Crushed Amorites, Suspended Hailstones, and the Defeat of the Giant Og: Talmudic Accounts of Biblical Triumphs Over Enemies (Berakhot 54a-b)

This sugya examines the biblical and extra-biblical miracles for which one recites a blessing, focusing on three categories preserved in a baraita: miraculous water crossings, hidden salvation at the Streams of Arnon (נחל ארנון), and the hailstones of Elgavish (אבני אלגביש).¹ It then records an extended tradition regarding the defeat of Og, king of Bashan.

Miraculous Water Crossings: Red Sea and Jordan River

The baraita lists the Red Sea crossing (ma’avarot ha-yam) and the Jordan River crossing (ma’avarot ha-Yarden) as sites of miracles. The Talmud identifies explicit scriptural sources. For the Red Sea, Exodus 14:22 states: “The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground.” For the Jordan, Joshua 3:17 reports: “The priests… stood on dry land within the Jordan… while all Israel crossed on dry land.” These verses establish the miraculous nature of both events and the obligation to acknowledge them.

The Hidden Miracle at the Streams of Arnon (Numbers 21:14–15)

The Talmud asks how the miracle of the Streams of Arnon (nachalei Arnon) is known. It cites Numbers 21:14–15, which refers to the “Book of the Wars of YHWH.” The phrase “Vahev in Sufa” is interpreted by a tanna as referring to two lepers, Et and Hev (two metzora’im), who walked at the rear of Israel’s camp. The Amorites had prepared caves (nekirata) and hid in them, planning to attack the Israelites as they passed through the gorge.

The Amorites did not know that the Ark of the Covenant traveled ahead of Israel and “flattened” mountains. When the Ark reached Arnon, opposing cliffs pressed together and crushed the hidden Amorites. Their blood flowed into the Arnon streams. The two lepers saw the blood emerging from between the mountains and reported it to Israel. The people responded with a song, linked to Numbers 21:15: “And the cascade of the brooks that goes down to the dwelling of Ar…,” interpreted as referring to the site where a valley was transformed into a mountain-ridge through divine action.

The Hailstones of Elgavish

Among the miraculous sites listed in the baraita is the place of the hailstones of Elgavish (avnei elgavish). A tanna explains: these were stones that “stood because of a man” and “fell because of a man.” They stood because of Moses, who is called “the man Moses” (ha-ish Moshe) in Numbers 12:3. During the plague of hail, his prayer caused the storm to cease, as Exodus 9:33 states: “The thunders and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.” According to the tradition, the suspended hailstones remained aloft. They later fell because of Joshua, also called “a man” in Numbers 27:18. Joshua 10:11 recounts that during the battle with the Amorites kings, God cast down great stones from heaven at Beit Horon, killing more of the enemy with hailstones than by the sword.

Og King of Bashan: Mountain, Grasshoppers, and Moses’ Final Blow

A transmitted tradition recounts that Og calculated Israel’s camp to measure three parasangs and uprooted a mountain of equal size, intending to drop it onto the camp and destroy Israel. As he carried the mountain on his head, God sent grasshoppers (kematzi) that hollowed its peak, causing it to collapse around his neck. When Og attempted to remove it, his teeth elongated to both sides (an interpretation of Psalms 3:8, reading “you broke the teeth of the wicked” as “you lengthened the teeth of the wicked,” according to R. Shimon ben Lakish), trapping him.

Moses is described as ten cubits tall. He took a ten-cubit axe (narga), leapt ten cubits, struck Og on his ankle, and killed him.

Outline

Intro

The Passage - Crushed Amorites; Hailstones; and the Defeat of the Giant Og: Talmudic Accounts of Biblical Defeats of Enemies (Berakhot 54a-b)

1. Biblical Miraculous water crossings: the crossings of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:22) and the Jordan River (Joshua 3:17)

2. Hidden Miracles and the Streams of Arnon: The Unseen Salvation of Israel (Numbers 21:14–15)

   1. Part 1: Hidden Amorites and Two Israelite Lepers

   2. Part 2: The Ark’s Power at Arnon: Flattened Mountains, Crushed Amorites, and the Israelites’ Song of Praise

   3. (Numbers 21:15)

3. The Miraculous Hailstones of Elgavish in the Time of “Men”: In the Time of Moses (Numbers 12:3; Exodus 9:33) and Joshua (Numbers 27:18; Joshua 10:11)

4. The Defeat of Biblical Og: An Account of Divine Intervention and Moses’ Heroic Act

   1. Part 1: Og’s Monstrous Plan: The Story of the Mountain and the Israelite Camp

   2. Part 2 - Divine Intervention: Grasshoppers, a Fallen Mountain, and the Lengthened Teeth of Og

   3. Part 3

The Passage

Berakhot.54a.15-54b.6

Biblical Miraculous water crossings: the crossings of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:22) and the Jordan River (Joshua 3:17)

The Talmud discusses three miracles mentioned in a baraita² involving water crossings.

The first two--the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea (מעברות הים) and the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River (מעברות הירדן)--are explicitly mentioned in the Bible.³

בשלמא מעברות הים,

דכתיב: ״ויבאו בני ישראל בתוך הים ביבשה״.

מעברות הירדן,

דכתיב:

״ויעמדו הכהנים נשאי הארון ברית ה׳ בחרבה בתוך הירדן הכן

וכל ישראל עברים בחרבה

עד אשר תמו כל הגוי לעבור את הירדן״.

Granted, the miracles at the crossings of the sea are recorded explicitly in the Torah,

as it is stated: “And the Israelites went into the sea on dry ground and the water was a wall for them on their right and on their left” (Exodus 14:22).

So too, the miracle at the crossings of the Jordan,

as it is stated:

“The priests who bore the ark of God’s covenant stood on dry land within the Jordan,

while all Israel crossed on dry land

until the entire nation finished crossing the Jordan” (Joshua 3:17).

Hidden Miracles and the Streams of Arnon: The Unseen Salvation of Israel (Numbers 21:14–15)

Part 1: Hidden Amorites and Two Israelite Lepers

The miracle at the streams of Arnon is derived from the verses in Numbers 21:14–15, referencing the Book of the Wars of YHWH (ספר מלחמת ה׳):

The phrase “Vahev in Sufa” is interpreted as involving two lepers, Et and Hev, who were walking behind the Israelite camp.

The tradition then describes the Amorites as creating caves (נקירתא) and hiding (טשו) in them to ambush the Israelites as they passed.

אלא מעברות נחלי ארנון מנלן?

דכתיב:

״על כן יאמר בספר מלחמת ה׳:

את והב בסופה וגו׳״.

תנא:

״את והב בסופה״ —

שני מצורעים היו, דהוו מהלכין בסוף מחנה ישראל.

כי הוו קא חלפי ישראל, אתו אמוראי

עבדי להון נקירתא, וטשו בהון.

אמרי: כי חלפי ישראל הכא — נקטלינון

However, from where do we derive the miracle that occurred at the crossing of the streams of Arnon?

As it is stated:

“Wherefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of YHWH:

Vahev in Sufa, and the valleys of Arnon. And the slope of the valleys that incline toward the seat of Ar, and lean upon the border of Moab” (Numbers 21:14–15).

It was taught:

“Vahev in Sufa”;

there were two lepers, one named Et and the second named Hev, who were walking at the rear of the camp of Israel.

As Israel passed, the Emorites came and prepared caves for themselves and they hid in them.

They said: When Israel passes here — we will kill them.

Part 2: The Ark’s Power at Arnon: Flattened Mountains, Crushed Amorites, and the Israelites’ Song of Praise

The Ark of the Covenant, preceding the Israelites, would flatten (ממיך) mountains. It thus caused the hidden Amorites to be crushed to death, their blood flowing into the streams of Arnon.

ולא הוו ידעי, דארון הוה מסגי קמייהו דישראל,

והוה ממיך להו טורי מקמייהו.

כיון דאתא ארון, אדבקו טורי בהדי הדדי, וקטלינון,

ונחת דמייהו לנחלי ארנון.

And they did not know that the Ark of the Covenant preceded the children of Israel

and would flatten mountains before them.

When the Ark came, the mountains adhered one to another and killed them;

and their blood flowed down to the streams of Arnon.

(Numbers 21:15)

Et and Hev, the afore-mentioned lepers at the rear of the camp, noticed the blood and informed the rest of the Israelites.

In response, the Israelites praised God with a song, as described in Numbers 21:15, highlighting the miraculous events at the streams where the valley transformed into a mountain.

כי אתו את והב,

חזו דמא דקא נפיק מביני טורי.

אתו ואמרי להו לישראל,

ואמרו שירה.

היינו דכתיב:

״ואשד הנחלים אשר נטה לשבת ער

ונשען לגבול מואב״.

When Et and Hev, the lepers, arrived,

they saw the blood that was emerging from between the mountains,

and they came and told Israel what had happened.

Israel recited a song of praise,

as it is stated:

“And at the cascade of the brooks that goes down to the dwelling of Ar,

and lies upon the border of Moab” (Numbers 21:15).

This refers to the cascade of the brooks where the mountain, which had once been a valley, spread out in the direction of the mountain in Ar, in Moab.

The Miraculous Hailstones of Elgavish in the Time of “Men”: In the Time of Moses (Numbers 12:3; Exodus 9:33) and Joshua (Numbers 27:18; Joshua 10:11)

The Tamud discusses the hailstones of Elgavish, one of the miraculous sites mentioned in the afore-mentioned baraita where blessings are recited.

According to a midrash, these stones remained suspended in the air because of Moses and later fell because of Joshua:

Moses, referred to as “man” in the Torah (Numbers 12:3), caused the hailstones to cease through his prayer during the plague in Egypt (Exodus 9:33).

Joshua, also called “man” (Numbers 27:18), saw these hailstones descend during his battle against the Amorite kings, as God cast them down upon the enemy, killing more with hailstones than with swords (Joshua 10:11).

אבני אלגביש.

מאי אבני אלגביש?

תנא:

אבנים ש

• עמדו על גב איש,

• וירדו על גב איש.

Among the sites enumerated in the baraita where one is obligated to recite a blessing in recognition of the miracles that occurred there, was the site of the hailstones of Elgavish.

The Talmud asks: What are the hailstones of Elgavish?

It is taught in the midrash:

They are the stones that

• remained suspended⁴ in the air and did not fall because of [al gav] a man [ish]

• and they fell down because of [al gav] a man [ish].

• עמדו על גב איש —

  • זה משה,

  • דכתיב: ״והאיש משה ענו מאד״,

  • וכתיב: ״ויחדלו הקלות והברד, ומטר לא נתך ארצה״.

• ירדו על גב איש —

  • זה יהושע,

  • דכתיב: ״קח לך את יהושע בן נון, איש אשר רוח בו״,

  • וכתיב: ״ויהי בנוסם מפני בני ישראל, הם במורד בית חורן, וה׳ השליך עליהם אבנים גדלות״.

The Talmud explains:

• They remained suspended because of a man --

  • that is Moses, whom the verse refers to as a man,

  • as it is written: “And the man Moses was very modest” (Numbers 12:3),

  • and it is written: “And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread forth his hands unto YHWH; the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth” (Exodus 9:33). Moses’ hailstones remained suspended.

• And the stones descended because of a man --

  • that is Joshua, who was also called man,

  • as it is written: “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is spirit” (Numbers 27:18).

  • And it is written that when Joshua and his people waged war against the army of the Emorite kings, God told him not to fear them because God would deliver them into his hands; and indeed, they died by means of these stones: “As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beit Ḥoron, that YHWH cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azeka, and they died; they were more who died with the hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew by sword” (Joshua 10:11).

The Defeat of Biblical Og: An Account of Divine Intervention and Moses’ Heroic Act

Part 1: Og’s Monstrous Plan: The Story of the Mountain and the Israelite Camp

The Talmud discusses a rabbinic tradition about Og, the biblical King of Bashan:

According to the story, Og plotted to destroy the Israelites by dropping a mountain on their encampment.

After learning that their camp was three parasangs in size, he uprooted a mountain of matching size--three parasangs--and carried it above his head, intending to throw it on them to crush them to death.

אבן שבקש עוג מלך הבשן לזרוק על ישראל,

גמרא גמירי לה.

אמר:

מחנה ישראל כמה הוי?

תלתא פרסי,

איזיל ואיעקר טורא בר תלתא פרסי,

ואישדי עלייהו, ואיקטלינהו.

אזל, עקר טורא בר תלתא פרסי,

ואייתי על רישיה

With regard to the rock that Og, King of Bashan, sought to throw upon Israel,

there is no biblical reference, but rather a tradition was transmitted.

The Talmud relates that Og said:

How large is the camp of Israel?

It is 3 parasangs.

I will go and uproot a mountain 3 parasangs long

and I will hurl it upon them and kill them.

He went, uprooted a mountain 3 parasangs long,

and brought it on his head.

Part 2 - Divine Intervention: Grasshoppers, a Fallen Mountain, and the Lengthened Teeth of Og

As he carried the mountain on his head, God sent grasshoppers (קמצי) to hollow out the mountain’s peak, causing it to fall around Og’s neck.

When Og tried to remove the mountain, his teeth extended unnaturally, trapping it in place, fulfilling the verse “You break (שברת) the teeth of the wicked” (Psalms 3:8), interpreted homiletically by R’ Shimon Ben Lakish as meaning “You lengthened (שרבבת) their teeth.”⁵

ואייתי קודשא בריך הוא עליה קמצי

ונקבוה,

ונחית בצואריה.

הוה בעי למשלפה,

משכי שיניה להאי גיסא ולהאי גיסא,

ולא מצי למשלפה.

And God brought grasshoppers upon it

and they pierced the peak of the mountain

and it fell on his neck.

Og wanted to remove it from his head;

his teeth were extended to one side of his head and to the other

and he was unable to remove it.

והיינו דכתיב: ״שני רשעים שברת״.

וכדרבי שמעון בן לקיש.

דאמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש:

מאי דכתיב ״שני רשעים שברת״?

אל תקרי ״שברת״,

אלא ״שרבבת״.

And that is what is written: “You break the teeth of the wicked” (Psalms 3:8).

And this is in accordance with the homiletic interpretation of R’ Shimon Ben Lakish,

as R’ Shimon Ben Lakish said:

What is the meaning of that which is written: “You break the teeth of the wicked”?

Do not read it as: You break [shibarta],

but rather as: You lengthened [shirbavta].

Part 3

Moses, described as ten cubits tall, used a ten-cubit axe (נרגא), leapt (שוור) ten cubits, and struck Og’s ankle (קרסוליה), killing him.⁶

משה כמה הוה?

עשר אמות,

שקיל נרגא בר עשר אמין,

שוור עשר אמין,

ומחייה בקרסוליה, וקטליה.

The story concludes:

How tall was Moses?

He was 10 cubits tall.

He took an axe 10 cubits long,

jumped up 10 cubits,

and struck Og in the ankle and killed him.

1. I discuss the sugya immediately before, here: “From Animal Attacks to Biblical Miracles: Blessings at the Sites of Supernatural Rescues (Berakhot 54a)”.

These sites are initially listed by a baraita cited ibid., section “List of Eight Sites of Biblical Miracles“. See my hyperlinks and notes on those list items there.

Compare another Talmudic list of Biblical Triumphs Over Enemies, a few pages later in this chapter, in my “Pt2 Earthly and Divine Majesty: Encounters with Kings, Justice, and the Reflection of Heaven on Earth (Berakhot 58a)“, section “Part 4: R’ Sheila’s Homiletic Interpretation of Divine Attributes in I Chronicles 29:11 — Past and future defeats of Israel’s enemies”, where I summarize:

1. Greatness (גדלה): Creation (מעשה בראשית)

2. Power (גבורה): The Exodus (יציאת מצרים - defeat of the Egyptians)

3. Glory (תפארת): the sun and the moon that stood still for Joshua (Joshua 10:12–14 - in the Battle of Gibeon against the Amorites)

4. Triumph (נצח): Rome’s downfall (מפלתה של רומי)

5. Majesty (הוד): The Battle of the Arnon Stream (מלחמת נחלי ארנון - Numbers 21:13-15)

6. All in heaven and earth: Sisera’s defeat.

7. Kingdom (ממלכה): Amalek’s war (מלחמת עמלק)

8. Exaltation (מתנשא): Gog and Magog’s battle (מלחמת גוג ומגוג)

2. See previous footnote.

3. For an extended Talmudic discussion of Joshua’s crossing of the Jordan, see my recent “The Miraculous Crossing of the Jordan River in Joshua 3-4 (Sotah 33b-34a)“.

4. עמדו - literally: “stood”.

5. This homiletic interpretation is referenced elsewhere in the Talmud, see my “Talmudic Interpretations of the Book of Esther: Esther 4:1-5:2 (Megillah 15a-b)“, section “The Miraculous Lengthening of the Scepter: initially 2 cubits long, miraculously extended to a length of 12, 16, 24, 60, or 200 cubits; Parallels to other miraculous extensions“, and the note there.

6. I.e., Moses is portrayed with superhuman scale and strength: ten cubits tall, wielding a ten-cubit weapon, and capable of leaping ten cubits.

Even so, Og’s size was so immense that Moses could only reach his ankle, yet that single blow was enough to kill the giant.

Thus, the description highlights both Moses’ extraordinary might and Og’s colossal proportions, emphasizing the miraculous nature of the victory.

Compare this other Talmudic description of Og’s massive skeleton, in my “Healthy Bones, Biblical Giants, and The (Literal) Decline (in Height) of the Generations: The Grave Observations of Abba Shaul (Niddah 24b-25a)“, section “The massive skeleton of the Biblical Og“.

And compare these other Talmudic description of biblical giants:

• Ibid. (“Healthy Bones”), section “The massive skeleton of the Biblical Absalom“

• “Pt3 Talmudic Odyssey: Giant Creatures, Cosmic Wonders, and Other Tales (Bava Batra 73a-74a)“, section “The Arab shows giant corpses of Exodus generation“

• “Pt2 The Story of the Spies in Numbers 13-14 in the Talmud (Sotah 34b-35a)“, sections “The Significance of the Names of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai (Numbers 13:22)“ and “ “Children of Anak” = extraordinary height“.