Og, Last Survivor of the Rephaim

“And the fugitive came and he told Abram the Hebrew, and he was living in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshkol and the brother of Aner, who were Abram's confederates.” Genesis 14:13

One interesting digression from the main story of the war is the mention of a “fugitive” that under peshat language is taken to mean Og: “And the fugitive came and he told Abram the Hebrew, and he was living in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshkol and the brother of Aner, who were Abram's confederates.” According to Rashi, Og was not killed in the battle between Amraphel and the Rephaim at Ashteroth-Karnaim which is what Deuteronomy 3:11 means when it says “Only Og survived from the rest of the Rephaim.”¹ This is what the text means when it says “נִשְׁאַר֘” meaning survived, or left, Rashi saying that he was not smote with the rest of the Rephaim.²

The actual territory of Og and the Rephaim is unclear because our later knowledge of Og from the time of Moses has him leading the Amorites, who are completely separate from the Rephaim which were all killed by Amraphel. There are two “kingdoms” of Og: the first in the time of Abraham when the Rephaim were routed by Amraphel, and the second in the time of Moses when the Israelites defeat the Amorites.

Both of these appear to be within the territory of “Bashan” based on Deuteronomy “all of Bashan; that is called the land of Rephaim”³, but the earlier reference is to more of a people group, or tribe in a few cities while the later is more of an official geographic polity such as a kingdom. Bashan was technically not the only kingdom, with Sihon’s kingdom of “Heshbon” acting as a brother nation to Bashan. The later kingdom, according to Deuteronomy, was more complex than the smaller site of the earlier Rephaim “All these cities were fortified with high walls, double doors, and bolts, in addition to a great many unwalled cities.”⁴

Based on Sifrei Devarim, Rashi claims that Ashtaroth was a challenging fortress for the Israelites to take saying “[AND OG] WHO DWELT AT ASHTAROTH — here, too, the king was difficult to defeat and the city difficult to capture (Sifrei Devarim 3:4).⁵ Rashi goes on to say “This is an expression denoting rocks and anything hard, just as (Genesis 14:5) “Ashtaroth Karnaim”, (i.e. the hard rocks of Karnaim) (Sifrei Devarim 3:5)).” This gives us potential etymology for the term Ashtaroth as something “hard” or “difficult” in the context of conquering, but also that “rocks” are hinted at within the term.

Rashi continues “And indeed this Ashtaroth is identical with Ashtaroth Karnaim where the Rephaim (the giants) were, whom Amraphel smote, as it is said, (Genesis 14:5) “And they smote the Rephaim in Ashtaroth Karnaim". Og, alone, escaped of them, and that is the meaning of what is stated, (Genesis 14:13; cf. Rashi) "And the one who escaped (הפליט) came", for it further states, (Deuteronomy 3:11) "For only Og, king of Bashan, remained of the remnant of the Rephaim".⁶ Rashi claims here that Bashan was the single location of Og, potentially with one capital at Ashtaroth Karnaim. There is a problem with this, since the Torah uses two different words to refer to what Rashi says is a single city - Ashtaroth and Ashtaroth-Karnaim. The Torah would not feel the need to attach the modifier “Karnaim” if both Astaroth and Astaroth-Karnaim were the same cities. There is even a later reference plainly to “Karnaim” from Amos.

We actually have two competing locations for the city of “Astaroth” helpful with both of them being quite literally next to one another, showing how the later site of “Karnaim” known to us from Amos 6:13 probably adopted the name Astaroth-Karnaim from the earlier city of Astaroth. Why would a city called Astaroth adopt the additional name Karnaim? More than likely they wouldn’t, and it was Karnaim that adopted the “Astaroth” prefix. This makes it unclear what Astaroth-Karnaim is meant to represent given Astaroth and Karnaim are separate cities. Which one is meant as the combined term, and which one came first?

There are two competing locations for Astaroth, with one of them lining up with the original city of the Rephaim, and the other lining up with the later capital of Og. Given that Karnaim is mentioned in Amos without the modifier Astaroth, it’s likely “Astaroth-Karnaim” was the same Karnaim in this later reference.⁷ This doesn’t mean Karnaim was a new city, given that Astaroth-Karnaim was the original city of the Rephaim, merely that Karnaim lasted through later eras and annexed the name of the nearby Astaroth. Astaroth was also extant in each era of the bible, but rather was the later capital of Og near the Karnaim mentioned in Amos given the prefix “Astaroth”.

Going forward, the city where the Rephaim dwelling during the war with Chedorlaomer will be called “Karnaim”, and the capital of Og when king of the Amorites will be called “Astaroth”. Looking first at Karnaim, many scholars view this as the modern site of Al-Shaykh Saad.⁸ The city has a local site venerated as the “Rock of Job”, but realistically has no connection to Job and is actually a stele of Pharaoh Ramesses II.⁹ Other than multiple sites and traditions concerning Job only dating to the 4th century this site of Karnaim doesn’t really have many important artifacts, but it became a much longer lasting site than Astaroth which faded into history after an Assyrian sack. If this was the site of a Karnaim that was exterminated by Chedorlaomer, it’s likely it would have lost its importance during the Mosaic and Assyrian eras, but after the sack of Astaroth returned to local importance and become the “new” Astaroth-Karnaim - notably by the time of Ezra when the bible would have been sealed giving reason for this name to have entered into the records.

Looking for alternative locations for Astaroth we find the site of Tell Ashtara, often identified with the biblical city of Astaroth.¹⁰ This city is known from the Amarna letters EA 256 and EA 197 where some tantalizing information regarding the city comes to light. Letter 197 - nicknamed “Biryawaza’s Plight” - opens up with a king of Damascus named Biryawaza addressing a letter to the Pharaoh of Egypt about a mayor of Astartu named Biridaswa. According to Biryawaza the conflict is precipitated by his lack of chariots due to them being given to the ‘Apiru, a curious group of nomadic wanderers with a name mysteriously similar to “Hebrew”. This Biridaswa actually compels a so-called “Yanuamma” to rebel against Biryazawa in a coalition with the king of Busruna and the king of Halunnu.

Further interesting from this insightful text is their claim they are “servants of the king of Hatti”, with Biryawaza replying he is loyal to the king of Egypt. He rants about a bunch of other rulers betraying the king of Egypt, but already this text should strike a reader as funny considering Biryawaza’s defensiveness regarding his loyalties, and claims against others. Anyone who is so obsessed with such a subject likely is implying they themselves are similarly guilty even if the offending party is guilty as well. Confirming this is actually another Amarna letter written by Etakkama, EA 189, where he reverses the situation claiming Biryawaza is actually the problem in the area conspiring with the Apiru, and causing issues for everyone loyal to the king of Egypt.

This Biryawaza fellow, quite the character indeed, is actually ordered by the Pharaoh of Egypt to take armed action against Labaya’s sons in EA 250, showing the Pharaoh was wise enough to test his loyalty. In another letter, EA 256, one of these sons named Mutbaal actually sends a letter to the Pharaoh to reassure his loyalty informing him of the whereabouts of a certain “Ayyab” character, claiming he is in Pihilu - otherwise known as Pella. Ayyab is actually the mayor of Astartu following Biridaswa who himself in letter EA 364 claims Habiru raiders have stolen three cities from him based out of the city of “Hasura” -an obvious reference to Hazor - really making this whole political juggling act even more confusing.

There are many claims about these figures Mutbaal, Labaya, and Ayyab with Labaya being linked variously with either Abimelech or Saul, and Mutbaal being Saul’s son Ishbaal. Some identify Ayyab with Joab, but given the time frame of the Amarna letters these are unlikely and merely common names certifying these later figures in the Torah taking similar political actions with regional precedence within a legal framework.

Additionally there are 17th century BCE Egyptian execration texts referring to another Ayyab, which could equally be a variant of the name Job rather than Joab - despite being similar. This Ayyab was not mayor of Astaroth, but king of the Shutu which certain scholars identify with the Habiru, but specifically progenitors of the Moabites and Ammonites located in this generalized region. We see from two examples of the name ‘Ayyab’ that mere etymology isn’t enough to link up events without more information. Thankfully none of this is important, and the musical chairs of the late bronze age eventually gave way to some sort of unified Israelite coalition.

Returning to Rabbeinu Bahya we can confirm much of our theories in a lengthy explanation of Astaroth where he says “who was dwelling in Ashtarot at Edre-i.” We find that the Bible uses the term Ashtarot to describe three totally different phenomena. The term is used to describe 1) mountains, 2) flocks of sheep; 3) a form of idolatry. In this instance the Torah tells us that Og lived in mountainous country. The reason the Torah tells us this is that not only was Og, the giant, personally powerful and awe-inspiring, but the terrain in which he had his capital was easy to defend and most difficult to conquer. The same applied to a place called עשתרות קרנים which the Torah mentioned in Genesis 14,5 when it described Kedorlaomer defeating the giants residing there. The reason that place was called not just עשתרות, but עשתרות קרנים, is that the sheep which have horns קרנים, used to graze in those mountains just as did the mountain goats and gazelles.”¹¹ Clearly Bahya affirms our identification of two completely separate Astaroths, and gives various meanings for the term Astaroth.

Let’s next look at Edrei. According to Rabbeinu Bahya “in Edre'i.” This is the name of a province in which the king’s capital was located. They used to build it at the edge of a mountain in the flat land, and there would be assembled his entire army. This is the meaning of that word in Numbers 21:33, where the Torah describes where the battle took place.”¹² Edrei is mentioned as the location of the battle between the Israelites and Amorites, known today as the modern location of Daraa within the Hauran region of Syria described by Rabbeinu Bahya. This identification is passed down through the classical era where the city was known as Adraa in Roman times.¹³ The name clearly is a corruption of the Hebrew Edrei, helpfully locating “Bashan” roughly within the region of Hauran. Therefore, Heshbon would likely correlate as the fertile territory south of the Jabbok river, north of the Arnon and east of the Jordan.

Rashi calls the later polity the “Land of Sihon and Og” multiple times “on the eastern side of the Jordan” - separate from the earlier Ashteroth-Karnaim, which was merely a city.¹⁴ Reportedly the border began “At the end of the eastern border of the land of Moab”¹⁵ and was composed of a large desert territory where we learn from Rashi “That is the wilderness through which they [the children of Israel] traveled for forty years, and so did Hosea prophesy (2:16): “and I will...lead her into the desert.” That is the desert of Sihon and Og. Ezekiel called it the wilderness of the peoples because many nations bordered upon it.”¹⁶

It appears that the territory of Sihon was roughly corresponding to the territory promised to the Israelites east of the Jordan, north of Moab, and west of Ammon, but they might have exerted some sort of influence throughout a large swath of the desert. Og’s core territory appears to be the later kingdom of Aram-Damascus centered around the Hauran between the late-12th century BCE until 732 when Tiglath-Pilesar III annexed, executed and deported the population.¹⁷

Essentially Og’s territory is what we know as the ancient Amorite territory which bordered the vast majority of major empires between the era of Abraham and Moses after the rise of one important Amorite named Hammurabi. Given it’s placement on the very border of the Assyrian empire, it makes sense Og and the Rephaim would have been smote by Amraphel in his attempt to control the region - all the more so if Og was a political challenge to Amraphel’s rule over the Amorites. While the ruling dynasty of Babylon was Amorite, there were dozens of other critical Amorite states such as Mari, Yamhad, Qatna, Amurru or Ebla, all run by Amorite rulers and jockeying for power in the ancient near east. There is even evidence that the Semitic Hyksos who invaded Egypt around the time of Joseph were probably themselves Amorites.¹⁸ We will discuss these Hyksos more in depth during our section on Mizraim given their Egyptian provenance, but they were said to come from Canaan, much like Og and Sihon who appear to be Canaan dwelling Amorites.

An event from II Kings 15:29 likely mentions the final sack of Astaroth (not Karnaim) by the Assyrians “In the days of Pekah the king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, the entire land of Naphtali; and he exiled them to Assyria.” While this reference doesn’t mention Astaroth by name, we know this was the year 730-727 BCE when Tiglath-Pilesar III invaded Astaroth because it is depicted on the Ashteroth Relief at the British Museum.¹⁹ We actually can see on the relief a depiction of the fortified city, with people being carted off after the conflict, separate from the later reliefs depicting the deportation of the ten tribes of Israel.

So far we have mostly dealt with Og as king of Bashan, and last survivor of the Rephaim, however Og has a deeper, more ancient history predating his kingship at Bashan. Og was an important figure in the bible, beyond merely his role as an informant of Avraham, but deeper within Rabbinic Midrash where Og is claimed as a descendant of these Rephaim, who themselves descend from the pre-Flood giants known as Nephilim. We will unravel this connection over the coming sections.

1. Midrash Tanchuma Chukkath 25

2. Rashi on Genesis 14:13:1

3. Deuteronomy 3:13

4. Deuteronomy 3:5

5. Rashi on Deuteronomy 1:4:3

6. Rashi on Deuteronomy 1:4:4

7. Negev; Gibson, 2005, p. 277.

8. Wolf, Umhau C. (ed.), Notes. pp. 76-252.

9. Schumacher, G. (1890). "Der Hiobstein, Sachrat Eijub, im Hauran". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 13–14: 142–147.

10. Robinson, George L. "The Ancient ‘Circuit of Argob.’" The Biblical World, vol. 20, no. 4, 1902, pp. 248–59

11. Rabbeinu Bahya, Devarim 1:4:2

12. Rabbeinu Bahya, Devarim 1:4:3

13. William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1864): Adraa

14. Rashi on Joshua 7:7:1

15. Rashi on Judges 11:18:4

16. Rashi on Ezekiel 20:35:1

17. Pitard, Wayne T. (2000). "Arameans". In David Noel Freedman; Allen C. Myers; Astrid B. Beck (eds.). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. p. 86.

18. Burke, Aaron A. (2019). "Amorites in the Eastern Nile Delta: The Identity of Asiatics at Avaris during the Early Middle Kingdom". In Bietak, Manfred; Prell, Silvia (eds.). The Enigma of the Hyksos. Harrassowitz. pp. 67–91.

19. "relief, Museum number: 118908". The British Museum.