Og in Fausset's Bible Dictionary
An Amorite king of Bashan, ruling 60 cities, including
Ashteroth Karnaim and Edrei (Joshua 13:12; Joshua 12:4;
Genesis 14:5). After conquering Sihon's land from the Arnon
to the Jabbok, Israel marched by way of Bashan which is N.
of the Jabbok. (See BASHAN; ARGOB.) Og met them and perished
with all his people at Edrei, and Israel took his land
(Numbers 21:33-35). Og was of a different race, namely, "of
the remnant of the giants," the Rephaim before the Amorites
came (Deuteronomy 3:13). The Amorites by intermarriage with
the Rephaim were in "height like that of the cedars and
strong as the oaks" (Amos 2:9). Og's bedstead was in Rabbath
of Ammon when Moses wrote Deuteronomy 3:1-11.
Either the Ammonites, like the Bedouin, followed in
the wake of Israel's armies as pillagers, and so got
possession of it; or Israel sent it to Ammon as a pledge of
their having no hostile intentions, the Lord having
forbidden them to disturb Ammon, and as a visible token of
Israel's power in having overcome such mighty kings as Sihon
and Og. It was nine cubits long and four broad. "Of iron,"
perhaps the black basalt of the country, which is called by
the Arabs "iron," having 20 percent of that metal. His body
was of course shorter. Knobel thinks Og's "bier" is meant, a
sarcophagus of black basalt. His corpse may have been
carried, in this view, to the territory of the friendly
Ammonites. So Dr. Geddes conjectures Og, after his defeat,
fled to Rabbath where he died and was buried in this coffin.
After traversing the smooth pasture land, Israel
suddenly came on the marvelous rock barrier of Argob, an
oval basalt island, 60 miles by 20 miles, "all the girdle
(Hebrew) of Argob" ("the stony country"), rising abruptly 30
ft. from the surrounding Bashan plains. The rocky
fastnesses, on which Og's 60 cities were, almost
impregnable, compensated by security for their
inconveniences. Had Og remained in them, Israel could not
have dislodged him. God therefore saw it needful to
encourage Israel in facing such a foe, "fear him not"; and
God sent hornets which, as well as infatuation, drove Og
into the open field where he was overthrown (Joshua 24:12).
God's special interposition for Israel against Og is the
theme of praise (Psalm 135:11; Psalm 136:20).
Read More about Og in Fausset's Bible Dictionary