ARGOB

(Arʹgob) [Clod of Earth].

1. Possibly one of the men assassinated with King Pekahiah of Israel in about 778 B.C.E., by a usurper named Pekah, who was assisted in the crime by 50 Gileadites.​—2Ki 15:23-25.

2. A region of Bashan that was conquered while Israel was still E of the Jordan and that became part of the territory of the tribe of Manasseh. It appears to have been the seat of the kingdom of Og and is described as having 60 fortified cities besides very many rural towns. (De 3:4, 5, 13, 14) This was “the land of the Rephaim,” or land of giants.

Argob lay E of the Sea of Galilee. Although the traditional site for Argob is that of Al-Ledja, a lava-covered area about 32 km (20 mi) S of Damascus, the description in Deuteronomy of an area with rural towns would seem to favor the fertile plain to the W of Al-Ledja probably centered on the region between Nahr al-Ruqad, Nahr al-ʽAlan, and Nahal Yarmuk. On this broad tableland the cities had no natural defenses and would have need for the ‘high walls’ mentioned in the Scriptures. There are ruins of such great cities studding the entire territory of Bashan.

In King Solomon’s time Argob was part of one of 12 districts placed under deputies responsible for providing food for the royal household.​—1Ki 4:7, 13.