According to several books of the Old Testament, Og (pronounced /ˈɒɡ/, meaning "gigantic"; Hebrew: עוג [ʕoːɣ]) was an ancient Amorite king of Jerusalem who, along with an army, was slain by Joshua and his men at the battle of Edrei (probably modern day Daraa, Syria). The internal chronology of the Deuteronomistic History and the Torah would suggest Og's overthrow and the conquest of Canaan by Israel around c. 1500 or 1200 BC, although Bible critics attest that these books may have been written no earlier than the 7th-6th centuries BC, and are considered by some Bible critics to be of uncertain historical accuracy.
Og, the giant of the Amorites, is equally considered a folk legend, around whom gathered many Jewish legends: according to some traditions he lived to be 3,000 years old and clung to Noah's ark during the Deluge.[1] In Islamic lore he is referred to as ‘Uj ibn Anaq (‘Ûj ibn ‘Anâq), evidently one of the giants mentioned in the Qur'an (jababirat or jabbirun).
Og is mentioned in Jewish folklore as being alive from the time of Noah up until the time of his death in battle with the Jews. It is also written in the Midrash[2] that he had a special compartment in Noah's Ark just for him. Aggadah suggest an alternative to this; That he sat upon the top of the ark, riding out the flood for the duration of the storm from this location.
An Amorite king
Og is first mentioned in the Book of Numbers, specifically the 21st and 32nd chapters. He was an Amorite, not unlike his neighbor Sihon of Heshbon, of whom Moses had previously conquered at the battle of Jahaz. He ruled a very considerable and fertile land, which extended from the fork of the Yarmuk river to the undefined basaltic lands of Hauran to the east. Bashan, which contained some "sixty walled cities" with great bars and gates and many unwalled towns, had capitols at Ashtaroth and Edrei in the region of Argob. Being an Amorite, he likely embraced the customs and clothing of his people. Perhaps he stylized the full beard, shaved upper lip, and colorfully woven tunics so accustomed to many Amorite Kings who resided at the ancient center of Mari[original research?]. His capitol at Ashtaroth was also a worship center to the fertility goddess, and this city is probably modern Tell Ashareh, where there still exists a 70-foot mound.
Battle with Israel
According to the account in Numbers 21:33, Og marched toward the people of Israel and pitched the battle at Edrei nearly 18 miles southeast of Ashtaroth where he met their resistance and his ultimate fate. Deut. 3:1-13 mentions the capture of his land by Moses and proclaimed that they slew every man, woman, and child of his cities and took the spoil for their bounty. The land of Bashan was famous for its prized cattle and oak groves. Lions also once roamed the area in ancient times. Og's kingdom was given to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh (Num. 21:32-35; Deut. 3:1-13). Og's destruction is chanted in ballads of praise and song in (Ps. 135:11; 136:20) as one of many great victories for the nation of Israel. In the book of Amos 2:9 there seems to be a symbolic reference to Og as "The Amorite" whose height was like the height of the cedars and whose strength was like the oaks.
A remnant of the Rephaim
In Deut. 3:11 and later in the book of Numbers and Joshua, Og is pronounced as the last of the Rephaim. Rephaim is a Hebrew word for giants and that is exactly how king Og is described. Deut. 3:11 declares that his "bedstead" of iron is "nine cubits in length and four cubits in width" (13 ft x 6 ft) according to the standard cubit of a man. It goes on to say that at the royal city of Rabbah of the Ammonites, his giant bedstead could still be seen as a novelty in those days. It is noteworthy that the region north of the river Jabbok, or Bashan, "the land of Rephaim", contains hundreds of megalithic stone tombs (dolmen) dating from the 5th to 3rd millennia BC. In 1918, Gustav Dalman discovered in the neighborhood of Amman Jordan (Amman is built on the ancient city of Rabbah of Ammon) a noteworthy dolmen which matched the approximate dimensions of Og's bed as described in the Bible. Such ancient rock burials are seldom seen west of the Jordan river, and the only other concentration of these megaliths are to be found in the hills of Judah in the vicinity of Hebron, where the giant sons of Anak were said to have lived (Numbers 13:33)[citation needed].
Og in non-Biblical inscriptions
A reference to "Og" appears in a Phoenician inscription from Byblos (Byblos 13) published in 1974 by Wolfgang Rölling in "Eine new phoenizische Inschrift aus Byblos," (Neue Ephemeris für Semitische Epigraphik, vol 2, 1-15 and plate 1). It appears in a damaged 7-line funerary inscription that Rölling dates to around 500 BC, and appears to say that if someone disturbs the bones of the occupant, "the mighty Og will avenge me."
A possible connection can also be made with the much older Ugaritic text KTU 1.108, which uses the term "king" in association with the root /rp/ or "Rapah" (the Rephaim of the Bible) and geographic place names that probably correspond to the cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei in the Bible, and with which king Og is clearly associated (Deuteronomy 1:4; Joshua 9:10; 12:4; 13:12, 31).
"Ogias the Giant"
The 2nd century BC apocryphal book "Ogias the Giant" or "The Book of Giants" depicts the adventures of a giant named Ogias who fought a great dragon, and who was supposedly either identical with the Biblical Og or was Og's father.
The book enjoyed considerable currency for several centuries, especially due to having been taken up by the Manicahean religion.
See also
References
- ^ Jastrow, M, McCurdy, JF, Jastrow, M, Ginzberg, L & McDonald, DB (1901-1906). "Jewish Encyclopedia: Ark of Noah". JewishEncyclopedia.com. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1780&letter=A. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
- ^ {{Talmud Bavli, Zabahim 113b; Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer (Heigar) “Chorev” Ch. 23 ד"ה וזה אשר תעשה; Yalkut Shimoni, Torah, Parashas Noach, Remez 55 ד"ה זכר ונקבה יהיו; Yalkut Shimoni, Torah, Parashas Noach, Remez 56 ד"ה ד"א ויהי לשבעת; Yalkut Shimoni, Job, Remez 926 ד"ה +לט+ התקשר רים. These sources were found using Bar Ilan CD.}}
