Ulangan 3:11

3:11 Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaites. (It is noteworthy ¹  that his sarcophagus ²  was made of iron. ³  Does it not, indeed, still remain in Rabbath ⁴  of the Ammonites? It is thirteen and a half feet ⁵  long and six feet ⁶  wide according to standard measure.) ⁷ 

Ulangan 3:2

3:2 The Lord, however, said to me, “Don’t be afraid of him because I have already given him, his whole army, ⁸  and his land to you. You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon.”

1 Samuel 11:1

Saul Comes to the Aid of Jabesh

11:1 ⁹ Nahash ¹⁰  the Ammonite marched ¹¹  against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh Gilead said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us and we will serve you.”

1 Samuel 12:1

12:1 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have done ¹²  everything you requested. ¹³  I have given you a king. ¹⁴ 

Yehezkiel 21:20

21:20 Mark out the routes for the sword to take: “Rabbah of the Ammonites” and “Judah with Jerusalem in it.” ¹⁵ 

Amos 1:14

1:14 So I will set fire to Rabbah’s ¹⁶  city wall; ¹⁷ 

fire ¹⁸  will consume her fortresses.

War cries will be heard on the day of battle; ¹⁹ 

a strong gale will blow on the day of the windstorm. ²⁰ 

[3:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Behold” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).

[3:11]  ² tn The Hebrew term עֶרֶשׂ (’eres), traditionally translated “bed” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) is likely a basaltic (volcanic) stone sarcophagus of suitable size to contain the coffin of the giant Rephaite king. Its iron-like color and texture caused it to be described as an iron container. See A. Millard, “King Og’s Iron Bed: Fact or Fancy?” BR 6 (1990): 16-21, 44; cf. also NEB “his sarcophagus of basalt”; TEV, CEV “his coffin.”

[3:11]  ³ tn Or “of iron-colored basalt.” See note on the word “sarcophagus” earlier in this verse.

[3:11]  ⁴ sn Rabbath. This place name (usually occurring as Rabbah; 2 Sam 11:11; 12:27; Jer 49:3) refers to the ancient capital of the Ammonite kingdom, now the modern city of Amman, Jordan. The word means “great [one],” probably because of its political importance. The fact that the sarcophagus “still remain[ed]” there suggests this part of the verse is post-Mosaic, having been added as a matter of explanation for the existence of the artifact and also to verify the claim as to its size.

[3:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “nine cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 in (45 cm) for the standard cubit, this would be 13.5 ft (4.1 m) long.

[3:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “four cubits.” This would be 6 ft (1.8 m) wide.

[3:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “by the cubit of man.” This probably refers to the “short” or “regular” cubit of approximately 18 in (45 cm).

[3:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “people.”

[11:1]  ⁹ tc 4QSam^a and Josephus (Ant. 6.68-71) attest to a longer form of text at this point. The addition explains Nahash’s practice of enemy mutilation, and by so doing provides a smoother transition to the following paragraph than is found in the MT. The NRSV adopts this reading, with the following English translation: “Now Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites. He would gouge out the right eye of each of them and would not grant Israel a deliverer. No one was left of the Israelites across the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had not gouged out. But there were seven thousand men who had escaped from the Ammonites and had entered Jabesh-gilead.” This reading should not be lightly dismissed; it may in fact provide a text superior to that of the MT and the ancient versions. But the external evidence for it is so limited as to induce caution; the present translation instead follows the MT. However, for a reasonable case for including this reading in the text see the discussions in P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 199, and R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 103.

[11:1]  ¹⁰ sn The name “Nahash” means “serpent” in Hebrew.

[11:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “went up and camped”; NIV, NRSV “went up and besieged.”

[12:1]  ¹² tn Heb “Look, I have listened to your voice.”

[12:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “to all which you said to me.”

[12:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and I have installed a king over you.”

[21:20]  ¹⁵ tc The MT reads “Judah in fortified Jerusalem,” a geographic impossibility. The translation follows the LXX, which assumes בְּתוֹכָהּ (bÿtokhah, “in it”) for בְּצוּרָה (bÿtsurah, “fortified”).

[21:20]  sn As the Babylonians approached from the north, one road would branch off to the left and lead down the east side of the Jordan River to Ammon. The other road would veer to the right and lead down west of the Jordan to Jerusalem.

[1:14]  ¹⁶ sn Rabbah was the Ammonite capital.

[1:14]  ¹⁷ sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

[1:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “with a war cry in the day of battle.”

[1:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “with wind in the day of the windstorm.”

[1:14]  sn A windstorm is a metaphor for judgment and destruction in the OT (see Isa 29:6; Jer 23:19) and ancient Near Eastern literature.