פירוש על במדבר 21:33

V. 33. ויפנו ויעלו דרך הבשן: nordwärts.

ויפנו ויעלו, “they turned around and ascended;” in a northerly direction. Seeing that anyone who walks from the south of the land of Israel northward must automatically be ascending, [as is due to the topography of the terrain, Ed.] he must ascend via Bashan, the land ruled by King Og. Seeing that the Kingdom of Og has been described as part of the land of Canaan, the commandment to kill anyone from that Kingdom who did not voluntarily leave, man woman or child; the Israelites did not send a letter offering to cross his land peacefully only in transit. (compare Deuteronomy 20,16) [The commandment not to allow survivors also applied to the Emorites, i.e. to Sichon and his country. Og, personally, a survivor of the deluge according to tradition, obviously could not have been a Canaanite, as they did not exist at that time. Ed.] Sichon, on the other hand, ruled over some lands that were not originally Canaanite, such as parts of Moav and Bney Ammon.

ויצא, “he (Og) came forth, provocatively, in a hostile manner.” Our author refers us to his having explained why Og lived as long as he lived, i.e. at least 850 years. (Genesis 14,13)