of Sihon (Jos 12:2), and was assigned by Moses to the Reubenites and Gadites (Deu 3:12); whilst the northern half, which is called “the rest of Gilead” in Deu 3:13, the modern Jebel Ajlun, extending as far as the land of Bashan (Hauran and Jaulan), belonged to the kingdom of Og (Jos 12:5), and was assigned to the Manassite family of Machir (Deu 3:15, and Jos 13:31; cf. v. Raumer, Pal. pp. 229, 230). “And all Bashan unto Salcah and Edrei.” All Bashan included not only the country of Hauran (the plan and mountain), but unquestionably also the district of Jedur and Jaulan, to the west of the sea of Galilee and the upper Jordan, or the ancient Gaulonitis (Jos.Ant. xviii. 4, 6, etc.), as the kingdom of Og extended to the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi (see at Deu 3:14). Og had not conquered the whole of the land of Hauran, however, but only the greater part of it. His territory extended eastwards to Salcah, i.e., the present Szalchat or Szarchad, about six hours to the east of Bozrah, south of Jebel Hauran, a town with 800 houses, and a castle upon a basaltic rock, but uninhabited (cf. v. Raumer, Pal. p. 255); and northwards to Edrei, i.e., the northern Edrei (see at Num 21:33), a considerable ruin on the northwest of Bozrah, three or four English miles in extent, in the old buildings of which there are 200 families living at present (Turks, Druses, and Christians). By the Arabian geographers (Abulfeda, Ibn Batuta) it is called Sora, by modern travellers Adra or Edra (v. Richter), or Oezraa (Seetzen), or Ezra (Burckhardt), and Edhra (Robinson, App. 155). Consequently nearly the whole of Jebel Hauran, and the northern portion of the plain, viz., the Leja, were outside the kingdom of Og and the land of Bashan, of which the Israelites took possession, although Burckhardt reckons Ezra as part of the Leja.

Deu 3:11

Even in Abraham’s time, the giant tribe of Rephaim was living in Bashan (Gen 14:5). But out of the remnant of these, king Og, whom the Israelites defeated and slew, was the only one left. For the purpose of recalling the greatness of the grace of God that had been manifested in that victory, and not merely to establish the credibility of the statements concerning the size of Og (“just as things belonging to an age that has long passed away are shown to be credible by their remains,” Spinoza, etc.), Moses points to the iron bed of this king, which was still in Rabbath-Ammon, and was nine cubits long and four broad, “after the cubit of a man,” i.e., the ordinary cubit in common use (see the analogous expression, “a man’s pen,” Isa 8:1). הלה, for הלא, synonymous with הנּה. There is nothing to amaze is in the size of the bed or bedstead given here. The ordinary Hebrew cubit was only a foot and a half, probably only eighteen Dresden inches (see my Archäologie, ii. p. 126, Anm. 4). Now a bed is always larger than the man who sleeps in it. But in this case Clericus fancies that Og “intentionally exceeded the necessary size, in order that posterity might be led to draw more magnificent conclusions from the size of the bed, as to the stature of the man who was accustomed to sleep in it.” He also refers to the analogous case of Alexander the Great, of whom Diod. Sic. (xvii. 95) affirms, that whenever he was obliged to halt on his march to India, he made colossal arrangements of all kinds, causing, among other things, two couches to be prepared in the tents for every foot-soldier, each five cubits long, and two stalls for every horseman, twice as large as the ordinary size, “to represent a camp of heroes, and leave striking memorials behind for the inhabitants of the land, of gigantic men and their supernatural strength.” With a similar intention Og may also have left behind him a gigantic bed as a memorial of his superhuman greatness, on the occasion of some expedition of his against the Ammonites; and this bed may have been preserved in their capital as a proof of the greatness of their foe.“It will often be found, that very tall people are disposed to make themselves appear even taller than they actually are” (Hengstenberg, Diss. ii. p. 201). Moreover, there are still giants who are eight feet high and upwards. “According to the N. Preuss. Zeit. of 1857, there came a man to Berlin 8 feet 4 inches high, and possibly still growing, as he was only twenty years old; and he was said to have a great-uncle who was nine inches taller” (Schultz).

Moses might then refer to this gigantic bed of Og, which was known to the Israelites; and there is no reason for resorting to the improbable conjecture, that the Ammonites had taken possession of a bed of king Og upon some expedition against the Amorites, and had carried it off as a trophy to their capital.There is still less probability in the conjecture of J. D. Michaelis, Vater, Winer, and others, that Og’s iron bed was a sarcophagus of basalt, such as are still frequently met with in those regions, as much as 9 feet long and 3 1/2 feet broad, or even as much as 12 feet long and 6 feet in breadth and height (vid., Burckhardt, pp. 220, 246; Robinson, iii. p. 385; Seetzen, i. pp. 355, 360); and the still further assumption, that the corpse of the fallen king was taken to Rabbah, and there interred in a royal way, is altogether improbable.

“Rabbath of the sons of Ammon,” or briefly Rabbah, i.e., the great (Jos 13:25; 2Sa 11:1), was the capital of the Ammonites, afterwards called Philadelphia, probably from Ptolemaeus Philadelphus; by Polybius, Ῥαββατάμανα; by Abulfeda, Ammân, which is the name still given to the uninhabited ruins on the Nahr Ammân, i.e., the upper Jabbok (see Burckhardt, pp. 612ff. and v. Raumer, Pal. p. 268).

Deu 3:12-13

Review of the Distribution of the Conquered Land. - The land which the Israelites had taken belonging to these two kingdoms was given by Moses to the two tribes and a half for their possession, viz., the southern portion from Aroer in the Arnon valley (see at Num 32:34), and half Gilead (as far as the Jabbok: see at Deu 3:10) with its towns, which are enumerated in Jos 13:15-20 and Jos 13:24-28, to the Reubenites and Gadites; and the northern half of Gilead, with the whole of Bashan (i.e., all the region of Argob: see at Deu 3:4, and Num 32:33), to the half-tribe of Manasseh. לכל־הבּשׁן, “as for all Bashan,” is in apposition to “all the region of Argob,” and the ל simply serves to connect it; for “all the region of Argob” was not merely one portion of Bashan, but was identical with “all Bashan,” so far as it belonged to the kingdom of Og (see at v. 4). All this region passed for a land of giants. הקּרא, to be called, i.e., to be, and to be recognised as being.

Deu 3:14

The region of Argob, or the country of Bashan, was given to Jair (see Num 32:41), as far as the territory of the Geshurites and Maachathites (cf. Jos 12:5; Jos 13:11). “Unto,” as far as, is to be understood as inclusive. This is evident from the statement in Jos 13:13 : “The children of Israel expelled not the Geshurites nor the Maachathites; but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.” Consequently Moses allotted the territory of these two tribes to the Manassites, because it formed part of the kingdom of Og. “Geshuri and Maachathi” are the inhabitants of Geshur and Maachah, two provinces which formed small independent kingdoms even in David’s time (2Sa 3:3; 2Sa 13:37, and 2Sa 10:6). Geshur bordered on Aram. The Geshurites and Aramaeans afterwards took from the Israelites the Jair-towns and Kenath, with their daughter towns (1Ch 2:23). In David’s time Geshur had a king Thalmai, whose daughter David married. This daughter was the mother of Absalom; and it was in Geshur that Absalom lived for a time in exile (2Sa 3:3; 2Sa 13:37; 2Sa 14:23; 2Sa 15:8). The exact situation of Geshur has not yet been determined. It was certainly somewhere near Hermon, on the eastern side of the upper Jordan, and by a bridge over the Jordan, as Geshur signifies bridge in all the Semitic dialects. Maachah, which is referred to in 1Ch 19:6 as a kingdom under the name of Aram-Maachah (Eng. V. Syria-Maachah), is probably to be sought for to the north-east of Geshur. According to the Onomast. (s. v. Μαχαθί), it was in the neighbourhood of the Hermon. “And he called them (the towns of the region of Argob) after his own name; Bashan (sc., he called) Havvoth Jair unto this day” (cf. Num 32:41). The word חוּת (Havvoth), which only occurs in connection with the Jair-towns, does not mean towns or camps of a particular kind, viz., tent villages, as some suppose, but is the plural of חוּה, life (Leben, a common German termination, e.g., Eisleben), for which afterwards the word חיּה was used (comp. 2Sa 23:13 with 1Ch 11:15). It applies to any kind of dwelling-place, being used in the passages just mentioned to denote even a warlike encampment. The Jair's-lives (Jairsleben) were not a particular class of towns, therefore, in the district of Argob, but Jair gave this collective name to all the sixty fortified towns, as is perfectly evident from the verse before us when compared with Deu 3:5 and Num 32:41, and expressly confirmed by Jos 13:30 and 1Ki 4:13, where the sixty fortified towns of the district of Argob are called Havvoth Jair. - The statement in 1Ch 2:22-23, that “Jair had twenty-three towns in Gilead (which is used here as in Deu 34:1; Jos 22:9; Jos 13:15; Jdg 5:17; Jdg 20:1, to denote the whole of Palestine to the east of the Jordan), and Geshur and Aram took the Havvoth Jair from them, (and) Kenath and its daughters, sixty towns (sc., in all),” is by no means at variance with this, but, on the contrary, in the most perfect harmony with it. For it is evident from this passage, that the twenty-three Havvoth Jair, with Kenath and its daughters, formed sixty towns altogether. The distinction between the twenty-three Havvoth Jair and the other thirty-seven towns, viz., Kenath and its daughters, is to be explained from the simple fact that, according to Num 32:42, Nobah, no doubt a family of sons of Machir related to Jair, conquered Kenath and its daughters, and called the conquered towns by his name, namely, when they had been allotted to him by Moses. Consequently Bashan, or the region of Argob, with its sixty fortified towns, was divided between two of the leading families of Machir the Manassite, viz., the families of Jair and Nobah, each family receiving the districts which it had conquered, together with their towns; namely, the family of Nobah, Kenath and its daughter towns, or the eastern portion of Bashan; and the family of Jair, twenty-three towns in the west, which are called Havvoth Jair in 1Ch 2:23, in harmony with Num 32:41, where Jair is said to have given this name to the towns which were conquered by him. In the address before us, however, in which Moses had no intention to enter into historical details, all the (sixty) towns of the whole district of Argob, or the whole of Bashan, are comprehended under the name of Havvoth Jair, probably because Nobah was a subordinate branch of the family of Jair, and the towns conquered by him were under the supremacy of Jair. The expression “unto this day” certainly does not point to a later period than the Mosaic age. This definition of time is simply a relative one. It does not necessarily presuppose a very long duration, and here it merely serves to bring out the marvellous change which was due to the divine grace, viz., that the sixty fortified towns of the giant king Og of Bashan had now become Jair’s lives.The conquest of these towns, in fact, does not seem to have been of long duration, and the possession of them by the Israelites was a very disputed one (cf. 1Ch 2:22-23). In the time of the judges we find thirty in the possession of the judge Jair (Jdg 10:4), which caused the old name Havvoth Jair to be revived.

Deu 3:15-20

Machir received Gilead (see Num 32:40). - In Deu 3:16 and Deu 3:17 the possession of the tribes of Reuben and Gad is described more fully according to its boundaries. They received the land of Gilead (to the south of the Jabbok) as far as the brook Arnon, the middle of the valley and its territory. הנּחל תּוך is a more precise definition of ארנן נחל, expressive of the fact that the territory of these tribes was not to reach merely to the northern edge of the Arnon valley, but into the middle of it, viz., to the river Arnon, which flowed through the middle of the valley; and וּגבוּל (and the border) is an explanatory apposition to what goes before, as in Num 34:6, signifying, “viz., the border of the Arnon valley as far as the river.” On the east, “even unto Jabbok the brook, the (western) border of the Ammonites” (i.e., as far as the upper Jabbok, the Nahr Ammân: see at Num 21:24); and on the west “The Arabah (the Ghor: see Deu 1:1) and the Jordan with territory” (i.e., with its eastern bank), “from Chinnereth” (i.e., the town from which the Sea of Galilee received the name of Sea of Chinnereth: Num 34:11; see at Jos 19:35) “to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea under the slopes of Pisgah (see at Num 21:15 and Num 27:12) eastward” (i.e., merely the eastern side of the Arabah and Jordan). - In Deu 3:18-20 Moses reminds them of the conditions upon which he had given the two tribes and a half the land referred to for their inheritance (cf. Num 32:20-32).

Deu 3:21-29

Nomination of Joshua as his Successor. - This reminiscence also recalls the goodness of God in the appointment of Joshua (Num 27:12.), which took place “at that time,” i.e., after the conquest of the land on the east of the Jordan. In accordance with the object of his address, which was to hold up to view what the Lord had done for Israel, he here relates how, at the very outset, he pointed Joshua to the things which he had seen with his eyes (הראת עיניך, thine eyes were seeing; cf. Ewald, §335, b.), namely, to the defeat of the two kings of the Amorites, in which the pledge was contained, that the faithful covenant God would complete the work He had begun, and would do the same to all kingdoms whither Joshua would go over (i.e., across the Jordan).

Sihon and Og Subdued. (b. c. 1451.)

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. 2 And the Lord said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. 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. 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. 5 All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many. 6 And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city. 7 But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves. 8 And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon; 9 (Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;) 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. 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.

We have here another brave country delivered into the hand of Israel, that of Bashan; the conquest of Sihon is often mentioned together with that of Og, to the praise of God, the rather because in these Israel's triumphs began, Ps. cxxxv. 11; cxxxvi. 19, 20. See,

I. How they got the mastery of Og, a very formidable prince, 1. Very strong, for he was of the remnant of the giants (v. 11); 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. You might guess at his weight by the materials of his bedstead; it was iron, as if a bedstead of wood were too weak for him to trust to: and you might guess at his stature by the dimensions of it; it was nine cubits long and four cubits broad, which, supposing a cubit to be but half a yard (and some learned men have made it appear to be somewhat more), was four yards and a half long, and two yards broad; and if we allow his bedstead to be two cubits longer than himself, and that is as much as we need allow, he was three yards and a half high, double the stature of an ordinary man, and every way proportionable, yet they smote him, v. 3. Note, when God pleads his people's cause he can deal with giants as with grasshoppers. No man's might can secure him against the Almighty. The army of Og was very powerful, for he had the command of sixty fortified cities, besides the unwalled towns, v. 5. Yet all this was nothing before God's Israel, when they came with commission to destroy him. 2. He was very bold and daring: He came out against Israel to battle, v. 1. 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. 8. God bade Moses not fear him, v. 2. If Moses himself was so strong in faith as not to need the caution, yet it is probable that the people needed it, and for them these fresh assurances are designed; "I will deliver him into thy hand; not only deliver thee out of his hand, that he shall not be thy ruin, but deliver him into thy hand, that thou shalt be his ruin, and make him pay dearly for his attempt." He adds, Thou shalt do to him as thou didst to Sihon, intimating that they ought to be encouraged by their former victory to trust in God for another victory, for he is God, and changeth not.

II. How they got possession of Bashan, a very desirable country. They took all the cities (v. 4), and all the spoil of them, v. 7. They made them all their own, v. 10. So that now they had in their hands all that fruitful country which lay east of Jordan, from the river Arnon unto Hermon, v. 8. Their conquering and possessing these countries was intended, not only for the encouragement of Israel in the wars of Canaan, but for the satisfaction of Moses before his death. Since he must not live to see the completing of their victory and settlement, God thus gives him a specimen of it. Thus the Spirit is given to those that believe as the earnest of their inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession.

Allotment of the Conquered Lands. (b. c. 1451.)

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. 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. 14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashan-havoth-jair, unto this day. 15 And I gave Gilead unto Machir. 16 And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; 17 The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdoth-pisgah eastward. 18 And I commanded you at that time, saying, The Lord your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war. 19 But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you; 20 Until the Lord have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the Lord your God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you.

Having shown how this country which they were now in was conquered, in these verses he shows how it was settled upon the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, which we had the story of before, Num. xxxii. Here is the rehearsal. 1. Moses specifies the particular parts of the country that were allotted to each tribe, especially the distribution of the lot to the half tribe of Manasseh, the subdividing of which tribe is observable. Joseph was divided into Ephraim and Manasseh; Manasseh was divided into one half on the one side Jordan and the other half on the other side: that on the east side Jordan was again divided into two great families, which had their several allotments: Jair, v. 14, Machir, v. 15. And perhaps Jacob's prediction of the smallness of that tribe was now accomplished in these divisions and subdivisions. Observe that Bashan is here called the land of the giants, because it had been in their possession, but Og was the last of them. These giants, it seems, had lost their country, and were rooted out of it sooner than any of their neighbours; for those who, presuming upon their strength and stature, had their hand against every man, had every man's hand against them, and went down slain to the pit, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. 2. He repeats the condition of the grant which they had already agreed to, v. 18-20. That they should send a strong detachment over Jordan to lead the van in the conquest of Canaan, who should not return to their families, at least not to settle (though for a time they might retire thither into winter quarters, at the end of a campaign), till they had seen their brethren in as full possession of their respective allotments as they themselves were now in of theirs. They must hereby be taught not to look at their own things only, but at the things of others, Phil. ii. 4. It ill becomes an Israelite to be selfish, and to prefer any private interest before the public welfare. When we are rest we should desire to see our brethren at rest too, and should be ready to do what we can towards it; for we are not born for ourselves, but are members one of another. A good man cannot rejoice much in the comforts of his family unless withal he sees peace upon Israel, Ps. cxxviii. 6.

Joshua Named as Moses's Successor. (b. c. 1451.)

21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the Lord do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest. 22 Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight for you. 23 And I besought the Lord at that time, saying, 24 O Lord God , thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? 25 I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. 26 But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter. 27 Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan. 28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see. 29 So we abode in the valley over against Beth-peor.

Here is I. The encouragement which Moses gave to Joshua, who was to succeed him in the government, v. 21, 22. He commanded him not to fear. Thus those that are aged and experienced in the service of God should do all they can to strengthen the hands of those that are young, and setting out in religion. Two things he would have him consider for his encouragement:—1. What God has done. Joshua had seen what a total defeat God had given by the forces of Israel to these two kings, and thence he might easily infer, so shall the Lord do to all the rest of the kingdoms upon which we are to make war. He must not only infer thence that thus the Lord can do with them all, for his arm is not shortened, but thus he will do, for his purpose is not changed; he that has begun will finish; as for God, his work is perfect. Joshua had seen it with his own eyes. And the more we have seen of the instances of divine wisdom, power, and goodness, the more inexcusable we are if we fear what flesh can do unto us. 2. What God had promised. The Lord your God he shall fight for you; and that cause cannot but be victorious which the Lord of hosts fights for. If God be for us, who can be against us so as to prevail? We reproach our leader if we follow him trembling.

II. The prayer which Moses made for himself, and the answer which God gave to that prayer.

1. His prayer was that, if it were God's will, he might go before Israel over Jordan into Canaan. At that time, when he had been encouraging Joshua to fight Israel's battles, taking it for granted that he must be their leader, he was touched with an earnest desire to go over himself, which expresses itself not in any passionate and impatient complaints, or reflections upon the sentence he was under, but in humble prayers to God for a gracious reversing of it. I besought the Lord. Note, We should never allow any desires in our hearts which we cannot in faith offer up to God by prayer; and what desires are innocent, let them be presented to God. We have not because we ask not. Observe,

(1.) What he pleads here. Two things:— [1.] The great experience which he had had of God's goodness to him in what he had done for Israel: "Thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness. Lord, perfect what thou hast begun. Thou hast given me to see thy glory in the conquest of these two kings, and the sight has affected me with wonder and thankfulness. O let me see more of the outgoings of my God, my King! This great work, no doubt, will be carried on and completed; let me have the satisfaction of seeing it." Note, the more we see of God's glory in his works the more we shall desire to see. The works of the Lord are great, and therefore are sought out more and more of all those that have pleasure therein. [2.] The good impressions that had been made upon his heart by what he had seen: For what God is there in heaven or earth that can do according to thy works? The more we are affected with what we have seen of God, of his wisdom, power, and goodness, the better we are prepared for further discoveries. Those shall see the works of God that admire him in them. Moses had thus expressed himself concerning God and his works long before (Exod. xv. 11), and he still continues of the same mind, that there are no works worthy to be compared with God's works, Ps. lxxxvi. 8.

(2.) What he begs: I pray thee let me go over, v. 25. God had said he should not go over; yet he prays that he might, not knowing but that the threatening was conditional, for it was not ratified with an oath, as that concerning the people was, that they should not enter. Thus Hezekiah prayed for his own life, and David for the life of his child, after both had been expressly threatened; and the former prevailed, though the latter did not. Moses remembered the time when he had by prayer prevailed with God to recede from the declarations which he had made of his wrath against Israel, Exod. xxxii. 14. And why might he not hope in like manner to prevail for himself? Let me go over and see the good land. Not, "Let me go over and be a prince and a ruler there;" he seeks not his own honour, is content to resign the government to Joshua; but, "Let me go to be a spectator of thy kindness to Israel, to see what I believe concerning the goodness of the land of promise." How pathetically does he speak of Canaan, that good land, that goodly mountain! Note, Those may hope to obtain and enjoy God's favours that know how to value them. What he means by that goodly mountain we may learn from Ps. lxxviii. 54, where it is said of God's Israel that he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain which his right hand had purchased, where it is plainly to be understood of the whole land of Canaan, yet with an eye to the sanctuary, the glory of it.

2. God's answer to this prayer had in it a mixture of mercy and judgment, that he might sing unto God of both.

(1.) There was judgment in the denial of his request, and that in something of anger too: The Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, v. 26. God not only sees sin in his people, but is much displeased with it; and even those that are delivered from the wrath to come may yet lie under the tokens of God's wrath in this world, and may be denied some particular favour which their hearts are much set upon. God is a gracious, tender, loving Father; but he is angry with his children when they do amiss, and denies them many a thing that they desire and are ready to cry for. But how was he wroth with Moses for the sake of Israel? Either, [1.] For that sin which they provoked him to; see Ps. cvi. 32, 33. Or, [2.] The removal of Moses at that time, when he could so ill be spared, was a rebuke to all Israel, and a punishment of their sin. Or, [3.] It was for their sakes, that it might be a warning to them to take heed of offending God by passionate and unbelieving speeches at any time, after the similitude of his transgression; for, if this were done to such a green tree, what should be done to the dry? He acknowledges that God would not hear him. God had often heard him for Israel, yet he would not hear him for himself. It was the prerogative of Christ, the great Intercessor, to be heard always; yet of him his enemies said, He saved others, himself he could not save, which the Jews would not have upbraided him with had they considered that Moses, their great prophet, prevailed for others, but for himself he could not prevail. Though Moses, being one of the wrestling seed of Jacob, did not seek in vain, yet he had not the thing itself which he sought for. God may accept our prayers, and yet not grant us the very thing we pray for.

(2.) Here is mercy mixed with this wrath in several things:—[1.] God quieted the spirit of Moses under the decree that had gone forth by that word (v. 26), Let it suffice thee. With this word, no doubt, a divine power went to reconcile Moses to the will of God, and to bring him to acquiesce in it. If God does not by his providence give us what we desire, yet, if by his grace he makes us content without it, it comes much to one. "Let it suffice thee to have God for thy father, and heaven for thy portion, though thou hast not every thing thou wouldest have in this world. Be satisfied with this, God is all-sufficient." [2.] He put an honour upon his prayer in directing him not to insist upon this request: Speak no more to me of this matter. It intimates that what God does not think fit to grant we should not think fit to ask, and that God takes such a pleasure in the prayer of the upright that it is no pleasure to him, no, not in any particular instance, to give a denial to it. [3.] He promised him a sight of Canaan from the top of Pisgah, v. 27. Though he should not have the possession of it, he should have the prospect of it; not to tantalize him, but such a sight of it as would yield him true satisfaction, and would enable him to form a very clear and pleasing idea of that promised land. Probably Moses had not only his sight preserved for other purposes, but greatly enlarged for this purpose; for, if he had not had such a sight of it as others could not have from the same place, it would have been no particular favour to Moses, nor the matter of a promise. Even great believers, in this present state, see heaven but at a distance. [4.] He provided him a successor, one who should support the honour of Moses and carry on and complete that glorious work which the heart of Moses was so much upon, the bringing of Israel to Canaan, and settling them there (v. 28): Charge Joshua and encourage him in this work. Those to whom God gives a charge, he will be sure to give encouragement to. And it is a comfort to the church's friends (when they are dying and going off) to see God's work likely to be carried on by other hands, when they are silent in the dust.

CHAP. III.

AND we turned and went up the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, hee and all his people, to the battell at Edrei. And Iehovah said unto mee, Feare him not, for into thy hand have I given him, and all his people, and his land: and thoushalt doe unto him, as thou didst unto Sihon King of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon. And Iehovah our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and wee smote him, until there was none left him remaining. And wee tooke all his Cities at that time; there was not a Citie which wee tooke not from them: threescore Cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdome of Og in Bashan. All these Cities were sensed with high walls, gates, and barres: besides unwalled Cities very many. And wee utterly destroyed them, as wee did unto Sihon king of Heshbon; utterly destroying of every Citie, the men, the women, and the little ones.

But all the cattell, and the spoile of the cities, we tooke for a prey to our selves. And we tooke at that time, out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites, the land which is on this side Iordan, from the brooke of Arnon, unto mount Hermon. The Sidonians call Hermon, Shirjon; and the Amorites call it Shenir. All the cities of the plaine, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salcah and Edrei, cities of the kingdome of Og in Bashan. For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of Giants; behold his bed-sted was a bedsted of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the sonnes of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and foure cubits the bredth thereof, after the cubit of a man. And this land, which wee possessed at that time, from Aroer which is by the river Arnon, and halfe mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites. And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdome of Og gave I to the halfe tribe of Manasses: all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, that which is called the land of Giants. Iair the sonne of Manasses, tooke all the countrey of Argob, unto the coast of Geshuri, and Maachathi, and called them after his owne name, Bashan Havot[illegible: 1 letter] Iair, unto this day. And to Machir I gave Gilead. And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, I gave from Gilead, even unto the river Arnon, halfe the valley, and the border: and unto the river Iabbok, the border of the sonnes of Ammon. And the plaine, and Iordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth, and unto the Sea of the plaine, the sea of salt, under Ashdoth Pisgah, eastward.

And I commanded you at that time saying, Iehovah your God hath given you this land to possesse it; yee shall passe over armed before your brethren the sonnes of Israel, all sonnes of power. But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattell, (I know that you have much cattell,) shall abide in your Cities which I have given you. Vntill Iehovah shall have given rest to your brethren, as unto you; and they also possesse the land which Iehovah your God giveth them, on that side Iordan: and then yee shall returne, every man unto his possession, which I have given unto you. And I commanded Iosua, at that time, saying, Thine eies have seene all that Iehovah your God hath done unto these two Kings; so will Iehovah doe unto all the kingdomes whither thou passest. Yee shall not feare them; for Iehovah your God, hee fighteth for you. [non-Latin text not transcribed]

And I besought Iehovah for grace, at that time, saying, O Lord Iehovah, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatnesse, and thy mighty hand; for what God (is there) in the heavens, or in the earth, that can doe according to thy workes, and according to thy powerfull acts? Let mee passe over, I pray thee, and see the good land that is beyond Iordan; this good mountaine, and Lebanon.

But Iehovah was exceeding wroth with mee, for your sakes; and would not heare me: and Iehovah said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speake no more unto mee of this matter.

Goe thou up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eies, Seaward, and Northward, and Southward, and Eastward, & see it with thine eies: for thou shalt not passe over this Iordan. But command thou Iosua; and encourage him, and strengthen him: for hee shall passe over before this people; and hee shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see. And wee abode in the valley over against Beth-Peor.

Annotations. WAY of Bashan] in Greeke, the way that (leadeth) unto Basan; which Basan the Chaldee nameth Matnan: so in Num. 21. 33. Edrei] in Greeke, Adraein. Of this battell, see Num. 21. 33. &c. Vers. 3. his people] in Num. 21. 35. his sonnes also are mentioned. none remaining] the Greek translateth it, no seed: meaning none left alive, of whom, as of a seed, others might spring. So when the Prophet speaketh of a remnent, Esay 1. 9. the Apostle in Greeke calleth it, a seed, Rom. 9. 29. Vers. 4. threescore Cities] which sheweth the large dominion of this Giant Og, who reigned in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites, and the Maachathites, &c. los. 12. 4, 5. region] in Hebrew, a line, or coard, such as lands are meted by, Amos 7. 17. Micha 2. 5. used figuratively for a countrey or region (as the Greeke and Chaldee also translate it) which is measured by line. Argob] a province or shire in Bashan forementioned, 1 King. 4. 13. Vers. 5. unwalled] or, villages; in Hebr. Peraz[illegible: 1 letter]; which the Greeke mistaking, turned cities of the Pherezites; but it meaneth unwalled townes (as Est[illegible: 1 letter]. 9. 19. Zach. 2. 4.) so named of their dwelling scattered. Vers. 6. destroying of every citie the men] or, de [illegible: 1 word] every citie of men, &c. as in Deut. 2. 34. [illegible: 1 word] God destroyed the Amorite before them; [illegible: 1 word] his height was like the Cedars, and his strength as the Okes, yet destroyed hee his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath, Amos 2. 9. Vers. 8. the land] The killing of the Amorites, and taking of their land, was a testimony of Gods goodnesse and love unto his people, Psal. 136. 17. [illegible: 1 word] in encouragement of them to fight against [illegible: 1 word] residue of the heathen, Deut. 3. 21, 22. and a [illegible: 1 span]ragement to the heathen themselves, Ios. 2. 10, 11. Vers. 9. Sidonians] the dwellers in Sidon the great [illegible: 1 span] Greeke calleth them Phanicians. Shir [illegible: 1 word] Greeke, Sanior. This mount had five names, [illegible: 1 word], Shirjon, Shenir, and Sion, Deut. 4. 48. [illegible: 1 span], Num. 34. 7. for that divers peoples cal [illegible: 2 words] by divers names, and because of divers [illegible: 1 word] of this mountaine: wherefore in Song 4. 8. [illegible: 1 word] and Hermon are set downe as distinct: Shir [illegible: 2 words] Psal. 29. 6. is by the Chaldee paraphrast there expounded, the mount that bringeth forth fr[illegible: 1 span]: and Shenir (in Greeke Saner) is by the Chaldee here expounded, the Snow-mount: for it was so [illegible: 1 word], that snow used to lye on the top of it. A [illegible: 1 word]] Hebr. the Amorite, they call it: which sheweth [illegible: 1 word] singular number to bee put for the whole [illegible: 1 span]. Vers. 11. Giants] in Hebrew, Rephaim, which [illegible: 1 word] the Greeke retaineth Rephaein, as before in Deut. 7. 11. This Og seemeth to bee of the rem [illegible: 1 word] of those Rephaims whom Chedorlaomer and the Kings smote in Ashteroth, Gen. 14. 5. for Og reigned in Ashteroth, Ios. 13. 12. is it not in Rabbah?] that is, it is in Rabbah: the question maketh it an earnest affirmation, as the Greeke also translateth it. Rabbah was the chiefe City of the Ammonites, their royall City, 2 Sam. 12. 26. The Greeke here translateth it, the chiefe. of a man] which ordinarily is a foot and a halfe; but the Chaldee here translateth it, the cubit of the King. Vers. 12. Reubenites] Hebr. the Reubenite, which the Chaldee expoundeth, the tribe of Reuben, so vers. 16. Of this gift, see Num. 32. 1. &c. Vers. 13. of Manasses] for conquering the Amorites there, Num. 32. 39, 40. Argob] this the Chaldee calleth Tracona. Basan] in Chaldee, Matnan. Giants] in Hebrew, Rephaim, which the Chaldee expoundeth, Mighties. Vers. 14. Basan Chavoth Iair] the Chaldee saith, Matnan the townes of Iair: see Numb. 32. 41. Vers. 15. Gilead] in Greeke, Galaad; that is, the rest of Galaad, as vers. 13. Vers. 17. Chinnereth] or, Kinnereth, as the Greek writeth it; which the Chaldee calleth Ginnosar; in the new Testament, Gennesaret, Matt. 14. 34. see the notes on Numb. 34. 11. sea of salt] or, salt sea: see Gen. 14. 3. Ashdoth Pisgah] in Greek, Asedoth Phasga, by interpretation, the Streames (or Sheddings-out, that is, the Springs) of Pisgah (or, of the hill) and so the Chaldee translateth it, The shedding (or, powring-out) of the waters of Ramatha. Pisgah is a hill, mentioned after in vers. 27. and Ashdoth pisgah was afterward the name of a city there adjoyning in Reubens land, Ios. 13. 20. So Ios. 12. 3. Vers. 18. you] hee speaketh to the Reubenites, and the rest on this side Iordan: see Num. 32. 20. &c. sonnes of power] or, sonnes of valour; that is, able and valiant men, as in 2 Sam. 13. 28. bee yee sonnes of valour, that is, bee valiant men: so in 2 King. 2. 16. 1 Chron. 5. 18. The Greeke here expounds it, every prudent man; the Chaldee, all armed men of the armie. Vers. 21. Iosua] in Greeke, Iesus: see Num. 27. 18. &c. so will Iehovah doe.] The examples of Gods former mercies, serve for the encouragement and strengthning of the faith of his people, in the like, or greater trialls that may follow: such use also David made, 1 Sam. 17. 36, 37. and Paul, 2 Tim. 4. 17, 18. Vers. 22. he fighteth] or, he it is that sighteth, or (as the Greeke translateth) will sight. The Chaldee for Hee, saith, his Word. As Moses here encouraged Iesus the sonne of Nun, to fight the Lords battels in Canaan; so Moses and Elias, talking with Iesus the Sonne of God, told him of his departing which hee should accomplish at Ierusalem, Luk. 9. 30, 31. at what time this figure was fulfilled. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Here beginneth the 45 Lecture of the Law: see Gen. 6. 9. Verse 23. I besought Iehovah for grace] or, I supplicated for grace unto Iehovah. Here Moses repea [illegible: 1 letter]ing his earnest praier to goe into the land, and Gods deniall of his request, sheweth how greatly the peoples sinne, and his owne, displeased the Lord, Num, 20. Verse 24 Lord Iehovah] or, Lord God: the Greeke hath, Lord Lord: See Gen. 15. 2. for what God?] meaning, there is none. The Chaldee turneth it thus, That thou art God, whose glorious habitation is in the heavens above, and thou rulest in the earth beneath, and there is note that can doe according to thy workes. powerfull acts] Hebr. powers: whereby powerfull and mighty workes are often meant; as Psal. 106. 2. and 145. 4. Matt. 7. 22. 2 Cor. 12. 12. Gal. 3. 5. Verse 25. mountaine] that is, mountainy countrey: see Exod. 15. 17. Lebanon] in Greeke, Antili [illegible: 1 letter]anon; in Chaldee, the house of the sanctuary, because the Temple was built of the Cedars that grew on mount Lebanon, 1 King. 5. 6, 14. So the Temple is called Lebanon in Zach. 11. 1. But that seemeth not to be meant here; but rather the mount Lebanon, in the north part of the Land, which was both an high and fragrant mountaine, with sweet and goodly trees growing thereon: whereto the Scripture hath reference in Song 4. 11. This great desire Moses had, because of the promises which God had made to Israel, to bee accomplished in that land, the figure of our heavenly heritage. Verse 26. for your sakes] for they rebelling, grieved Moses, and caused him to sinne; for which, this wrath came upon him, Num. 20. 3.—12. Psal. 106. 32, 33. And the Lord sware that Moses therfore should not come into Canaan, Deut. 4. 21. which oath Moses, though he repented and intreated for grace, could not get reversed: for when the Lord sweareth, he repenteth not afterward, Psal. 110. 4. would not heare me] Hebr. heard me[illegible: 1 letter] not, or, he arkened not unto me: whereby Gods will is signified; (as David removed not the Arke, 1 Chron. 13. 13 that is, would not remove the Arke, 2 Sam. 6. 10.) for, If wee aske any thing according to his will, be heareth us, 1 Ioh. 5. 14. Vers. 27. Pisgah] the Greeke here translateth, of the hewen hill, because it seemeth they used to hewstones out of it, as they did out of other mounts, 2 Ch[illegible: 3 letters]. 2. 18. The Chaldee of the height calleth it Ramatha: see Deut. 34. 1. Seaward] that is, We stward, as the Chaldee expresseth. As the Fathers saw the promises a far off and b[illegible: 1 letter]leaved, Heb. 11. 13. so Moses a [illegible: 1 letter]arre off vieweth the promised Land, and is comforted: see Deut. 34. 1.—4. Vers. 28. Iosua] or, Iesus; as vers. 21. As Iesus, not Moses, bringeth Israel into the promised land: So the Gospell of Iesus, not the Law of Moses, bringeth us into the kingdome of heaven, Ioh. 1. 17. Gal. 2. 16. and 3. 12, 13, 24. So it is said of the Tabernacle, that it was brought in with Iesus, into the possession of the Gentiles, Act. 7. 45. Verse 29. Beth-peor] in Greeke, the house of Phogor, an Idol temple on the mount Peor, where Baal-peor was worshipped: see Num. 23. 28. and 25. [illegible: 1 word]. Deut. 4 3.