Bashan and the Gates of Hell

The region known in the ot as Bashan was located east of the Jordan River (the Transjordan). Specifically, it refers to the upper Transjordan east and northeast of the Sea of Galilee, extending north to and including Mount Hermon. Through the collective efforts of the tribes of Gad, Asher, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, the Israelites conquered this region in the days of Moses and Joshua. The territory then became the tribal inheritance of the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The other half of Manasseh settled west of the Jordan, in Canaan; see Num 32; Josh 19).

Before Israel conquered it, Bashan was an Amorite stronghold ruled by two kings, Sihon and Og, both of whom descended from the giant clans known as the Rephaim and Anakim (Deut 2:10–11, 20–21; 3:11–13; Josh 12:4; 13:12; compare Num 13:26–33; Amos 2:9–10). Its two capital cities were Ashtaroth and Edrei (Num 21:33; Deut 1:4; 3:10; Josh 9:10; 12:4; 13:12, 31). The name “Ashtaroth” is the plural form of “Ashtoreth,” a Canaanite goddess more commonly known as Astarte. Israelite idol worship frequently involved “the Baals and Ashtaroth,” which were, among other things, sexual fertility cults.

Bashan and its two capital cities also had an ominous reputation in the wider Canaanite world. Mythological and ritual texts from Ugarit describe Ashtaroth and Edrei as the abode of the god mlk (Milku or Molech; KTU 1.108:1–3), a long dead (and deified) king. Molech’s name appears in a series of snake charms associated with Ashtaroth (KTU 1.100:41; 1.107:17); he was also connected to child sacrifice in the ot (1 Kgs 11:7; Lev 20:1–5; 18:21). Furthermore, the plural form of the name mlk (mlkm) means “kings.” As result, the cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei (and, more broadly, all of Bashan) came to be associated with the broader Underworld population of deified ancestors and ancient warrior-kings, such as the Rephaim. Canaanite (Ugaritic) peoples, then, literally believed Bashan to be the gateway to the Underworld—the dwelling place of the dead. More broadly, Akkadian god lists from the Old Babylonian period onward associate a deity named Malik, and its plural, maliku (“beings”; the Igigi and Anunnaki gods), with the Underworld cult of dead ancestors.

The Israelites understandably viewed Ashtaroth and Edrei, and thus all of Bashan, as domains of other foreign gods (see Deut 32:8–9). Like the people of Ugarit, however, Israelites considered the Rephaim to be great warriors but identified them as giants. This connection first appears in Gen 6:4, in which the warrior-kings or heroes (gibborim in Hebrew) are related to (and perhaps called) “Nephilim,” a group of giants who could have been spawned by the sons of God (Gen 6:1–4). Elsewhere, the ot connects the Rephaim to the Anakim (Deut 2:11)—descendants of the Nephilim (Num 13:33; compare Deut 2:10–11, 20–21; 3:11–13). According to Jewish theology of the Second Temple period (from books like 1 Enoch), the sons of God (called “watchers”) of Gen 6:1–4 descended to Mount Hermon in Bashan before carrying out the deeds described in Gen 6:1–4. Bashan and Hermon thus had sinister reputations.

Even after Israel subdued Bashan and its Amorite giant clans, the people in the region continued to associate it with the worship of fallen gods. Following the death of Solomon and the split of the kingdom (1 Kgs 12:25–31; 2 Kgs 10:29), the wicked Jeroboam set up a cult center for the northern kingdom at the city of Dan, which was very close to the foot of Mount Hermon. However, the Assyrians destroyed the city of Dan in 734 bc and took the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity in 722 bc. During the Hellenistic period, new inhabitants of the region reestablished a new city and cult center a few miles east of the ancient Dan cult center. The location, which had formerly been known as Baal-Gad and Baal-Hermon, was named Paneas (also called Banyas and Banias). The cult center was devoted to the god Pan, the half-man half-goat god of fright (or “panic”). The site features a cave grotto and carved niches for the statues of deities. Beginning in the third century bc, worshipers cast sacrifices into the cave as offerings to Pan.

By Jesus’ day, the name of Banias had been changed to Caesarea-Philippi—the location of Peter’s confession (Matt 16:13–20) and, shortly thereafter, the transfiguration. The latter likely occurred somewhere on Mount Hermon. (The Bible does not indicate that the transfiguration took place at Mount Tabor; that tradition did not appear until the fifth century ad.) So when Jesus tells Peter that it is “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matt 16:18), He and the disciples are literally standing at the place known in ancient times as the gates of Hades/the Underworld. Jesus is saying, in other words, that He will conquer the forces of darkness associated with the Underworld—and that the power of the Church will overcome them. In Paul’s words, Christ “disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a display of them in public, triumphing over them by it” (Col 2:15) and “Ascending on high he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men” (Eph 4:8). This line from Ephesians 4:8 is made even more powerful with the knowledge that Paul is quoting Psalm 68:18; in Psalm 68 the mountain God ascends and conquers is none other than Mount Bashan (Psa 68:15).

Michael S. Heiser

Further Reading

Giant Clans in the Old Testament

Rephaim CLBD

Nephilim CLBD

Bashan CLBD

Ugaritic and the Bible CLBD

Bashan DDD

Extent of the Conquest