Deuteronomy 3:11
“(For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron. Isn’t it in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its width, after the cubit of a man.)”
What does Deuteronomy 3:11 mean?
This verse describes a giant king named Og whose iron bed was preserved as a kind of ancient monument, measuring roughly 13 feet long and 6 feet wide. The detail about measuring "after the cubit of a man" reminds us that even by ordinary human standards, this bed was extraordinarily large, suggesting Og himself was a truly unusual figure. The Israelites were crossing into new territory and encountering peoples they'd heard about in stories, and this artifact serves as a tangible sign that the giants they feared were real, even if most had already been defeated. It's a small but vivid reminder that God had already brought the Israelites through seemingly impossible obstacles before this moment of conquest.