Og and Bashan: A Symbol of the Serpent's Domain

Bashan is not merely a region north-east of the Sea of Galilee. In Israel's imagination it was the location of what the New Testament would call the gates of hell.
It was Rephaim country, associated with the dead and with gateways to their realm. The divine serpent who rebelled in Eden was understood to have become lord of the dead, and this was reckoned his territory.
Og, king of Bashan, is described as the last of the remnant of the Rephaim. So when Israel takes Bashan, the accounts are not recording a border skirmish. They are recording an incursion into enemy ground.
Scripture links:
- Deuteronomy 3 - the defeat of Og, last of the remnant of the Rephaim.
- Numbers 13:32-33 - the Anakim tied back to the Nephilim.
Geography in the Bible is rarely neutral. Some places are named for what happened there, and some for who was believed to live there.