In the OT the term Amalekites is used as a collective noun to refer to the descendants of Amalek. What is uncertain, however, is whether two different groups of people are referred to, or one. Israel's first encounter with the Amalekites occurred on their way out of Egypt when the latter attacked them at Rephidim in the Sinai wilderness (Exo 17:8-16). This attack was viewed as so contrary to right behaviour that the Lord swore to "completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven" (v14).
The Amalekites is mentioned for the first time in Gen 14:7, when the coalition led by Kedorlaomer made war against those who had rebelled against him.
According to Gen 36:12, however, Amalek was the grandson of Esau, the son of Eliphaz. This would make the descendants of this Amalek later than—and, therefore, distinct from—the Amalekites of Gen 14:7.
Those who believe that only one group of Amalekites is meant resolves this puzzle by suggesting that the term 'Amalekites' in Gen 14:7 is a later editorial description.
The Amalekites seemed to have been a people of some fame. According to Balaam, engaged by Balak to curse Israel, Amalek "was first among the nations" though "he will come to ruin at last" (Num 24:20). They remained a thorn in Israel's side throughout much of their time they were settling in Palestine. It was in part due to Saul's failure to destroy their king Agag that earned him the sharp rebuke from Samuel (1 Sam 15). The last we hear of the Amalekites in the Bible was when Pelatiah led a group of five hundred Simeonites and invaded their territory in the hill country of Seir in the time of King Hezekiah (1 Chr 4:43). They appeared to have assimilated into other groups identified by the generic name Arabs and vanished from history as a distinct people, thus fulfilling Yahweh's oath of Exo 17:14.
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