Bible Meaning: Fruitful
Strong's Concordance #H1316
The territory of Bashan was located directly east and northeast of the Sea of Chinnereth (Sea of Galilee) in the northernmost section of the Promised Land. The area was known for its sheep, forests and excellent cattle (Deuteronomy 32:14, Isaiah 2:13, Jeremiah 50:19, etc.).
Bashan, at the time of Moses, was ruled by King Og, a giant of a man who slept in a bed that was about 13 1/2 feet (4.1 meters) long (Deuteronomy 3:11)!
Moses and the children of Israel, traveling north on the eastern side of the Jordan River, are attacked by the kingdom of Bashan's forces near Edrei. The Israelites, with God's help, decimate their enemy and ultimately give the conquered land to the tribe of Manasseh (Numbers 21:33 - 35, Deuteronomy 3:1 - 7, 11, Joshua 13:11 - 12).
Psalm 22, containing several prophecies Jesus fulfilled when he died, also states "Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round" (Psalm 22:12). This may be an allusion to Jesus' enemies, both on a physical and spiritual level, who gathered to watch him die at Golgotha.
Important Verses
Numbers 21:31 - 33
Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.
And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.
Numbers 32:33
And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.
Psalm 68:20 - 22
He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death. But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses.
The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea
Jeremiah 50:19
And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
Nahum 1:1 - 2, 4
The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious . . .
He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.