Bashan was a fertile region east of the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee, stretching to the slopes of Mount Hermon.
Since antiquity, the land was famous for its tall oaks, its green pastures and its strong cattle, images that biblical poets would later draw on.
Og reigned there, the last survivor of the Rephaites, a people of giants. When Israel advanced toward the promised land, Og marched out with his whole army to face them at Edrei, but was completely defeated, along with his sons and his people.
Moses gave all of Bashan, the sixty cities of Og’s former kingdom, to half the tribe of Manasseh. Jair, one of his descendants, conquered the region of Argob and gave his own name to its settlements, so Bashan also came to be called Havoth Jair.
Centuries later, prophets and psalmists used Bashan as a figure of speech: strong bulls, well fed cows, lofty oaks, all to speak of human strength and pride before God.
The region eventually fell to Hazael, king of Aram, and its people were carried into exile by the Assyrians. The story of Bashan is a reminder that no giant, no strength and no pride can stand against the will of the Lord.
