Keluaran 17:14-16

17:14 The Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in the ¹  book, and rehearse ²  it in Joshua’s hearing; ³  for I will surely wipe out ⁴  the remembrance ⁵  of Amalek from under heaven. 17:15 Moses built an altar, and he called it “The Lord is my Banner,” ⁶  17:16 for he said, “For a hand was lifted up to the throne of the Lord ⁷  – that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” ⁸ 

Ulangan 25:17-19

Treatment of the Amalekites

25:17 Remember what the Amalekites ⁹  did to you on your way from Egypt, 25:18 how they met you along the way and cut off all your stragglers in the rear of the march when you were exhausted and tired; they were unafraid of God. ¹⁰  25:19 So when the Lord your God gives you relief from all the enemies who surround you in the land he ¹¹  is giving you as an inheritance, ¹²  you must wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven ¹³  – do not forget! ¹⁴ 

Ulangan 25:1

25:1 If controversy arises between people, ¹⁵  they should go to court for judgment. When the judges ¹⁶  hear the case, they shall exonerate ¹⁷  the innocent but condemn ¹⁸  the guilty.

1 Samuel 15:7-8

15:7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to ¹⁹  Shur, which is next to Egypt. 15:8 He captured King Agag of the Amalekites alive, but he executed all Agag’s people ²⁰  with the sword.

1 Samuel 30:17

30:17 But David struck them down from twilight until the following evening. None of them escaped, with the exception of four hundred young men who got away on camels. ²¹ 

1 Samuel 30:2

30:2 They took captive the women who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest, but they did not kill anyone. They simply carried them off and went on their way.

1 Samuel 8:12

8:12 He will appoint for himself leaders of thousands and leaders of fifties, ²²  as well as those who plow his ground, reap his harvest, and make his weapons of war and his chariot equipment.

[17:14]  ¹ tn The presence of the article does not mean that he was to write this in a book that was existing now, but in one dedicated to this purpose (book, meaning scroll). See GKC 408 §126.s.

[17:14]  ² tn The Hebrew word is “place,” meaning that the events were to be impressed on Joshua.

[17:14]  ³ tn Heb “in the ears of Joshua.” The account should be read to Joshua.

[17:14]  ⁴ tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense to stress the resolution of Yahweh to destroy Amalek. The verb מָחָה (makhah) is often translated “blot out” – but that is not a very satisfactory image, since it would not remove completely what is the object. “Efface, erase, scrape off” (as in a palimpsest, a manuscript that is scraped clean so it can be reused) is a more accurate image.

[17:14]  ⁵ sn This would seem to be defeated by the preceding statement that the events would be written in a book for a memorial. If this war is recorded, then the Amalekites would be remembered. But here God was going to wipe out the memory of them. But the idea of removing the memory of a people is an idiom for destroying them – they will have no posterity and no lasting heritage.

[17:15]  ⁶ sn Heb “Yahweh-nissi” (so NAB), which means “Yahweh is my banner.” Note that when Israel murmured and failed God, the name commemorated the incident or the outcome of their failure. When they were blessed with success, the naming praised God. Here the holding up of the staff of God was preserved in the name for the altar – God gave them the victory.

[17:16]  ⁷ tn The line here is very difficult. The Hebrew text has כִּי־יָד עַל־כֵּס יָהּ (ki yad ’al kes yah, “for a hand on the throne of Yah”). If the word is “throne” (and it is not usually spelled like this), then it would mean Moses’ hand was extended to the throne of God, showing either intercession or source of power. It could not be turned to mean that the hand of Yah was taking an oath to destroy the Amalekites. The LXX took the same letters, but apparently saw the last four (כסיה) as a verbal form; it reads “with a secret hand.” Most scholars have simply assumed that the text is wrong, and כֵּס should be emended to נֵס (nes) to fit the name, for this is the pattern of naming in the OT with popular etymologies – some motif of the name must be found in the sentiment. This would then read, “My hand on the banner of Yah.” It would be an expression signifying that the banner, the staff of God, should ever be ready at hand when the Israelites fight the Amalekites again.

[17:16]  ⁸ sn The message of this short narrative, then, concerns the power of God to protect his people. The account includes the difficulty, the victory, and the commemoration. The victory must be retained in memory by the commemoration. So the expositional idea could focus on that: The people of God must recognize (both for engaging in warfare and for praise afterward) that victory comes only with the power of God. In the NT the issue is even more urgent, because the warfare is spiritual – believers do not wrestle against flesh and blood. So only God’s power will bring victory.

[25:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “what Amalek” (so NAB, NRSV). Here the individual ancestor, the namesake of the tribe, is cited as representative of the entire tribe at the time Israel was entering Canaan. Consistent with this, singular pronouns are used in v. 18 and the singular name appears again in v. 19. Since readers unfamiliar with the tribe of Amalekites might think this refers to an individual, the term “Amalekites” and the corresponding plural pronouns have been used throughout these verses (cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[25:18]  ¹⁰ sn See Exod 17:8-16.

[25:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “ the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[25:19]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.”

[25:19]  ¹³ tn Or “from beneath the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[25:19]  ¹⁴ sn This command is fulfilled in 1 Sam 15:1-33.

[25:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “men.”

[25:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”

[25:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”

[15:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[as] you enter.”

[15:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “all the people.” For clarity “Agag’s” has been supplied in the translation.

[30:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “who rode on camels and fled.”

[8:12]  ²² tc The numbers of v. 12 are confused in the Greek and Syriac versions. For “fifties” the LXX has “hundreds.” The Syriac Peshitta has “heads of thousands and heads of hundreds and heads of fifties and heads of tens,” perhaps reflecting influence from Deut 1:15.