Here is another footnote: a note about the iron (or, stone) bedstead (or, coffin) of King Og.

King Og is said to have been the last survivor of the Rephaim (see 2.11), the legendary race of giants. We may also render this as “King Og was the last of the people called Rephaim.”

The Hebrew word translated bedstead by Revised Standard Version and others is taken to mean “coffin,” as Good News Translation has it, or more precisely “sarcophagus,” a stone burial container (so Bible en français courant and Revised English Bible). And the word understood to mean iron (Revised Standard Version) is thought to mean “black basalt,” the material out of which the sarcophagus was carved. The Septuagint translates “iron bed,” and this is how most translations have it. Some commentators think that a sarcophagus is meant, but it is impossible to know for sure. In many cultures “sarcophagus” will be an unknown term, so it is recommended that the equivalent of “[stone] coffin” be used. However, in cultures where other forms of burial are used, we may say something like “They buried him in a large stone container that was six feet wide and….”

Rabbah, the capital of ancient Ammon, is now Amman, the capital of Jordan.

A standard cubit (common cubit) was more or less forty-five centimeters (eighteen inches) in length. Nine cubits would be approximately four meters, or almost fourteen feet; and four cubits converts into one meter and eighty centimeters (1.8 meters), or six feet. Most translations give approximate round figures. Good News Translation omits the information about “cubits” and says “according to standard measurements.” Another way to express this is “according to what they considered the correct measurement.”

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 .