Ulangan 25:17-19

Treatment of the Amalekites

25:17 Remember what the Amalekites ¹  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. ²  25:19 So when the Lord your God gives you relief from all the enemies who surround you in the land he ³  is giving you as an inheritance, ⁴  you must wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven ⁵  – do not forget! ⁶ 

Ulangan 25:1

25:1 If controversy arises between people, ⁷  they should go to court for judgment. When the judges ⁸  hear the case, they shall exonerate ⁹  the innocent but condemn ¹⁰  the guilty.

1 Samuel 15:3

15:3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare ¹¹  them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”

Ezra 4:6

Official Complaints Are Lodged Against the Jews

4:6 ¹² At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus ¹³  they filed an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁴ 

[25:17]  ¹ 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]  ² sn See Exod 17:8-16.

[25:19]  ³ tn Heb “ the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[25:19]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.”

[25:19]  ⁵ tn Or “from beneath the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[25:19]  ⁶ sn This command is fulfilled in 1 Sam 15:1-33.

[25:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “men.”

[25:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”

[25:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”

[15:3]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on” (cf. CEV).

[4:6]  ¹² sn The chronological problems of Ezra 4:6-24 are well known and have been the subject of extensive discussion since ancient times. Both v. 5 and v. 24 describe the reign of Darius I Hystaspes, who ruled Persia ca. 522–486 b.c. and in whose time the rebuilt temple was finished. The material in between is from later times (v. 16 describes the rebuilding of the walls, not the temple), and so appear to be a digression. Even recognizing this, there are still questions, such as why Cambyses (530-522 b.c.) is not mentioned at all, and why events from the time of Xerxes (486-465 b.c.) and Artaxerxes (464-423 b.c.) are included here if the author was discussing opposition to the building of the temple, which was finished in 516 b.c. Theories to explain these difficulties are too numerous to mention here, but have existed since ancient times: Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, rearranged the account to put Cambyses before Xerxes and replacing Artaxerxes with Xerxes (for further discussion of Josephus’ rearrangement see L. L. Grabbe, “Josephus and the Reconstruction of the Judean Restoration” JBL 106 [1987]: 231-46). In brief, it seems best to view the author’s primary concern here as thematic (the theme of opposition to the Jewish resettlement in Jerusalem, including the rebuilding of the temple and restoration of Jerusalem’s walls) rather than purely chronological. In the previous verses the author had shown how the Jews had rejected an offer of assistance from surrounding peoples and how these people in turn harassed them. The inserted account shows how, in light of the unremitting opposition the Jews experienced (even extending down to more recent times), this refusal of help had been fully justified. Some of the documents the author employed show how this opposition continued even after the temple was rebuilt. (The failure to mention Cambyses may simply mean the author had no documents available from that period.) For detailed discussion of the difficulties presented by the passage and the various theories advanced to explain them, see H. G. M. Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah (WBC), 56-60.

[4:6]  ¹³ sn Ahasuerus, otherwise known as Xerxes I, ruled ca. 486-464 b.c.

[4:6]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.