complete verse (Deuteronomy 3:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 3:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “After that I gave to half of the clan of Manasseh the ridges of Gilead that remained together with the whole of Bashan where Og was ruling. (That is the whole land of Argob. That side of Bashan was called the land of the Rephaites.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The part of Gilead that was remaining, and all of Bashan over which Og ruled, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The whole area of Argob in Bashan would be known as a land of the Rephaites.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The remaining part/portion of Gilead and the whole of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half tribe of Manase. (The whole Argob in Bashan is-called in-the-time-past land of the Refaimnon.)” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The other part of the Gilead region and all of the Bashan region, which was the Argob region that King Og had ruled, I allotted to half of the tribe of Manasseh.’ (The entire Bashan region is called the land of the Repha giants.)” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 3:13

It is good idea to begin a new sentence here, “To half the tribe of Manasseh I assigned…,” or “I assigned to half the tribe of Manasseh the….”

The rest of Gilead: or “the other half of Gilead,” or “the northern half of Gilead” (Contemporary English Version).

And all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob: the writer includes all the names used for this region (see verse 4). Good News Translation restructures the items, for ease of understanding. It should be clear that Og is a person, not the name of the country; so Good News Translation “where Og had ruled.”

For the half-tribe of Manasseh it may be useful to have a footnote explaining that the other half of the tribe settled in the territory west of the Jordan River. See Josh 13.29-31 for East Manasseh and 17.1-13 for West Manasseh.

The last sentence of the verse is placed within parentheses by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, linking it with verse 14. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy join it to the first part of this verse, as follows: “and all of Bashan under Og’s rule—the whole Argob district, all that part of Bashan which is called Rephaim country—I assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

Is called: Good News Translation has “was known as,” the meaning expressed by New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, and which this Handbook recommends.

For Rephaim see 2.11, 20.

Something like the following may serve as a model for this verse:

• And to the half-tribe of Manasseh I assigned the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, that is, the entire region of Argob, the territory ruled by King Og, which used to be called the land of the Rephaim.

However, the Contemporary English Version model using two sentences will be helpful in many languages:

• I gave the northern half of Gilead and all of the Bashan region to half of the tribe of Manasseh. Bashan had belonged to King Og, and the Argob region in Bashan used to be called the land of the Rephaim.

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 .