Commentaire sur Les Nombres 21:34

אל תירא אתו FEAR HIM NOT — God said this concerning Og but not about Sihon (cf v. 23), because Moses feared to wage battle, perhaps the merit of Abraham with whom Og had been associated would stand up (i.e., be an advocate) for him, as it is said, (Genesis 14:13) “And the one who escaped came [and told it to Abraham]” — this was Og who had escaped from the Rephaim whom Chedoladmar and his allies had smitten in Ashoreth Karnaim (Genesis 14:5), as it is said, (Deuteronomy 3:11). "For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim" (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Chukat 25, Niddah 61a).

FEAR HIM [Og] NOT. “For Moses was afraid [to wage war against Og] in case the merit of Abraham [whom Og had helped] would stand him in stead, for it is said about him, And there came ‘hapalit’ (one that had escaped) and told Abram the Hebrew,³¹⁰Genesis 14:13. this being Og who had escaped from the Rephaim whom Amraphel³¹¹In our Rashi: “Chedarlaomer.” and his allies had defeated at Ashteroth-karnaim.”³¹²Genesis 14:5. This is Rashi’s language, based on the words of our Rabbis.³¹³Tanchuma, Chukath 25; Bamidbar Rabbah 19:19. Here too³¹⁴See Ramban above at the end of Verse 1, where he mentions a similar idea. Hence he writes now: “here too.” the Rabbis were induced to make this comment because they knew that Moses our teacher would not have been afraid of an arm of flesh, for with him was the Eternal our G-d,³¹⁵See II Chronicles 32:8. and all the nations are as nothing before Him; they are accounted by Him as things of nought, and vanity.³¹⁶Isaiah 40:17. [Furthermore], it was he [Moses himself] who admonished Israel: fear not, nor be dismayed on account of them,³¹⁷Deuteronomy 31:6. and who criticized them for being afraid of them, as it is said in connection with the [affair of the] spies, Then I said unto you: ‘Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The Eternal your G-d, Who goeth before you, He shall fight for you.’³¹⁸Ibid., 1:29-30. Therefore [we must say] that Moses was afraid [of Og] because he knew of his merit [in having helped Abraham].
In accordance with the plain meaning of Scripture, Moses had not intended now to give Israel the land of Sihon and Og as an inheritance, as I have explained.³¹⁹Above, Verse 21. But Sihon had gone out against Israel into the wilderness,³²⁰Ibid., Verse 23. and had fought them against their will [in spite of their desire for peace]. Then G-d informed [Moses], Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before thee; begin to possess his land,³²¹Deuteronomy 2:31. for here began the conquest of the seven nations [who inhabited the Land of Israel]. But Og [nonetheless] mobilized all his forces at Edrei,³²²Further, Verse 33. which was a city at the end of his border, and Israel could have turned away from him just as they had turned away from Esau [i.e., Edom].³²³Above, 20:21. Therefore G-d told Moses, “Fear him not; go to him and contend with him in battle, for I have delivered him into thy hand.” And in Bamidbar Sinai Rabbah I have seen [the following text]³²⁴Bamidbar Rabbah, 19:19. “Why was Moses afraid [of Og]? He said: Perhaps Israel committed a trespass in the war against Sihon, [by taking of the spoil for themselves], or maybe they have become defiled by sins.” This is a completely homiletic exposition. And indeed all righteous people have this fear [that they might have sinned in error],³²⁵See Vol. I, p. 195. and this [fear] likewise occurred [in the case] of Joshua [about whom it says that G-d told him, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed].³²⁶Joshua 8:1.
Balak

Moshe was afraid [to do battle] that perhaps the merit… For if not so, why was Og any different from Sichon? Regarding Sichon, Hashem did not say “do not be afraid of him.” You might ask: Surely Og’s intentions were purely evil, [namely] that Avrohom would be killed and he would marry Sarah, as Rashi explains in Parshas Lech Lecha on the verse, “The one who had escaped came…” (Bereishis 14:13). The answer is that nonetheless, since the merit of saving Lot came through his hand, Moshe was afraid that this merit might stand for him, even though his intentions were evil. Similarly we say (Horiyos 10b) that in the merit of the sacrifices that Balak offered, he merited that Rus [Ruth] would come from him, even though his intentions were evil. This was because he offered them in honor of Hashem.

ויאמר ה' אל משה אל תירא אותו, Hashem said to Moses: “do not be afraid of him!” Rashi explains that there was a reason why G–d had to say this to Moses concerning Og, although He had not said this to him before joining battle with Sichon. Moses was afraid that Og had acquired a great merit by warning Avraham at the time that his nephew Lot had been taken prisoner by a King who had thought that he was Avraham, as he had meant to kill or capture Avraham. Compare Genesis 14,13, and the explanation in the Talmud tractate Niddah folio 61 on that verse. If you were to say that according to that statement in the Talmud, Og had actually meant to kill Avraham so that he could marry Sarah, i.e. hardly an intention qualifying for additional merit, the fact that he was instrumental in saving Avraham at that time and in saving Lot by Avraham coming to his rescue, was enough to make Moses fear him. [After all this Og was at least 500 years old if he had been a somebody already at that time. Ed.] The Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin folio 105 tells us that the 42 burnt offerings offered by Balak to Hashem at the direction of Bileam, was enough for him to be rewarded that Ruth the Moabite became descended from him. Balak had also intended only to cause Israel harm at that time, and nonetheless the sages of the Talmud felt that G–d had to reward him. Some sages understand the fact that Og was described –though indirectly- as a fugitive, in Genesis, this means that he had escaped not Nimrod, but that he had escaped the deluge and had managed to survive it somehow. This would be good reason for Moses to feel that he had G–d’s protection even at his time. He is also supposed to have been a brother of Sichon, giving him good reason to attack Moses who had killed his brother. Our author refers to what he had explained in Parshat Noach in the name of Rabbi Yehudah hachassid who had pointed out that the numerical value of the words אך נח in the line: וישאר אך נח, “only Noach survived,” is identical to the numerical value of the word עוג, i.e. 79. (Genesis 7,23) There is also a statement by Rabi Yechiel bar Yoseph, according to whom Og had been born before the onset of the deluge, his mother having been pregnant with him at the time, and having married one of Noach’s sons, her pregnancy having been caused by one of the people whom t*he Torah had described as בני האלוהים, usually understood as “fallen angels.”

אל תירא אותו, “do not fear him!” Rashi explains that the reason why Moses was afraid of Og was that the merit of having alerted Avraham to Lot having been taken prisoner by the armies of Kedorleomer might have protected him. This seems highly unlikely, as Rashi himself explains elsewhere that Og far from having noble intentions, wished Avraham dead, so that he could marry Sarah. We therefore must look for a different reason why Moses would have feared him. In the Talmud Horiot folio 10, we have a statement that a person should engage in Torah study even if his intentions are not wholly religiously motivated. As a proof the Talmud cites that the 42 sacrificial animals that Balak, who had hired Bileam to curse the Jewish people, offered to the Jewish G-d was rewarded by Ruth the Moabite, and ancestor of the Messiah through her great grandson David would be born and be married to Boaz. Moses was similarly concerned that if Og had survived thus far, G-d had had a mission in mind that he must fulfill and that mission had not yet been fulfilled by him. Only after G-d had set Moses’ mind at ease did he cease worrying about the outcome of the military encounter that was imminent. It was only after G-d reassured him that his mind was set to rest about the imminent military encounter involving also such a giant.