Bashan is a region east of the Jordan River. Its single appearance in the Book of Mormon comes when Nephi quotes Isaiah: “Yea, and the day of the Lord shall come upon all the cedars of Lebanon, for they are high and lifted up; and upon all the oaks of Bashan” (2 Nephi 12:13). The oaks of Bashan, like the cedars of Lebanon, stand for the high and lofty things that will be brought low at the day of the Lord.
Bashan was known for its fertile land and its large oaks. It was originally the kingdom of Og, later assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh. The Book of Mormon does not define its boundaries; other accounts place it from southern Gilead to Mount Hermon in the north, and from the Jordan eastward toward Salcah. It held many cities and produced wheat.
Control of Bashan passed through the Assyrian empire, the Nabatean domain, and the rule of Herod the Great, Philip, and Agrippa II.