Moses is describing the past actions of the Israelites after they left Egypt. The Israelites have passed peacefully though the lands of the Edomites and Moabites and defeated the Amorite king, Sihon. The Israelites then turn north into the territory of Bashan, east of the Sea of Galilee. That area includes some of modern Syria and the Golan Heights.
Deuteronomy 3: 1-7, Defeat of Og
Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei.
The LORD said to me, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon."
So the LORD our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors. At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them--the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan. All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages. We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city--men, women and children.
But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves.
The people of Og are destroyed (or assimilated) and the livestock captured. This battle is also described in Numbers 21: 33-35.
The Hebrew of the Torah includes many rhythmic or poetic flourishes. There are, says Alter, wordplay on the same sounds (puns), along with parallelisms and climactic expansion (see the song of Moses for an example.) Here, in verses 6 and 7, says Currid, is a simple ABBA chiasmus:
"we assimilated",
"men, women and children",
"livestock and plunder",
"we carried off."
There are much more elaborate chiasmi in other places of the Torah. I will try to elaborate on Old Testament poetic flourishes in a Sunday essay.
Deuteronomy 3: 8-11, Two kings down
So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon. (Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.) We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, towns of Og's kingdom in Bashan. (Only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
Once again we have a parenthetical comment on the fearful and giant Rephaites, who are no more. Commentators say that the "bed" of Og was probably a sarcophacus.
Deuteronomy 3: 12-15, Two and a half tribes given Transjordan land
Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns. The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites. Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites; it was named after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.)
And I gave Gilead to Makir.
The Reubenites, Gadites and half of the descendants of Manasseh will all settle east of the Jordan, unlike the other tribes. (The descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph, will be used to replace both Joseph and Levi, keeping the number of tribes at twelve.)
From the point of view of most of Israel, west of the Jordan, these two-and-a-half tribes have settled in the Transjordan, across the Jordan from everyone else.
The region of Argob is not clear, say Currid. In some places it seems to merely be another term for Bashan; in other places (see I Kings 4:13) it is a subregion.
Jair was a judge in later Israel, briefly described in Judges 10: 3-5.
Deuteronomy 3: 16-20, Borders of the lands of Reuben and Gad
But to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory extending from Gilead down to the Arnon Gorge (the middle of the gorge being the border) and out to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites. Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah, from Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.
I commanded you at that time: "The LORD your God has given you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of your brother Israelites. However, your wives, your children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you, until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the LORD your God is giving them, across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you."
The Salt Sea is the Dead Sea. The Transjordan tribes are to settle their land after they have helped conquer the land west of the Jordan.The people of Gad, living in the Transjordan, are described in the Moabite Stone (Mesha Stele) during the later reign of Omri of Israel (c. 850 BC.)
The concept of "rest" (verse 20) will take on theological significance as the Israelites move into Canaan. (See Psalm 95: 8-11 for an Old Testament example and Hebrews 4 for a New Testament example.)
Deuteronomy 3: 21-22, Instructions to Joshua
At that time I commanded Joshua: "You have seen with your own eyes all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. The LORD will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you."
Moses is preparing Joshua for leadership
Deuteronomy 3: 23-29, Plea to see the land
At that time I pleaded with the LORD: "O Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do? Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan--that fine hill country and Lebanon."
But because of you the LORD was angry with me and would not listen to me. "That is enough," the LORD said. "Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan. But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see."
So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.
Currid sees verses 26-27 as an example of Hebrew rhythm: both "cross over" and "angry" have the same Hebrew consonants -b-r.
Sadly, our hero, Moses, must stay east of the Jordan.
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