Deuteronomy 3 Study Notes
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3:4 The name Bashan (cp. v. 1) is a general term for the whole region north of the Yarmuk River, now the border between Jordan and Syria. Argob appears to have been the technical name for the political entity in Bashan over which Og was ruler.
3:8-10 These verses summarize the situation up to this point. Mount Hermon, more than 9,000 feet high, is the tallest peak of the Anti-Lebanon range. In a psalm thought to have strong literary and conceptual associations with Phoenicia, Hermon is called Sirion (Ps 29:6).
3:11 This is another parenthetical comment. The bed . . . made of iron of Og may in fact have been his sarcophagus. The Hebrew term describing it (‘eres) should likely be taken figuratively of Og’s resting place in death.
3:12-17 The conquest of the region of Bashan and part of Gilead was accomplished not by Manasseh per se but by Manassite clans, namely Jair and Machir (cp. Nm 32:39-42). Jair seems to have been a descendant of Machir (1Ch 2:21-23). In any case, they were not contemporaneous, suggesting that the conquest took a number of years.
3:18-20 These verses echo Nm 32.
3:21-29 These verses concern the commissioning of Joshua to take Moses’s place. But the actual commissioning does not occur until after Moses finishes these addresses. See 31:1-23.
3:24 Moses’s question was not implying that other gods existed. His point was that the Lord is superior to all gods, real or imaginary, in the polytheistic culture of the time (Is 44:6-20; 45:20-25; Jr 10:11-16).
3:25 The beautiful land is literally “the good land.” This phrase occurs eight times in Deuteronomy and only twice in the rest of the Bible (cp. Jos 23:16; 1Ch 28:8).
3:27 Pisgah is the name of a summit in the range of hills in Transjordan called Abarim overlooking the Arabah and the Dead Sea. It lies just north of Mount Nebo, the traditional setting of Moses’s vantage point from which he could see the land of Canaan (32:49). Pisgah (now identified as Ras Siyaghah) and Nebo were twin peaks of the same mountain, but it was from Pisgah that the great lawgiver viewed the land he was forbidden to enter (34:1).
beriyth
| Hebrew pronunciation | [beh REETH] |
| CSB translation | covenant |
| Uses in Deuteronomy | 27 |
| Uses in the OT | 287 |
| Focus passage | Deuteronomy 4:13,23,31 |
Beriyth probably relates to an Akkadian word pointing to covenants (Gn 6:18) as bonds, a fundamental implication being obligation. Beriyth also denotes treaty (Jos 9:15) or agreement (Is 33:8). People confirmed covenants by oath (Gn 21:22-27); word, testimony, counsel, agreement, and law are associated terms. Covenants initiated relationships implying love, friendship, loyalty, goodness, peace, and brotherhood. People entered covenants by “cutting” (making) them, originally cutting apart animals (Gn 15:9-10; Jr 34:18). “Cut a covenant” appears as form an alliance (Ps 83:5) or made a covenant (Is 28:15). Other ceremonies were sacrifices (Ex 24:3-8), meals (Gn 26:26-31), sharing salt (Lv 2:13), and shaking hands (Ezk 17:18). Covenants were between men, with God, and figuratively with animals (Hs 2:18). God dealt with mankind through two important kinds of covenant, an obligatory one modeled after suzerain-vassal treaties (e.g., Mosaic), and a promissory one comparable to royal grants (e.g., Davidic).