Argob

a canton lying beyond Jordan, in the half tribe of Manasseh, and in the country of Bashan, one of the most fruitful on the other side of Jordan. In the region of Argob there were sixty cities, called Bashan- havoth-Jair, which had very high walls and strong gates, without reckoning many villages and hamlets, which were not inclosed, Deu 3:4-14; 1Ki 4:13. But Argob was more peculiarly the name of the capital city of the region of Argob, which Eusebius says was fifteen miles west of Gerara.

Ar´gob, a district in Bashan; east of the Lake of Gennesareth, which was given to the half-tribe of Manasseh (Deu 3:4; Deu 3:13; 1Ki 4:13).

A city in Bashan and Manasseh east of the Jordan; also the region around it. This was very fertile, and contained at one time sixty walled towns, which were taken by Jair the son of Manasseh, and called after him, Deu 1:4,13,14 1Ki 4:13 .\par

Ar’gob. (stony).

1. A tract of country on the east of the Jordan, in Bashan, the kingdom of Og, containing 60 great and fortified cities. In later times, it was called Trachonitis, and it is now apparently identified with the Leiah, a very remarkable district south of Damascus and east of the Sea of Galilee. Deu 3:4; Deu 3:13-14.

2. Perhaps a Gileadite officer who was governor of Argob. He was either an accomplice of Pekah in the murder of Pekahiah or was slain by Pekah. 2Ki 15:25.

2Ki 15:25. Pekahiah’s aide de camp, slain by the conspirators under Pekah, in defending the king.

(Heb. Argob’, אִרְגּוֹב, for רְגֹב, with אprosthetic, stone-hep), the name of a place and also of a man.

1. (Sept. Α᾿ργώβ, but in Kings Ε᾿ργάβ). A district in Bashan beyond the lale Gennesareth, containing 60 cities ( HAVOTH-JAIR SEE HAVOTH-JAIR), originally ruled over by Og (Deu 4:4; Deu 4:13), and eventually formed into a purveyorship by Solomon (1Ki 4:13). The name may probably be traced in the Ragab (רָגָב) of the Mishna (Menachoth, 8, 3), the Rigobah ( ריגובאהof the Samaritan version (see Winer’s Diss. de vess. Samar. indole, p. 55), the Ragaba ( ῾Ραγαβᾶ) of Josephus (Ant. 13, 15, 5), and the Arga or Ergaba (Ε᾿ργαβά) placed by Jerome and Eusebius (Onomas’. s.v. Argob) 15 Roman miles west of Gerasa (see Reland, Palaest. p. 959). Josephus elsewhere (Ant. 8:2, 3) seems to locate it in Trachonitis (q., v.), i.e. Gaulonitis, where Burckhardt is disposed to find it in El Husn, a remarkable ruined site (Syria, p. 279), but Mr. Banks (Quar. Rev. 26, 389) has assigned this to Gamala (comp. Jour. Sac. Lit. Jan. 1852, p. 364). Dr. Robinson identifies it with the modern village with ruins called Rajib, a few miles north-east of the junction of the Jabbok with the Jordan (Researches, 3, Append. p. 166); and Dr. Thomson very properly remarks that it probably denotes rather the whole adjacent region, for the hill on which Um-Keis (somewhat to the north) stands is called Arkub by the Bedouins (Land and Book, 2, 54). — Kitto, s.v.

From this special or original locality, however, the term Argob seems to have been extended in its application to designate a large tract to the north- east; for we find it identified (as by Josephus above) with TRACHONITIS SEE TRACHONITIS (i.e. the rough country) in the Targums (Onkelos and Jonathan טרכונא, Jerusalem ץטכונא). Later we trace it in the Arabic version of Saadiah as Mujeb (with the same meaning); and it is now apparently identified with the Lejah, a very remarkable district south of Damascus, and east of the Sea of Galilee, which has been visited and described by Burckhardt (p. 111-119), Seetzen, and Porter (specially 2:240-245). This extraordinary region — about 22 miles from north to south, by 14 from west to east, and of a regular, almost oval shape-has been described as an ocean of basaltic rocks and boulders, tossed about in the wildest confusion, and intermingled with fissures and crevices in every direction. “It is,” says Mr. Porter, “wholly composed of black basalt, which appears to have issued from innumerable pores in the earth in a liquid state, and to have flowed out on every side. Before cooling, its surface was violently agitated, and it was afterward shattered and rent by internal convulsions. The cup-like cavities from which the liquid mass was extruded are still seen, and likewise the wavy surface a thick liquid assumes which cools while flowing. The rock is filled with little pits and air-bubbles; it is as hard as flint, and emits a sharp metallic sound when struck” (p. 241). “Strange as it may seem, this ungainly and forbidding region is thickly studded with deserted cities and villages, in all of which the dwellings are solidly built, and of remote antiquity” (p. 238). The number of these towns visited by one traveler lately returned is 50, and there were many others to which he did not go. A Roman road runs through the district from south to north, probably between Bosra and Damascus. On the edge of the Lejah are situated, among others, the towns known in Biblical history as Kenath and Edrei. In the absence of more conclusive evidence on the point, a strong presumption in favor of the identification of the Lejah with Argob arises from the peculiar Hebrew word constantly attached to Argob, and in this definite sense apparently to Argob only. This word is חֶבֶל(Che’bel), literally “a rope” (σχοίνισμα, περίμετρον, funiculus), and it designates with striking accuracy the remarkably defined boundary-line of the district of the Lejah, which is spoken of repeatedly by its latest explorer as “a rocky shore;” “sweeping round in a circle clearly defined as a rocky shore- line;” “resembling a Cyclopean wall in ruins” (Porter, 2, 19, 219, 239, etc.). The extraordinary features of this region are rendered still more remarkable by the contrast which it presents with the surrounding plain of the Hauran, a high plateau of waving downs of the richest agricultural soil stretching from the Sea of Galilee to the Lejah, and beyond that to the desert. almost literally “without a stone;” and it is not to be wondered at — if the identification proposed above be correct — that this contrast should have struck the Israelites, and that their language, so scrupulous of minute topographical distinctions, should have perpetuated in the words Mishor and Chebel (which see severally) at once the level downs of Bashan (q.v.), the stony labyrinth which so suddenly intrudes itself on the soil (Argob), and the definite fence or boundary which incloses it. SEE HAURAN.

2. (Sept. Α᾿ργόβ.) A subaltern or ally of Pekahiah (B.C. 757), as appears from 2Ki 15:25, where we read that Pekah conspired against Pekahiah, king of Israel, “and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh.” In giving this version, some think our translators have mistaken the sense of the original, which they therefore render “smote him in the harem of the palace of the king of Argob and Arieh,” as if these were the names of two cities in Samaria. Others, however, maintain, with good reason, that the particle אֶתאּis properly translated uith, i.e. these two officers were assassinated at the same time; so the Sept. (μετά). It will hardly bear the other construction: the word strictly denotes near (Vulg.juxta), but that would yield no tolerable sense to the whole passage (see Keil, Comment. in loc.). According to some, Argob was an accomplice of Pekah in the murder of Pekahiah. But Sebastian Schmid explained that both Argob and Arieh were two princes of Pekahiah whose influence Pekah feared, and whom he therefore slew with the king. Rashi understands by Argob the royal palace, near which was the castle in which the murder took place. In like manner, Arieh, named in the same connection (“the lion,” so called probably from his daring as a warrior), was either one of the accomplices of Pekah in his conspiracy against Pekahiah, or, as Schmid understands, one of the princes of Pekahiah, who was put to death with him. Rashi explains the latter name literally of a golden lion which stood in the castle. SEE PEKAH.

Argob (är’gŏb), stony, a small district of Bashan, east of the Jordan; named only four times in the Bible. It is about 30 miles long by 20 miles wide, chiefly a field of basalt (black rock), elevated about 30 feet above the surrounding plain, and bordered by a rocky rampart of broken cliffs. It once contained 60 strong and fortified cities, the ruins of many of them being still to be Been. It is now called the Lejah.

[Ar’gob]

1. A district lying to the south of Damascus and which formed a part of Bashan, where the giants resided. It had at one time 60 cities, which were ruled over by Og. Its name signifies ’stony’ and it forms a remarkable plateau of basalt, which rises some 30 feet above the surrounding fertile plain, and extends 22 miles N. and S. and 14 miles E. and W., the boundary line being marked by the Bible word chebel, which signifies ’as by a rope.’ Og was conquered by Moses, and Jair of Manasseh took the fortified cities, and it became a part of Manasseh’s lot. Later it was called Trachonitis, and is now known as el-Lejah. There are many houses still in the district which, because of their massive proportions, are supposed to have been built by the giants. Deu 3:3-4; Deu 3:13-14; 1Ki 4:13.

2. One, apparently in the service of Pekahiah, killed by Pekah. 2Ki 15:25.

By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., Gerson B. Levi

1. A district in Bashan which was taken from Og by the Jews (Deut. iii. 4), and together with the district of Gilead, was handed over to the halftribe of Manasseh (Deut. iii. 14). One account of the renaming of the land is given in Deut. iii. 15, and another in Judges x. 3, 5. The latter account is to be preferred, since Deuteronomy speaks of Havoth Jair and Argob as identical, and it is known from I Kings iv. 13 that Havoth Jair was in Gilead. The district of Argob has not been located accurately, but a steady line of tradition points to the modern Leja, known to the Romans as Trachonitis, which is the word the Targums use in translating Argob. The land is of lava formation and very rocky; it is separated sharply from the surrounding fertile lands by a line of rocks and stones. This fact may explain the term, "cord of Argob." 2. A place or a person mentioned in II Kings xv. 25. The passage is very obscure. Rashi holds that Argob was the royal palace. Others consider that the name refers to an accomplice of Pekah in the murder of Pekahiah. Still others are of opinion that Argob was an officer of Pekahiah who, with his master and one Arieh, was assassinated by Pekah.

Bibliography:

Buhl,Geographie des Alten Palästina, p. 118.

ARGOB.—1. Argob and Arieh were guards of Pekahiah (2Ki 15:25), who fell by the hands of Pekah along with their master. 2. A district in the kingdom of Og, abounding in strong cities and unwalled towns. It was subdued by ‘Jair son of Manasseh,’ and became the possession of his tribe (Deu 3:3; Deu 3:13, 1Ki 4:15 etc.). It is called ‘the Argob’ (Deu 3:13). This, together with the fact that chebel, ‘measured area,’ always precedes the name, seems to indicate a definitely marked district. This would apply admirably to the great lava field of el-Lejâ, N.W. of Jebel Haurân. Within this forbidding tract the present writer collected the names of 71 ruined sites. Had Gesenius rightly translated ‘a heap of stones,’ the identification would be almost certain. But the name seems to mean ‘arable land’ (regeb = ‘clod,’ Job 21:33; Job 38:38). Argob must therefore be sought elsewhere. The W. slopes of the mountain (now Jebel ed-Druze) would always form a clearly defined district. They abound in ruins of antiquity; while the rich soil, now turned to good account by the Druzes, would amply justify the name of Argob.

W. Ewing.

ar´gob (ארגּב, ’argōbh, “story”): A locality or a person mentioned in the obscure passage 2Ki 15:25. The context deals with Pekah’s conspiracy against Pekahiah; but it is not clear, owing to the state of the text, whether Argob and his associate Arieh (if these are the names of men) were officers of Pekahiah who were slain with him, or fellow-conspirators with Pekah. The vulg takes them as names of places; they may then be considered glosses that have crept into the text. Rashi holds that Argob was the royal palace. Argob is more likely the name of a place than a person. See ARIEH.