It is taught Abba Shaul says, and some say Rabbi Yochanan: I used to be a gravedigger. Once I ran after a deer, and I entered the thighbone of a corpse; and it was so large that I ran after the deer for three parasangs inside the thighbone, and although I did not reach the deer, the thighbone did not end. When I came back and related this to the Sages, they said to me: It was from Og, king of Bashan.
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: Og said: How large is the camp of Israel? It is three parasangs. I will go and uproot a mountain three parasangs long and I will hurl it upon them and kill them. He went, uprooted a mountain three parasangs long, and brought it on his head. And The Holy Blessed One 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. And that is what is written: “You break the teeth of the wicked” (Psalms 3:8). And this is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon Ben Lakish, as Rabbi 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]. The story concludes: How tall was Moses? He was ten cubits tall. He took an axe ten cubits long, jumped up ten cubits, and struck Og in the ankle and killed him.
“And the Eternal said to Moses: Do not fear...” (Numbers 21:34). The Gemara asks: Now, Sichon and Og were brothers, as the Master said: Sichon and Og were sons of Ahijah, son of Shamhazai. In what way is Sichon different from Og, that God found it necessary to warn Moses not to be afraid of Og, and in what way is Og different from Sichon, that there was no need for a warning not to be afraid of Sichon? Rabbi Yochanan says that Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai says: From the answer that God gave to that righteous one, Moses, you know what was in his heart, i.e., what gave Moses cause to fear. Moses said to himself: Perhaps the merit of our forefather Abraham will stand for Og. As it is stated: “And there came one that was saved, and told Avram the Hebrew” (Genesis 14:13–14). And Rabbi Yochanan said that the term “one that was saved” is referring to Og, who was saved from the punishment of the generation of the flood.
(יג) זקן (עבדו) [ביתו] של אברהם היה עבדו אליעזר. ומהיכן היה עבדו, אלא שכיון שיצא מאור כשדים באו כל גדולי הדור ליתן לו מתנות ולקח נמרוד עבדו אליעזר ונתנו לו עבד עולם.
(יד) וכשגמל חסד ליצחק הוציאו לחירות ונתן לו הב"ה שכרו בעולם הזה וקיימו למלך והוא עוג מלך הבשן.
(13) The steward of Abraham's household was his servant Eliezer, and whence was his servant? When (Abraham) went forth from Ur of the Chaldees all the magnates of the kingdom came to give him gifts; and Nimrod took his first-born (son) Eliezer and gave him to (Abraham) as a perpetual slave.
(14) When (Eliezer had thus) dealt kindly with Isaac, he set him free, and the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him his reward in this world, so that there should not be a reward for the wicked in the world to come; and He raised him to kingship, and he is Og, king of Bashan.
(ח) ונמחו כל היקום שבארץ שנאמר וימח את כל היקום אשר על פני האדמה, חוץ מנח וכל אשר אתו בתבה שנאמר וישאר אך נח ואשר אתו בתיבה, וחוץ מעוג מלך הבשן שישב לו על עץ אחד מן הסולמות של התיבה ונשבע לנח ולבניו שיהיה להם עבד עולם מה עשה נח נקב חור אח' בתיבה והיה מושיט לו מזונו בכל יום ויום ונשאר גם הוא שנ' כי רק עוג מלך הבשן וגו'. וחוץ מארץ ישראל שלא ירדו עליה גשמים, שנאמר בן אדם אמור לה את ארץ לא מטוהרת היא לא גשמה ביום זעם אלא נתגלגלו המי' מכל הארצות ונכנסו לה.
(8) And all living things which were upon the face of the earth decayed, as it is said, "And every living thing was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground" (Gen. 7:23), except Noah and those who were with him in the ark, as it is said, "And Noah only was left, and they that were with him in the ark" (ibid.), except Og, king of Bashan, who sat down on a piece of wood under the gutter of the ark. He swore to Noah and to his sons that he would be their servant for ever. What did Noah do? He bored an aperture in the ark, and he put (through it) his food daily for him, and he also was left, as it is said, "For only Og, king of Bashan, remained of the remnant of the giants" (Deut. 3:11)...
Only Noah - in gematria, Og
Kindness and Ecstasy, from The Beginning of Desire by Dr Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg 1995
Through the giant Og, the race of giants survives the Flood, the race of lordly, rapacious heroes, who recognized no bar to their pursuit of ecstasy... Noah must enter the ark, cut himself off from the world and discover the closed daydream, with its "temptation to open up the ultimate depths of being". But, "in hours of greater imaginary sensibility," he must pierce a hole in the ark, must feed the giant, who now swears eternal subjugation to the domain of kindness. The opening in the ark acts as a kind of valve, regulating the flow of nourishment from Noah to the giant. Implicitly, however, the flow is not all one way; Noah perforates the shell of his safety to maintain relations with the giant who is outside and inside.
A Giant Future by Rabbi Elaine Zecher 2020
David came running toward Goliath, powered by courage, ingenuity, and faith (2) with an innovative strategy to face his adversary. Goliath couldn’t comprehend that his view of the world had been shattered and it hit him right between the eyes.
Perhaps, we think our present and the future is some big Goliath staring us down with heavy armor. And we feel initially as vulnerable as David appeared. But the story of David offers us a new perspective. What drove David was the security he knew he already had to defend his people and to step forward.
Armed with faith, ingenuity, and the courage to address the challenges before us, we can defeat any goliath.