Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Moses recounts the victory over Og, and how he divided his territory, as well as Sihon's, among the tribe of Gad, Reuben, and half of Manasseh, on condition that they themselves should go before the other tribes and lead them into Canaan. Finally, verse 23, Moses prays that he may be allowed to enter Canaan; but God commands him to be silent.
Vulgate Text: Deuteronomy 3:1-29
1. And so turning we went up by the way of Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan came out against us with all his people to fight at Edrei. 2. And the Lord said to me: Do not fear him; for he has been delivered into your hand with all his people and his land, and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon. 3. So the Lord our God delivered into our hands also Og the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we struck them until they were utterly destroyed, 4. devastating all his cities at one time; there was not a town that escaped us: sixty cities, the entire region of Argob of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5. All the cities were fortified with very high walls, and gates and bars, besides innumerable towns which had no walls. 6. And we destroyed them, as we had done to Sihon the king of Heshbon, destroying every city, men and women and little children: 7. But the cattle and the spoils of the cities we plundered, 8. and we took at that time the land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan; from the torrent Arnon to mount Hermon, 9. which the Sidonians call Sirion, and the Amorites Senir; 10. all the cities which are situated in the plain, and all the land of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11. For only Og the king of Bashan remained of the race of giants. His iron bed is shown, which is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, nine cubits in length and four in breadth, measured by the cubit of a man's hand. 12. And we possessed this land at that time from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the torrent Arnon, to half of mount Gilead, and I gave its cities to Reuben and Gad. 13. And the remaining part of Gilead, and all Bashan of the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the entire region of Argob: and all Bashan is called the land of giants. 14. Jair the son of Manasseh possessed the entire region of Argob as far as the borders of Geshur and Maacah. And he called Bashan by his own name Havoth-jair, that is, the Villages of Jair, to this day. 15. To Machir also I gave Gilead. 16. And to the tribes of Reuben and Gad I gave from the land of Gilead to the torrent Arnon, the middle of the torrent, and the border up to the torrent Jabbok, which is the boundary of the sons of Ammon: 17. and the plain of the wilderness, and the Jordan, and the borders of Chinnereth as far as the sea of the wilderness, which is the Dead Sea, at the foot of mount Pisgah toward the east. 18. And I commanded you at that time, saying: The Lord your God gives you this land as an inheritance; armed, go before your brothers the sons of Israel, all you strong men, 19. except your wives, and little ones, and cattle. For I know that you have much livestock, and they must remain in the cities which I have given you; 20. until the Lord gives rest to your brothers, as He has given to you, and they also possess the land which He will give them beyond the Jordan: then each one shall return to his possession, which I have given you. 21. I also commanded Joshua at that time, saying: Your eyes have seen what the Lord your God has done to these two kings; so He will do to all the kingdoms to which you are about to cross. 22. Do not fear them: for the Lord your God will fight for you. 23. And I prayed to the Lord at that time, saying: 24. O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your most mighty hand; for there is no other God, either in heaven or on earth, who can do Your works, or be compared to Your strength. 25. I will cross over, then, and see this excellent land beyond the Jordan, and this noble mountain, and Lebanon. 26. And the Lord was angry with me on your account, and did not hear me, but said to me: It is enough for you: speak no more to Me of this matter. 27. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes to the west, and to the north, and to the south, and to the east, and behold it, for you shall not cross this Jordan. 28. Command Joshua, and strengthen and encourage him: for he shall go before this people, and shall divide among them the land which you will see. 29. And we remained in the valley opposite the shrine of Peor.
Verses 8-9: From the Torrent Arnon to Mount Hermon
Verses 8 and 9. AND WE TOOK THE LAND, ETC., FROM THE TORRENT ARNON TO MOUNT HERMON, WHICH THE SIDONIANS CALL SIRION, AND THE AMORITES SENIR. -- Mount Hermon is therefore called Sirion and Senir; it is also called Sion, or Seon, as is clear from chapter IV, verse 48. Rabbi Solomon thinks Senir, or Shenir, is a Germanic name, as well as Canaanite, signifying snow, with which mount Hermon is always covered. R. Nehemannus thinks the same, and following him Masius, Joshua XII, 5; indeed the Chaldean interprets Senir as "snowy." Masius adds that this mountain is contiguous to Lebanon, and as it were a part of it facing east, which on account of the snow is rigid, desolate, and uncultivated, and hence was called Hermon, or Chermon. For cherem, or herem, signifies a thing destroyed, corrupted, cut down, devastated, which is of no use or profit.
Verse 11: Only Og Remained of the Race of Giants
Verse 11. FOR ONLY OG THE KING OF BASHAN REMAINED OF THE RACE OF GIANTS, -- understand this of that region: for that giants still existed elsewhere is clear from Numbers XIII, 34, Joshua XV, 14, and I Chronicles XX, 6; there therefore of the giants only the line of Og remained: for the others were struck down and destroyed by Chedorlaomer, Genesis XIV, 5.
The Jews fable that Og was a survivor of the flood, and of the giants who existed before the flood, Genesis VI, 4, and so Og would have lived eight hundred and more years; concerning which I spoke in Genesis VII, at the end.
HIS IRON BED IS SHOWN IN RABBAH (this city was later called Philadelphia, as Saint Jerome attests in Hebrew Places), NINE CUBITS IN LENGTH AND FOUR IN BREADTH. -- The Talmudists hand down that this bed was the cradle of Og when he was a baby: for when he grew to manhood, they say, just his foot was 120 cubits, not ordinary cubits but gigantic ones, such as Og was; and consequently both he himself and his bed would easily have occupied a full league, says Abulensis; concerning which fable I said more in Numbers XXI, 35.
Physically, these vast bodies often have little mind. Of a very tall person it is said: "He is a Longurio, and a Maximinus's boot," that is, he is exceedingly tall and witless. Hence also Vegetius, Book I, chapter V: "In war," he says, "it is proper to consider not so much the stature of a soldier as his strength." The saying of Athenaeus is well known: "No large fish is bad" -- this is said of those who are very large in body but have no talent whatsoever. The power of the soul united is stronger in a small body than dispersed in a large one.
Symbolically, Abulensis here, Question III: "Og," he says, "in Hebrew means the same as 'one who heaps up,' and signifies the sinner who adds sins upon sins, until he comes to the depths of evil. For sin, to which no remedy is applied through repentance, soon gathers to itself more wicked companions, so that it becomes a dwelling of every unclean spirit, especially of lust; in which when someone has nine cubits of length and four of breadth, he rests immovable as if in a bed. The first cubit, or step, therefore, is in exquisite foods. The second, in sweet and continual drinking, because the belly seething with wine foams over into lust, as Saint Jerome says. The third is in spectacles. For, as the Poet says:
They come to see; they come to be seen themselves. This place has the ruin of chaste modesty.
And Jeremiah, chapter IX: Death has entered through our windows; and: My eye has plundered my soul. The fourth is in wanton songs. The fifth is in perfumes, which provoke lust. The sixth is in gifts and presents. The seventh, in soft beds. The eighth, in the temporal merriment of companions. The ninth, in the shameful use of women. This bed of the impure also has four cubits of breadth. The first is shameful thought. The second, the consent to carry it out. The third, the consequent action. The fourth, long habituation, which finally makes this bed iron, so that it can be overcome by no good admonition or inspiration." Thus far Abulensis.
OF A MAN'S CUBIT. -- In Hebrew, "according to the cubit of a man."
Verse 14: Jair the Son of Manasseh
Verse 14. JAIR, THE SON OF MANASSEH, POSSESSED THE ENTIRE REGION OF ARGOB. -- "Son," that is, grandson. See Numbers XXXII, 41. For the Hebrews call all descendants "sons." So the Jews are called sons of Israel. So Elizabeth is called a daughter of Aaron, Luke I, 5. Asa and Hezekiah are called sons of David, III Kings XV, 11, and IV Kings XVIII, 3.
TO THIS DAY. -- Abulensis holds that these words were added not by Moses but by Ezra, who by God's inspiration restored the books of the law that had been burned by the Chaldeans, and wrote them anew; as also that in verse 4: "His bed is shown," etc., because these things occurred shortly before the death of Moses.
But it is not necessary to say this: for three or more months elapsed from these events until the death of Moses.
Moreover, if these things were added by someone else, they were added not by Ezra, but by whoever arranged these journals of Moses shortly afterward. Finally, it is not plausible that Ezra restored the Pentateuch and the entire Bible from memory, or by divine inspiration: for the Chaldeans could not have burned all the copies that were scattered throughout all Judea and among other nations. On which matter more will be said elsewhere.
Verse 15: To Machir I Gave Gilead
Verse 15. TO MACHIR (that is, to the descendants of Machir) ALSO I GAVE GILEAD, -- that is, a part of Gilead. For the Reubenites and the Gadites also had a part of it, as follows.
Verse 17: The Borders of Chinnereth
Verse 17. THE BORDERS OF CHINNERETH. -- "Chinnereth" is Gennesaret, or the Sea of Galilee, or of Tiberias, as I said in Numbers XXXIV, 12.
TO THE SEA OF THE WILDERNESS, -- to the Dead Sea, or Lake Asphaltites, Numbers chapter XXXIV, verses 3 and 12.
Verse 18: Go Before Your Brothers
Verse 18. GO BEFORE YOUR BROTHERS, -- armed into Canaan.
Verse 20: Until the Lord Gives Rest to Your Brothers
Verse 20. UNTIL THE LORD GIVES REST TO YOUR BROTHERS, -- until, that is, you have subdued the Canaanites dwelling beyond the Jordan, which was accomplished over seven years, after the death of Moses, under Joshua: then by the same Joshua, over another seven years, the land was divided among the tribes, and peacefully possessed by them: therefore after fourteen years the Reubenites and Gadites returned to their own territories, namely from Canaan to Gilead. So Abulensis.
Verse 24: You Have Begun to Show Your Servant Your Greatness
Verse 24. O LORD GOD, YOU HAVE BEGUN TO SHOW YOUR SERVANT YOUR GREATNESS. -- Abulensis notes that if someone asks something from a miser, in order to persuade him he says that this and more is owed to him: but if he asks from one who is generous and magnificent (as God is), in order to persuade him, he should cite not debts but His benefits. For the magnanimous person gladly hears that he has given, not received, a benefit.
Verse 25: I Will Cross Over and See This Excellent Land
Verse 25. I WILL CROSS OVER THEREFORE, AND SEE THIS EXCELLENT LAND BEYOND THE JORDAN. -- As if to say: Let me cross over, I pray, and see the land for which I have labored for 40 years; for these are the words of one praying. This is clear from the Hebrew. So the Hebrews often take the future tense for the optative, which they lack.
AND THIS NOBLE MOUNTAIN. -- "Mountain," namely Moriah, on which Abraham offered Isaac, and on which Zion and the temple were to be built, which was therefore called the mountain of divine vision, and hence noble, and in Hebrew is called "good" par excellence. So Cajetan. The Chaldean translates, "let me see this good mountain and the house of the sanctuary."
Verse 29: We Remained in the Valley Opposite the Shrine of Peor
Verse 29. AND WE REMAINED IN THE VALLEY OPPOSITE THE SHRINE OF PEOR. -- In Hebrew, "opposite the house," that is, the temple of Peor.