With the beginning of a new section, it is a good idea to introduce Moses again as the speaker, and to summarize briefly what leads up to this in chapter 2; for example, “Moses said to the people of Israel, ‘After killing King Sihon we turned north….’ ”

Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan: the Israelites headed north to the region of Bashan, which is elevated land that lies to the northeast of Lake Galilee. The name Bashan means “fertile land.”

Og … and all his people: the text does not mean that all men, women, and children of Og’s kingdom went to battle with him; rather it means “all his fighting men,” or “all his soldiers.” For a comment on king see 1.4.

Edrei was on the southern boundary of Bashan (see 1.4).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .