One of the reasons that Israel did not want to invade Canaan right after they approached the land was because of the reported size of the inhabitants. They were huge—big enough to make the Israelites “look like grasshoppers” (Numbers 13:33).
But just how big were they? Well, according to Deuteronomy 3:11, King Og was so big that his bedstead was nine cubits by four cubits. In freedom units, that’s 13.5 feet long by six feet wide. By comparison, a king-size bed is 6’8” long by 6’4” wide. I’m a tall guy myself, but that means Og’s bed is almost twice as long as my own.
There’s also a nod to his weight. Since it was an “iron bed,” it could support a supposedly massive girth that Og carried around. In other words, he wasn’t just tall, but had the strength (or just size) to match.
But does anyone else think it’s weird we’re using a bed to describe a man’s size? When 1 Samuel describes Goliath, it doesn’t say that he “sat on a power scooter that was the size of two horses,” so why a bed?
Surprisingly, the answer has almost nothing to do with the bed itself and more to do with the fact that it’s a memorial of the Canaanites’ size.
Deuteronomy 3:11 says that the bed is in Rabbah—the capital city of the Ammonites that would later be conquered by David in 2 Samuel 11-12 (yes, the same city that King David used to kill Uriah the Hittite after having an affair with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba).
At the time of Deuteronomy though, the Ammonites weren’t conquered by the express command of God. He told them at the end of Deuteronomy 2 that they were to go around Ammonite territory, so while Israel knew about the city, they might not have seen it with their own eyes.
Still, the bed acts as a symbol of Canaanite strength. It’s like saying that Michelangelo was a world-class artist, and if you don’t believe me, go check out the Sistine Chapel in Rome. It’s awesome, but sometimes you just have to see it to appreciate how great it truly is.
There’s no record as to whether or not Israel recovered this bed, but if so, it would’ve been an amazing war trophy, especially for later generations. Imagine telling your descendants, “Yeah, we fought against giants. They were huge! This was their bed!”
Not only would your grandson be impressed with your own fighting abilities, but also with the fighting abilities of Jehovah. As future generations went to their own battles, a picture of the bed in their minds could’ve served as a huge faith catalyst.
If God could help Israel defeat Og, He can certainly help you with the giants in your life.