Bible Commentaries
Go deeper in Scripture
Browse trusted public-domain commentary alongside DiscipleDeck Bible study. References inside each commentary open Bible previews in place.
27,299 commentary entries
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:1-20
Self-propagating conquest. There is solid truth in the French proverb: "It is the first step that costs." An untried course makes large demands on a man's thought, self-watchfullness, and energy; but when habit is acqui…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:1-11
CONQUEST OF OG, KING OF BASHAN. The Amorites had wrested from Moab a portion of the territory taken by the Moabites and the Edomites from the giant aborigines; and Og, who was of the same giant race, ruled over the nort…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:1
(Cf. Numbers 21:33 ) We turned—i.e. took a new route—and went up ( וַנַּעַל, and we ascended). As Bashan was an upland region, they are very properly said to have gone up. Edrei, hod. Draa, with Roman and Arabian ruins,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:1-29
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:1-17
The destruction of Og, King of Bashan. We have here an account of another conquest, for which the victory over Sihon, King of the Amorites, prepared the people. Bashan was "called the land of the giants" (Deuteronomy 3:…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:1-12
The conquest of Og. Og, King of Bashan, was a yet more formidable adversary than Sihon. We read with wonder of that extraordinary territory over which he ruled, the region of Argob, with its sixty cities built of black…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:2
(Cf. Numbers 21:31, etc.)
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:4
Threescore cities; probably the same as the Bashan-havoth jair, afterwards mentioned (Deuteronomy 3:14). The region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. The region of Argob comprised the kingdom of Og, and Bashan was…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:5
All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; literally, double gates and a bar. These cities, with their marvelous erections, are believed to be still existing in the Hauran. Over that district tire st…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:6
(See Deuteronomy 2:34.)
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:6
The destruction of the populations. The difficulty is often urged of the numerous cases of the destruction of entire populations recorded in Scripture, and said to be commanded by God. It is a difficulty which all have…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:8
Hermon ( חֶרְמוֹן), probably from חָרַם, to be high, "the lofty peak," conspicuous on all sides. By some the name is supposed to be connected with חֶרֶם, a devoted thing, because this mountain marked the limit of the co…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:10
The different portions of the conquered territory are here mentioned. 1. The plain ( הַמִּישׁוֹר, the level country); the table-land south of Mount Gilead, as far as the Arnon. 2. The whole of Gilead; the hilly country…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:11
Bashan was of old possessed by a giant race, the Rephaim (Genesis 14:5); but of these Og, King of Bashan, was, at the time of the Israelitish invasion, the sole remnant. His vast size is indicated by the size of his bed…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:12-20
Distribution of territory. I. CONQUERED TERRITORY IS NOT TO BE LEFT UNOCCUPIED. This is a sound principle. Has a vice been conquered?—replace it by a contrary virtue. Has a soul been converted?—set it to Christian work.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:12-17
Distribution of the conquered land. The countries thus conquered by the Israelites were assigned by Moses to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. The southern portion, from Aroer, in the valley o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:13
The last part of this verse is differently construed and rendered by different translators. By some the clause all the region of Argob is connected with what precedes, while others regard this clause as in apposition wi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:14
Jair, a descendant of Manasseh by the mother's side (his father was of the tribe of Judah, 1 Chronicles 2:22), obtained the Argob region unto—i.e; inclusive of (see Joshua 13:13)—the territory of the Geshuri and Maachat…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:15
Cf. Numbers 32:40; 1 Chronicles 2:22.) Deuteronomy 3:16, Deuteronomy 3:17 The possession of the tribes of Reuben and Gad is here more exactly defined. Its southern boundary was the middle of the valley (the wady) of the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:18-20
Moses reminds the two and a half tribes of the conditions on which they had received the possessions they had desired beyond Jordan (see Numbers 32:20-32). All that are meet for the war; literally, all the sons of might…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:18-29
CONCLUSION OF HISTORICAL RECAPITULATION. Deuteronomy 3:18-29.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:18-20
The pioneers of the invasion of Palestine. Here the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites are directed to "intern" their wives, little ones, and cattle in the cities of Bashan, which were now literally free from the race…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:21-29
Prospect of death. In the full career of triumph, Moses has inward presentiment, and external announcement, that his end was near. Nature has a greater repugnance to death when we are enveloped in the bright sunshine of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 3:21
At that time, i.e. after the conquest of the land on the east of the Jordan (see Numbers 27:12, etc.). Thine eyes have seen, etc. Joshua was directed to what he had himself witnessed, what his own eyes had seen, in the…