Scenes From the Promised Land

Bashan​—A Fertile Source

WHILE reading the Bible, have you not come across names of many places that you cannot picture? During May and June, Jehovah’s Witnesses will read Micah through Zechariah. In following that schedule, you will find Bashan mentioned in three texts. (Micah 7:14; Nahum 1:4; Zechariah 11:2) Those and other interesting verses will mean more if you can see Bashan with your mind’s eye.

Where was Bashan? Well, you can generally identify it with the Golan Heights, which you may have noted on newspaper maps. Bashan was east of both the Sea of Galilee and the upper Jordan Valley. It basically ran from the Yarmuk River (part of the current border between Jordan and Syria) north to Mount Hermon.

Before the ancient Israelites entered the Promised Land, they had to defeat the Canaanite army of giant Og, king of Bashan. After that, much of Bashan was occupied by the tribe of Manasseh. (Deuteronomy 3:1-7, 11, 13; Numbers 32:33; 34:14) What was this Biblical area like? Though it had forests in its mountainous areas, most of Bashan was a plateau, high tableland.

In many respects Bashan was a veritable breadbasket. This was because fine grazing- or pasture-land covered much of the region. (Jeremiah 50:19) The accompanying photographs may bring to your mind some Biblical references to Bashan.a Many have read about the “bulls of Bashan.” (Psalm 22:12, King James Version) Yes, in ancient times this region was famous for its cattle, including powerful young bulls. But other livestock thrived there too, such as sheep and goats that contributed to a rich supply of milk and butter.​—Deuteronomy 32:14.

You may wonder what led to such fertility in Bashan, since it was east of the Jordan in an area many think of as very dry. The fact is, the hills of Galilee to the west are lower, so clouds from the Mediterranean could pass over them and bring ample rain to Bashan. Moreover, moist air and streams came down from Mount Hermon. Imagine the potential when that precious moisture combined with the rich volcanic soil found in Bashan! The area produced grain in abundance. Long before being a major granary for the Romans, Bashan supplied food for Solomon’s tables. With good reason, then, God’s provision for his delivered people could later be spoken of this way: “Let them feed on Bashan and Gilead as in the days of a long time ago.”​—Micah 7:14; 1 Kings 4:7, 13.

Knowing of such fruitfulness, you can appreciate Nahum’s poignant description of what God’s disfavor would bring: “Bashan and Carmel [verdant hills near the Great Sea] have withered, and the very blossom of Lebanon has withered.”​—Nahum 1:4b.

This overview of Bashan can help you to picture more easily some close-up scenes in the Bible too. For example, you have likely read about harvesting grain, such as wheat that grew in much of Bashan. The wheat harvest came in the warm months of Iyyar and Sivan (Jewish calendar, corresponding to late April, May, and early June). During this period, the Festival of Weeks (Pentecost) occurred. As part of it, the firstfruits of the wheat harvest were offered up, and lambs, rams, and a bull were sacrificed. Might the animals have been brought from Bashan?​—Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 23:15-18.

At harvesttime workers cut the standing wheat with a curved sickle like the one made of iron seen above, which lacks its wooden handle. (Deuteronomy 16:9, 10; 23:25) The stalks were then gathered and taken to a threshing floor, where a wooden sledge (having stones fixed underneath) was driven over them to remove the kernels. (Ruth 2:2-7, 23; 3:3, 6; Isaiah 41:15) While you look at the photograph of this, taken in the Golan Heights, you might reflect on God’s meaningful rule: “You must not muzzle a bull while it is threshing.”​—Deuteronomy 25:4; 1 Corinthians 9:9.

Finally, recall that ancient Bashan had areas of thick forest, many of the trees being massive oaks, such as shown to the left. The Phoenicians made oars out of sturdy oak wood from Bashan. (Ezekiel 27:6) Yet, even such ‘massive trees of Bashan, the impenetrable forest,’ could not stand against God’s expressed wrath. (Zechariah 11:2; Isaiah 2:13) Seeing such trees also makes it easier to visualize why such forests would be a problem for a fleeing army. Even a lone rider could get caught in the branches, as Absalom did elsewhere.​—2 Samuel 18:8, 9.

We can see that even though Bashan was a region of the Promised Land where not too many events of Biblical note took place, scenes from it do enhance our understanding of Bible references to it.

[Footnotes]

[Picture Credit Line on page 16]

Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est.

[Picture Credit Lines on page 17]

Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est.

Inset: Badè Institute of Biblical Archaeology

Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est.