Keluaran 17:8

Victory over the Amalekites

17:8 ¹ Amalek came ²  and attacked ³  Israel in Rephidim.

Keluaran 17:16

17:16 for he said, “For a hand was lifted up to the throne of the Lord ⁴  – that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” ⁵ 

Bilangan 24:20

Balaam’s Final Prophecies

24:20 Then Balaam ⁶  looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle: ⁷ 

“Amalek was the first ⁸  of the nations,

but his end will be that he will perish.”

Ulangan 25:17

Treatment of the Amalekites

25:17 Remember what the Amalekites ⁹  did to you on your way from Egypt,

Ulangan 25:19

25:19 So when the Lord your God gives you relief from all the enemies who surround you in the land he ¹⁰  is giving you as an inheritance, ¹¹  you must wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven ¹²  – do not forget! ¹³ 

Ulangan 25:1

25:1 If controversy arises between people, ¹⁴  they should go to court for judgment. When the judges ¹⁵  hear the case, they shall exonerate ¹⁶  the innocent but condemn ¹⁷  the guilty.

1 Samuel 15:2

15:2 Here is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed ¹⁸  Israel along the way when Israel ¹⁹  came up from Egypt.

[17:8]  ¹ sn This short passage gives the first account of Israel’s holy wars. The war effort and Moses’ holding up his hands go side by side until the victory is won and commemorated. Many have used this as an example of intercessory prayer – but the passage makes no such mention. In Exodus so far the staff of God is the token of the power of God; when Moses used it, God demonstrated his power. To use the staff of God was to say that God did it; to fight without the staff was to face defeat. Using the staff of God was a way of submitting to and depending on the power of God in all areas of life. The first part of the story reports the attack and the preparation for the battle (8,9). The second part describes the battle and its outcome (10-13). The final section is the preservation of this event in the memory of Israel (14-16).

[17:8]  ² tn Heb “and Amalek came”; NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV “the Amalekites.”

[17:8]  ³ tn Or “fought with.”

[17:16]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[24:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he lifted up his oracle and said.” So also in vv. 21, 23.

[24:20]  ⁸ sn This probably means that it held first place, or it thought that it was “the first of the nations.” It was not the first, either in order or greatness.

[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).

[25:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “ the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[25:19]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.”

[25:19]  ¹² tn Or “from beneath the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[25:19]  ¹³ sn This command is fulfilled in 1 Sam 15:1-33.

[25:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “men.”

[25:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”

[25:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”

[15:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “what Amalek did to Israel, how he placed against him.”

[15:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.