Also on the subject of military powers not prepared for attack, the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy mention Og, ruler of the kingdom of Bashan—roughly equivalent to the modern Golan Heights—whom the Israelites, led by Moses, defeat in battle. Og is described as being an enormous man, and as “the last of the Rephaites,” who seem to be a race of giants. While the Hebrew Bible spends only a handful of verses on Og, rabbinic literature constructed an array of tales about him, linking him—or even identifying him—with a number of other characters. Stuart Halpern takes a look at these stories:
Og clung to the side of Noah’s ark during the flood, the Talmud tells us. Though God was raining down boiling water, the side of the boat miraculously cooled, allowing Og to eventually emerge unscathed on dry land. The midrashic collection Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, in an alternate rendering, has Og sitting down on a piece of wood under the gutter of the ark, fed by Noah’s family after pledging them his undying loyalty. The medieval sage Rashi records yet another survival scene: Og ran to Israel, the land of God’s protection, which was divinely spared from the flood.
Fast forward a few chapters in Genesis, and Abraham replaces Noah as the Bible’s main character. Wouldn’t you know it, Og pops up again in a supporting role. Eliezer, a servant of Abraham mentioned in the text, in the rabbis’ creative retelling, had a secret identity. He was actually Og.
To the rabbis, Og’s many manifestations were more than an amusing series of “What ifs.” They were an extended testament to the belief that while the Jewish people would be faced throughout their history with towering forces seeking their destruction, God would ultimately provide their salvation.
Read more on Jewish Journal: https://jewishjournal.com/judaism/364896/what-hollywood-can-learn-from-the-ancient-rabbis/