DEUTERONOMY 3 — OG OF BASHAN AND MOSES' PLEA: THE VIEW FROM PISGAH
Why was Moses refused? His sin at Meribah seems small for such a punishment. Study Deuteronomy 3 with context, apologetic analysis, and cross-references.
Deuteronomy 32 questions
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Dr. Lucas D. Shallua Commentary · DEUTERONOMY 3 — OG OF BASHAN AND MOSES' PLEA: THE VIEW FROM PISGAH
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The precise difficulties
Why was Moses refused? His sin at Meribah seems small for such a punishment.
Did the herem on Og's cities include women and children?
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Verse and question study
Why was Moses refused? His sin at Meribah seems small for such a punishment.
Scripture treats leadership sins as high crimes (James 3:1): Moses misrepresented God before the whole congregation — striking the rock God told him to speak to, and speaking as if he and Aaron were the water-givers. The punishment fits a unique privilege: no one saw God face to face as Moses did; the standard matched the revelation. And God's purposes shine through: Moses' exclusion let him become the supreme type of the law itself — bringing Israel to the border, unable to bring them in; only Joshua (Hebrew for Jesus — Yeshua) leads the people across (Heb 4:8–10).
Did the herem on Og's cities include women and children?
The text says yes — the same judicial sentence as the Canaanite allotment (see Deut 2 notes; 20:16–18). Within its covenant-judicial frame, the command is God's sentence on the Bashan kingdom's population; the theological logic — holy war as divine judgment, never ethnic animus — governs every such passage in Deuteronomy.
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Historical and literary context
Deuteronomy 3 completes the first address's historical review (1:6–3:29). Og of Bashan was the second Transjordanian king defeated (after Sihon), giving Israel the northern plateau (Bashan, modern Golan) to match Sihon's southern kingdom (Gilead). The chapter then addresses the two matters pending at the book's opening: the Transjordan settlement (Numbers 32) and Moses' exclusion from the land (Numbers 20; 27:12–14). Verses 23–29 are among the most moving in the Torah — the greatest prophet's unanswered prayer.
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Apologetic note
Og's kingdom is anchored in real geography: Bashan (the Golan plateau), the Argob (the Trachonitis region with its remarkable stone-built cities), Edrei (modern Deraa), Salecah (Salkhad), and Rabbah of the Ammonites (Amman) — where, presumably, an actual massive iron object (likely a bed-sarcophagus) was displayed, the sort of detail unlikely to be invented. The "sixty fortified cities" of the Argob match the region's dense basalt fortresses known today. Bashan's later fame for oaks and cattle (Isa 2:13; Ezek 39:18; Amos 4:1) confirms the plateau's identity across centuries.