Annotations on the Pentateuch, Psalms, Song of Songs, Biblical commentary 5 · Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
1 The Story of the conquest of Og king of Basan: 11 The bignesse of his bed. 12 The distribution of those lands to the two Tribes, and halfe. 18 Who were to goe over armed before their brethren till they also had rest. 21 Moses encourageth Iosua. 23 Prayeth that himselfe might goe into the land. 26. Which God would not permit, but suffereth him to see it a far off.
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… 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.
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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…; which the Greeke mistaking, turned cities of the Pherezites; but it meaneth unwalled townes (as Est…. 9. 19. Zach. 2. 4.) so named of their dwelling scattered.
Vers. 6. destroying of every citie the men] or, de… every citie of men, &c. as in Deut. 2. 34. … God destroyed the Amorite before them; … 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. … in encouragement of them to fight against … residue of the heathen, Deut. 3. 21, 22. and a …ragement to the heathen themselves, Ios. 2. 10, 11.
Vers. 9. Sidonians] the dwellers in Sidon the great … Greeke calleth them Phanicians. Shir… Greeke, Sanior. This mount had five names, …, Shirjon, Shenir, and Sion, Deut. 4. 48. …, Num. 34. 7. for that divers peoples cal… by divers names, and because of divers … of this mountaine: wherefore in Song 4. 8. … and Hermon are set downe as distinct: Shir… Psal. 29. 6. is by the Chaldee paraphrast there expounded, the mount that bringeth forth fr…: and Shenir (in Greeke Saner) is by the Chaldee here expounded, the Snow-mount: for it was so …, that snow used to lye on the top of it. A…] Hebr. the Amorite, they call it: which sheweth … singular number to bee put for the whole ….
Vers. 11. Giants] in Hebrew, Rephaim, which … the Greeke retaineth Rephaein, as before in Deut. 7. 11. This Og seemeth to bee of the rem… 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.
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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…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…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… 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…. 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…leaved, Heb. 11. 13. so Moses a …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. …. Deut. 4 3.