Argob

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("the stony".) A tract E. of Jordan, in Bashan, in Og's kingdom, containing 60 great and fortified cities "with walls and brazen bars"; allotted to Manasseh, and taken by Jair a chief of that tribe ( Numbers 32:41). Afterward one of Solomon's commissariat divisions under an officer at Ramoth Gilead ( 1 Kings 4:13). Trachonitis, "the rugged region," was its later Greek name. Now the Lejah, S. of Damascus, E. of the sea of Galilee; described by Burckhardt, Porter, etc., 22 miles from N. to S., 14 from E. to W.; of oval shape, a vast accumulation of basaltic rocks, in wild disorder, intersected with fissures; the black basalt seemingly having issued from the ground liquid, then become agitated, them split by internal convulsion. The cuplike cavities whence it exuded, and the wavy surface, are still to be seen. The rock is hard as flint, and emits a metallic sound when struck.

A singular propriety appears in the Hebrew for "the region of Argob" ( Deuteronomy 3:4;  Deuteronomy 3:13); it is the same term as for a rope ( Chebel ), i.e. a sharply defined frontier, as if measured off by a rope, the rocky rampart that encircles the Lejah "in a circle clearly defined as a rocky shore line." This region stands 30 feet above the plain below. No other term is used of the region of Argob; it is possible therefore that ( Chebel ) was a provincialism of Manasseh, the tribe that possessed Argob, for we find Manasseh using the term to Joshua ( Joshua 17:5;  Joshua 17:14), "portion," Hebrew ( Chebel ). (See Trachonitis .) Improbable as the statement of Scripture appears, yet it is strictly true.

Sixty walled cities are still traceable in a space of 308 square miles. The architecture is ponderous and massive. Solid walls, four feet thick, and stones on one another without cement; the roofs enormous slabs of basaltic rock, like iron; the doors and gates are of stone, 18 inches thick, secured by ponderous bars. The land bears still the appearance of having been "called the land of giants," under the giant Og. A striking contrast to Argob is the surrounding plain of the Hauran (Bashan) described as "the plain" ( Mishor ), a high plateau of rich pasture and tillage, stretching from the sea of Galilee to the Lejah and beyond to the desert, aligned without a stone. The Hebrew terms could not have been more happily chosen, Argob, Chebel, Mishor.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ar´gob ( הארגּב , hā - 'argōbh  ; ארגּב , 'argōbh or Ἀργόβ , Argób ): A region East of the Jordan which in  Deuteronomy 3:4 ,  Deuteronomy 3:5 is equivalent to the kingdom of Og in Bashan, and in   Deuteronomy 3:13 is referred to as "all the region of Argob, even all Bashan."   Deuteronomy 3:14 is evidently corrupt. Havvoth-jair lay not in Bashan but in Gilead (  Judges 10:4;  Numbers 32:40 f;   1 Kings 4:13 ). It contained threescore cities. "All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates and bars; besides the unwalled towns a great many."  Deuteronomy 3:14 seems to say that it marched with Geshur and Maacah; but we cannot lay stress on this. We may take it that Argob lay in the land of Bashan; beyond this, on available data, we cannot certainly go.

The word ḥebhel , translated "region," means primarily a line or cord, then "a measuring line," then "the portion measured," e.g. "the part of the children of Judah" ( Joshua 19:9 ), the "lot" or "portion" of an inheritance ( Deuteronomy 32:9;  Joshua 17:14 , etc.). Ḥebhel precedes Argob in each of the four cases where it is named. This has led many to think that a district with very clearly marked borders is intended. No region so well meets this condition as el - Lejā' , a volcanic tract lying about 20 miles South of Damascus, and 30 miles East of the Sea of Galilee. It is roughly triangular in form, with the apex to the North, and is about 25 miles long, with a base of some 20 miles. The lava which has hardened into this confused wilderness of black rock, rent and torn by countless fissures, flowed from the craters whose dark forms are seen on the East. It rises to an average height of about 20 ft. above the plain, on which it lies like an island on a sea of emerald, the edges being sharply defined. At all points it is difficult of entrance, and might be defended by a few resolute men against an army. To this fact doubtless it owes its name el - Lejā' , "the refuge." There are many traces of considerable cities in the interior. The present writer collected there the names of no fewer than seventy-one ruined sites. See further Trachonitis . This identification is supported by taking 'argōbh as the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek trachōn , "stony." This is possible only if, as Gesenius assumes, the root rāghabh is cognate with rāgham , an extremely precarious assumption. "Clod" is the translation of the word reghebh in  Job 21:33;  Job 38:38; probably therefore 'argōbh should be tendered "a region of clods," i.e. "arable land." This practically rules out el - Lejā' . We have seen above that the term ḥebhel need have no reference to the clearly marked rocky boundaries. As regards the great cities, all Bashan is studded with the ruins of such. The splendid remains that everywhere meet the traveler's eye were thought by Porter ( Giant Cities of Bashan ) and others, to be the wreck of the great cities that struck the invading Israelites with wonder. It is now clear that the ruins above ground are not older than the beginning of our era. The Greek and Roman architecture is easily recognized. Probably, however, excavation will prove that in very many cases the sites have been occupied from very ancient times. Cave dwellings, chambers cut in the rock and covered with stone vaults, and what may be described as subterranean cities, have been found in different parts, the antiquity of which it is impossible to estimate. There is nothing which enables us to identify the region of Argob. The whole country of Bashan., with the exception of el - Lejā' , is "arable land." The soil is very fertile, composed of lava detritus. In almost every district might have been found the threescore cities. Guthe suggests the western part of el - Ḥaurān , stretching from Edrei ( Ḍer‛ah ) to Nawā . Buhl would locate it in the district of eṣ - Ṣuweit , to the Southeast of the low range of ez - Zumleh . This however seems too far to the South. The Southwest slopes of Jebel ed - Druze seem to meet the conditions as well as any. They form quite a wellmarked district; they are very fertile, and the strong cities in the region must have been numerous.