Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Commentary for Deuteronomy 3:10

כֹּ֣ל ׀ עָרֵ֣י הַמִּישֹׁ֗ר וְכָל־הַגִּלְעָד֙ וְכָל־הַבָּשָׁ֔ן עַד־סַלְכָ֖ה וְאֶדְרֶ֑עִי עָרֵ֛י מַמְלֶ֥כֶת ע֖וֹג בַּבָּשָֽׁן׃

all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salcah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.—

Sforno on Deuteronomy

ערי ממלכת עוג בבשן....כי רק עוג מלך הבשן נשאר, the reason why he ruled in that district was because he was the only one remaining from the Refaim of old. Ever since the war between Amrafel and his allies who defeated the Refaim on their way to Sodom at Ashterot Karnayim (Genesis 14,5), there were numerous individual Refaim remaining. These defeated the Ammonites as mentioned in 2,21. During that war against the Ammonites only Og survived. Seeing that he was a famous hero, equaling the combined power of all the other Refaim, he was the one who ruled.
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