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Revision as of 10:39, 18 January 2004 by Sam Spade (talk | contribs) (rv of my rv, but keeping changes made since)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Amalek (Hebrew for dweller in a valley) was the son of Eliphaz and the grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:12; 1 Chr. 1:36); the chief of an Idumean tribe (Gen. 36:16). His mother was a Horite, a tribe whose territory the descendants of Esau had seized.
Amalek is also used as a name for the tribe of Amalekites, who predated Amalek the son of Eliphaz. The Amalekites existed in what would later be known as the Roman province Arabia Petraea as early as the time of Abraham (Gen. 14:7). In Babylonian inscriptions they are called Sute, in Egyptian Sittiu, and the Amarna tablets refer to them as Khabbati, or "plunderers." They are best known for attacking the Israelites shortly after the well-known events of the Exodus. This occurred at Rephidim (Ex. 17:8-13; comp. Deut. 25:17; 1 Sam. 15:2). "They dwelt in the land of the south...from Havilah until thou comest to Shur" (Num. 13:29; 1 Sam. 15:7). At times said to be allied with the Moabites (Judg. 3:13) and the Midianites (Judg. 6:3). Each of their kings bore the hereditary name of Agag (Num. 24:7; 1 Sam. 15:8). They also attacked the Israelites at Hormah (Num. 14:45). Saul defeated them utterly, but earned the wrath of God by sparing some for use as slaves, and failing to burn their treasures (1 Sam.).
The Biblical relationship between the Hebrew and Amalekite tribes was one of unmitigated enmity. "Go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass" (1 Sam. 15:3). The Jews manner of dealing with them was extreme, as they could be shown no mercy. Women and children were slain, and no slaves or gold could be taken from them. Rather all were killed, and their valuables were burned. "He betook himself to slay the women and the children, and thought he did not act therein either barbarously or inhumanly; first, because they were enemies whom he thus treated, and, in the next place, because it was done by the command of God, whom it was dangerous not to obey." (from Flavius Josephus Antiquities of the Jews Book VI, Chapter 7)
In Jewish tradition, the Amalekites came represent the archetypal enemy of the Jews. The term has been used to refer to enemies of Judaism throughout history, including the Romans, Nazis, and controversially, the Arabs. This last is particularly popular within modern right-wing Zionist groups. The concept has long been used by rabbis (particularly the Baal Shem Tov) to represent the rejection of God, or Atheism. Of the 613 mitzvot (commandments) followed by Orthodox Jews, three refer to the Amalekites: to remember what the Amalekites did to the Jews, to not forget what the Amalekites did to the Jews, and to destroy the Amalekites utterly. The rabbis derived these from Deut. 25:17-18, Exodus 17:14 and 1 Sam. 15:3. Rashi explains the third mitzvah: From man unto woman, from infant unto suckling, from ox unto sheep, so that the name of Amalek not be mentioned even with reference to an animal by saying "This animal belonged to Amalek".
Modern scholarship does not accept as proven the identification of the Amalekites with any group known from extra-Biblical sources and the majority opinion is that they are mythological.