Og, Immortal Giant
How did Og survive so many events?
Og is a very mysterious figure, whose actual name is only known for a later battle with Moses involving the Amorites, and another king named Sihon, but he is often said to have been a sort of immortal man within Rabbinic literature. Og’s name is linked to the Deluge through the verse “וישאר אך נח ואשר אתו בתבה” “there survived only Noach and the people and animals with him in the ark.” From Daat Zkenim “According to a quote attributed to Rabbi Yehudah hachasid, this wording contains a hint that the giant Og, later known as the king of Bashan, survived the deluge, the letters in the words: אך נח in our verse, which are unnecessary, have the same numerical value as the letters in the word Og (עוג, 79)”1
According to Tur HaArokh, Og was able to survive due to the ambient protection of the ark “The giant Og took refuge in the vicinity of the ark as the immediate area around the ark was cooler than the atmosphere at large.”2 This appears to come from Zevachim in the Talmud where the sages state “Moreover, how did Og, king of the Bashan, who according to tradition was of the generation of the flood, stand, i.e., survive the boiling water?...Rather, it must be that a miracle was performed for them, namely that the water on the sides of the ark cooled, allowing the ark, the reima, and Og to survive.”3
An alternative explanation for Og’s survival from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer claims “except Og, king of Bashan, who sat down on a piece of wood under the gutter of the ark. He swore to Noah and to his sons that he would be their servant forever. What did Noah do? He bored an aperture in the ark, and he put (through it) his food daily for him”.4 Here we are given the information that Og was under the ark, rather than on top as some sources claim, but also the interesting information that Noah fed Og - resulting in his servitude to Noah’s lineage.
This servitude is expanded on by a dubious compilation of Midrash from the early 20th century known as Legends of the Jews where it claims “In his youth Og had been a slave to Abraham, who had received him as a gift from Nimrod, for Og is none other than Eliezer, Abraham's steward.”5 This is incredibly troubling since it correlates Og with Eliezer. There are claims that Eliezer was also gifted to Abraham by Nimrod from Targum Jonathan where it goes one step further asserting Eliezer as the son of Nimrod!6 Not only was Eliezer a son of Nimrod, but he was the same figure as Og.
All of this begs the question why Nimrod would even give Eliezer/Og to Abraham, but there appear to be no obvious answers to this question. This positions Og, the pseudo-immortal giant, additionally as the son of Nimrod who may also have been a descendant of the giants. To me, this makes no sense. If Og existed from times before the ark, and Nimrod was a descendant of Noah born to Ham after the ark, then how was Og, an older man, the son of a younger man? Either Og from Abraham, or Moses’s time is not the identical Og from on top of the ark, or there is some corruption involving Og as a son of Nimrod. Perhaps Eliezer was a son of Nimrod, but Og and Eliezer are two distinct figures?
Even if Og was a servant of Abraham, him being none-other than Eliezer brings into question the real nature of Og’s informing Abraham of Lot’s capture. Not only would this imply some sort of loyalty, explaining why Og would tell Abraham, but adds the angle that Og knew he would inherit Abraham’s possessions and was trying to get rid of him.
Ascribing this motive to Og isn’t strange, but claiming Eliezer had it out for Abraham would be a worrisome accusation. Granted, Elizer was said to join Abraham in the battle, and Og was the one who informed Abraham, so it is possible there was some renaming of Og that took place, but it wouldn’t explain the later instances of his contentions against Moses. It might explain why Moses was so afraid of Og beyond his mere age and provenance, since Og was none-other than Eliezer, who knew the military tactics of Abraham.
Genesis Rabbah claims Eliezer alone went with Abraham to rescue Lot, ascribing mystical importance to the number of Abraham’s companions “Three hundred and eighteen” – Reish Lakish in the name of bar Kappara: It was Eliezer alone. The numerical value of Eliezer is three hundred and eighteen.”7 This interpretation contradicts the peshat explanation that Abraham had three hundred and eighteen companions so it seems unlikely to me to be completely reflecting the truth that Eliezer and Abraham went together to save Lot.
Legends of the Jews once again states “He remained in Abraham's service until Isaac's marriage, when Abraham gave him his freedom as a reward for having undertaken the labor of wooing Rebekah for his son, and of fetching her to his house.”8 Here the claim is put forth that Eliezer is freed from Abraham’s service, and goes on to ‘become’ Og, king of Bashan, with the text claiming God himself allotted him a place in the world to come. Again, this information does explain Og’s behavior toward Abraham, but throws into question Eliezer as a figure. If Og was the same Eliezer, servant of Abraham, then either Eliezer was less than the willing servant he appears in the bible and more so an indentured servant - in other words a slave - whose loyalty to Abraham was quite shaky, or alternatively Og simply didn’t accept the covenant between God and Abraham granting his descendants Canaan.
What is clear is Og as a primordial figure with an uncertain lineage less clearly linked to Noah’s lineage. Whether there was a dynasty of Og, a series of Og kings, or he really was a single immortal giant we ultimately are given the thematic undercurrent of racial giants, the flood, and land claims as a framework for wars of Chedorlaomer.
One possible correlation could be made between Og and the Greek mythological ruler of Boeotia - alternatively sometimes Athens - named Ogyges.9 Within Greek mythology Ogyges has an association to the primeval, or earliest ages of man; but the word also can be taken in some instances to mean “gigantic”10 lining up with Og’s treatment in the Torah as a primeval giant leftover from the pre-Flood era. Within the writings of Josephus he actually mentions Ogyges as the name of an Oak which Abraham dwelt near when living in Hebron.11 In Jewish sources this is the Oak of Mamre, but it appears by the Roman era when Josephus was writing it was given the strange name of Ogyges.
Even more curious is the existence of multiple ‘floods’ in Greek mythology. Most associate the “Flood” in capital letters with the Deucalion, known through many Greek myths, but there was a “Ogygian Deluge” prior to the Deucalion, tying Ogyges and potentially Og once again to this “living through floods” mythological structure. Similar to the bible there were no kings who survived the Ogygian Deluge, only Ogyges, much like Og being the only named survivor from Noah’s flood.
What is probable to me is that “Og” as a concept represents antediluvian races of proto-humans, or ethnic groups of Adamite lineages that were not exterminated by the flood. Given there were numerous “races of giants” we will break down shortly, it seems clear that Og was only one of the Rephaim, and within that subset of “giants” - otherwise known as Nephilim - the Rephaim represented a certain group of antediluvians. This is the most critical point to pull from this section moving forward, and will frame our discussion of the various groups of giants.
Daat Zkenim on Genesis 7:23:1
Tur HaArokh, Genesis 8:9
Zevachim 113b:12
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 23:8
Legend of the Jews, 3:5:98
Targum Jonathan Bereishit, 14:14
Bereshit Rabbah 43:2
Legend of the Jews, 3:5:98
Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. Book I. Chapter 10. Verse 4. Retrieved from: http://sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-1.htm