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According to several books of the Old Testament, Og (pronounced /ˈɒɡ/, meaning "gigantic"; Hebrew: עוג‎ Arabic: عوج‎ [ʕoːɣ]) was an ancient Amorite king of Jerusalem who, along with an army, was slain by Joshua and his men at the battle of Edrei (probably modern day Daraa, Syria). The internal chronology of the Deuteronomistic History and the Torah would suggest Og's overthrow and the conquest of Canaan by Israel around c. 1500 or 1200 BC, although Bible critics attest that these books may have been written no earlier than the 7th-6th centuries BC, and are considered by some Bible critics to be of uncertain historical accuracy.

Og, the giant of the Amorites, is equally considered a folk legend, around whom gathered many Jewish legends: according to some traditions he lived to be 3,000 years old and clung to Noah's ark during the Deluge.^[1] In Islamic lore he is referred to as ‘Uj ibn Anaq (‘Ûj ibn ‘Anâq عوج بن عنق), evidently one of the giants mentioned in the Qur'an (jababirat or jabbirun).

Og is mentioned in Jewish folklore as being alive from the time of Noah up until the time of his death in battle with the Jews. It is also written in the Midrash^[2] that he had a special compartment in Noah's Ark just for him. Aggadah suggests an alternative to this; that he sat upon the top of the ark, riding out the flood for the duration of the storm from this location.

An Amorite king

Og is first mentioned in the Book of Numbers, specifically the 21st and 32nd chapters. He was an Amorite, not unlike his neighbor Sihon of Heshbon, of whom Moses had previously conquered at the battle of Jahaz. He ruled a very considerable and fertile land, which extended from the fork of the Yarmuk river to the undefined basaltic lands of Hauran to the east. Bashan, which contained some "sixty walled cities" with great bars and gates and many unwalled towns, had capitols at Ashtaroth and Edrei in the region of Argob. Being an Amorite, he likely embraced the customs and clothing of his people. Perhaps he stylized the full beard, shaved upper lip, and colorfully woven tunics so accustomed to many Amorite Kings who resided at the ancient center of Mari. His capitol at Ashtaroth was also a worship center to the fertility goddess, and this city is probably modern Tell Ashareh, where there still exists a 70-foot mound.

Battle with Israel

According to the Bible, the Israelites, while passing through Bashan, were attacked by Og and his army, fought with them, and took the land from them. Dt 3:1: "Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei." Dt 3:2: "The LORD said to me, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon." Dt 3:3: "So the LORD our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors." Dt 3:4: "At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them—the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan." Dt 3:5:"All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages." Dt 3:6: "We completely destroyed [a] them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying [b] every city—men, women and children." Dt 3:7: "But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves."

The land of Bashan was famous for its prized cattle and oak groves. Lions also once roamed the area in ancient times. Og's kingdom was given to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh (Num. 21:32-35; Deut. 3:1-13). Og's destruction is chanted in ballads of praise and song in (Ps. 135:11; 136:20) as one of many great victories for the nation of Israel. In the book of Amos 2:9 there seems to be a symbolic reference to Og as "The Amorite" whose height was like the height of the cedars and whose strength was like the oaks.

A remnant of the Rephaim

In Deut. 3:11 and later in the book of Numbers and Joshua, Og is pronounced as the last of the Rephaim. Rephaim is a Hebrew word for giants. Deut. 3:11 declares that his "bedstead" of iron is "nine cubits in length and four cubits in width" (13 ft x 6 ft) according to the standard cubit of a man. It goes on to say that at the royal city of Rabbah of the Ammonites, his giant bedstead could still be seen as a novelty in those days. It is noteworthy that the region north of the river Jabbok, or Bashan, "the land of Rephaim", contains hundreds of megalithic stone tombs (dolmen) dating from the 5th to 3rd millennia BC. In 1918, Gustav Dalman discovered in the neighborhood of Amman Jordan (Amman is built on the ancient city of Rabbah of Ammon) a noteworthy dolmen which matched the approximate dimensions of Og's bed as described in the Bible. Such ancient rock burials are seldom seen west of the Jordan river, and the only other concentration of these megaliths are to be found in the hills of Judah in the vicinity of Hebron, where the giant sons of Anak were said to have lived (Numbers 13:33)^{[citation needed]}.

Og in non-Biblical inscriptions

A reference to "Og" appears in a Phoenician inscription from Byblos (Byblos 13) published in 1974 by Wolfgang Rölling in "Eine new phoenizische Inschrift aus Byblos," (Neue Ephemeris für Semitische Epigraphik, vol 2, 1-15 and plate 1). It appears in a damaged 7-line funerary inscription that Rölling dates to around 500 BC, and appears to say that if someone disturbs the bones of the occupant, "the mighty Og will avenge me."

A possible connection can also be made with the much older Ugaritic text KTU 1.108, which uses the term "king" in association with the root /rp/ or "Rapah" (the Rephaim of the Bible) and geographic place names that probably correspond to the cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei in the Bible, and with which king Og is clearly associated (Deuteronomy 1:4; Joshua 9:10; 12:4; 13:12, 31).

"Ogias the Giant"

The 2nd century BC apocryphal book "Ogias the Giant" or "The Book of Giants" depicts the adventures of a giant named Ogias who fought a great dragon, and who was supposedly either identical with the Biblical Og or was Og's father.

The book enjoyed considerable currency for several centuries, especially due to having been taken up by the Manicahean religion.

See also

• Gilgal Refaim
• Bergelmir
• Moses in rabbinic literature

References

1. ^ Jastrow, M, McCurdy, JF, Jastrow, M, Ginzberg, L & McDonald, DB (1901-1906). "Jewish Encyclopedia: Ark of Noah". JewishEncyclopedia.com. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1780&letter=A. Retrieved 2007-10-24. 
2. ^ {{Talmud Bavli, Zabahim 113b; Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer (Heigar) “Chorev” Ch. 23 ד"ה וזה אשר תעשה; Yalkut Shimoni, Torah, Parashas Noach, Remez 55 ד"ה זכר ונקבה יהיו; Yalkut Shimoni, Torah, Parashas Noach, Remez 56 ד"ה ד"א ויהי לשבעת; Yalkut Shimoni, Job, Remez 926 ד"ה +לט+ התקשר רים. These sources were found using Bar Ilan CD.}}

From BibleWiki

Meaning: gigantic

The king of Bashan, who was defeated by Moses in a pitched battle at Edrei, and was slain along with his sons (Deut 1:4), and whose kingdom was given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh (Num 21:32ff; Deut 3:1ff). His bedstead (or rather sarcophagus) was of iron (or ironstone), 9 cubits in length and 4 cubits in breadth. His overthrow was afterwards celebrated in song (Ps 135¹¹; Ps 136²⁰). (See also Sihon)

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—Biblical Data:

Amorite king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and was conquered by Moses and Israel in the battle of Edrei (Num 21:33), sixty fortified cities, with high walls, gates, and bars, comprising the region of Argob, being taken and given to the children of Machir, son of Manasseh (Deut 3:13; Josh 13:31). Og was one of the giants of the remnant of the Rephaim. His iron bedstead in Rabbath, the capital of Ammon, is described as having been nine cubits in length and four cubits in breadth (Deut 3:11).

—In Rabbinical Literature:

Og was not destroyed at the time of the Flood (Niddah 61a), for, according to one legend, the waters reached only to his ankles (Midr. Peṭirat Mosheh, i. 128, in Jellinek, "B. H." ii.). Another tradition states that he fled to Palestine, where there was no flood (Rashi to Niddah, ad loc.); while, according to a third legend, he sat on a rung of the ladder outside the ark, and, after he had sworn to be a slave to Noah and his children, received his food each day through a hole made in the side of the ark (Pirḳe R. El. ch. xxiii.). Og was known also as "Ha-Paliṭ" (see Gen 14:13).

It was Og who brought the news to Abraham of the captivity of Lot. This he did, however, with an evil motive, for he thought that Abraham would seek to release Lot and would be killed in battle with the great kings, and that he, Og, would be able to marry the beautiful Sarah (Gen. R. xlii. 12). A long lease of life was granted him as a reward for informing Abraham, but because of his sinister motive he was destined to be killed by the descendants of Abraham. Og was present at the banquet which Abraham gave on the day Isaac was weaned (comp. Gen 21:8). As Og had always declared that Abraham would beget no children, the guests teasingly asked him what he had to say now that Abraham had begotten Isaac, whereupon Og answered that Isaac was no true descendant since he could kill Isaac with one finger. It was in punishment for this remark, one legend declares, that he was condemned to live to see a hundred thousand descendants of Abraham and to be killed in battle against them. (Gen. R. liii. 14). When Jacob went to Pharaoh and blessed him (Gen 47:7), Og was present, and the king said to him: "The grandson of Abraham, who, according to thy words, was to have no descendants, is now here with seventy of them." As Og cast an evil eye upon the children of Israel, God foretold that he would fall into their hands (Deut. R. i. 22).

Death of Og.

During the battle of Edrei (Num 21:33) Og sat on the city wall, his legs, which were eighteen ells long, reaching down to the ground; Moses did not know what monster he had before him until God told him that it was Og. Og hurled an entire mountain against the Israelites, but Moses intercepted it (Deut. R. l.c.). According to another legend, Og uprooted a mountain three miles long, intending to destroy all Israel at once by hurling it upon their camp, which was also three miles in length; but while he was carrying it upon his head a swarm of locusts burrowed through it, so that it fell round his neck. When he attempted to throw off this unwieldy necklace long teeth grew from both sides of his mouth and kept the mountain in place. Thereupon Moses, who was himself ten ells tall, took an ax of equal length, jumped upward ten ells, so that he could reach Og's ankles, and thus killed him (Ber. 54b).

Shabbat (151b) and 'Erubin (48a) also indicate that Og was regarded as an unusually large giant. A legend says that a grave-digger pursued a stag three miles inside of one of Og's bones without reaching the other end (Niddah 24b).