Bible Review 6:2, April 1990

Kings Og’s Iron Bed

Fact or fancy?

By Alan R. Millard

In Moses’ famous speech that comprises most of Deuteronomy, he describes the Israelite conquest of two kingdoms east of the Jordan—Heshbon, led by a king named Sihon, and Bashan, led by a king named Og. King Og alone survived— “Only Og the King of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim” (Deuteronomy 3:11). Then we are told that King Og had a bed of iron that is displayed in Rabbah of the Ammonites. It was a very big bed:

“His iron bed is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, measured by a man’s forearm” (Deuteronomy 3:11).

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