Kings Og’s Iron Bed
Fact or fancy?
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).