25:17-19 - Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!
The Amalekites are not mentioned by name in any extra-biblical sources, leaving the Old Testament as our only source of information about this people, whose encounter with Israel is marked only by hostility. Israel is commanded here to remember what the Amalekites did to them on their way from Egypt (v17). The episode is probably to be identified with that recorded in Exo 17. Instead of showing hospitality, or even mere tolerance for Israel's transit, they attacked when Israel was "weary and worn out . . . [they] cut off all who were lagging behind" (v18). For their maliciousness, they are described as having "no fear of God." While GB may not be able to do anything about it at the moment, they are commanded never to forget what the Amalekites had done, and once settled in the land, they are to "blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven" (v19), extreme language to describe their extirpation. While the Amalekites continued to be a source of trouble for Israel when they were settling in the land (see, e.g., 1 Sam 15, 30) the name of Amalek ceased to be found in the annals of ancient Israel from the 10t h Cent BC onwards; they appeared to have assimilated into other groups identified by the generic name Arabs.
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2017