And there is a valid argument to be made that Israel isnt doing a good enough job of defense. Its the second-most-drawn-out miracle in the Old Testament4. Centenary year of the Scouting movement. also Judg 10:12). Elams king has an amazing name: Chedorlaomer., Youre not expected to know what an Abiezrite is or where Ophrah is. Ishmaelites were recorded as the descendants of Ishmael in the Bible. He asks for a miracle. Along came an irresponsible man and jumped headlong into it! This means that we cannot point at any one nation and say that they are Amalek. And if you think that is enough, the Torah goes on to say that every animal belonging to Amalek needs to be put to death. The narrative of wiping out the remembrance of Amalek is so important that women, who are normally not obligated in the weekly Torah reading, are obligated to come . . Amalek came to kill Israel after they saw all the wonders Hashem did for us when we came out of Egypt., The Torah says they came upon us by happenstance., How, undeterred by fear of Hashem, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear. 22 Feb 2007. Next, the Amalekite who claimed he had finished killing Saul (cf. A summary of Davids conquests of Amalek is given in 2 Samuel 8:12 and 1 Chronicles 18:11. Amalek, on the other hand, despises the moral values in our Constitution, loathes the protections of the individual and seeks to destroy the opportunities that create our well-being and wealth. In fact, for millennia Amalek has stood for the archetypal enemies of the Jews, so that whatever nation was oppressing the Jews at any time was associated with Amalek. [7] This role appears in several stories: In Genesis 14:7, the "field of the Amalekites" is mentioned, though the person Amalek had not yet been born. By tradition, the Amalekites were the descendants of the Edomite, Amalek, himself the grandson of Esauunless you are Arabian, in which case Amalek was the grandson of another Amalek who was also the Chief of the Amalekites, which was in fact, just another name for the Canaanites. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Can we reconcile with our eternal sworn enemies? This can be compared to a bathtub of boiling water into which no living creature could descend. "Timna was a concubine to Elifaz, son of Esau, and she bore Amalek to Elifaz." Some verses later, we are told more about Timna's background. It is clear to me that the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah may not genetically be the descendants of Amalek, but ideologically, they are one and the same. For less than $5/mo. Joshua and Caleb scout out the promised land and identify its inhabitants, which include Amalek (Numbers 13:29), and God turns them away from that land and into the wilderness (Numbers 14:25). Gideon was an Abiezrite of the tribe of Manasseh who lived in Ophrah2. Whoever goes in the ways of Amalek will most certainly be wiped out., Amalek: Preventing the Jews From Settling Israel. This is seen in Judges 3:12-14 in the account of how Eglon, the king of Moab, collected the forces of the Amalekites and the Ammonites and defeated Israel and took the city of palms (evidently Jericho, cf. The Amalekites seem to have been descendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:12).They separated themselves off from the other Edomites at an early date, and became the predominant tribe in the more northern parts of the Sinaitic peninsula, claiming and exercising a sovereignty over the whole of the desert country between the borders of Palestine . And therefore, God commanded the Israelites to wipe out the memory of Amalek. [8] One modern scholar believes this attests to Amalek's high antiquity,[9] while traditional commentator Rashi states: "He came before all of them to make war with Israel". They want to oust Mort Klein of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) because he dared to point out Black Lives Matter's Jew hatred and hatred of Israel. When Moses holds his hands up, Joshua wins; when Moses gets tired and lets his hands down, Joshua loses. AMALEK m lk, AMALEKITES m l k ts (, ; Gr , ). . For an Rabbanic explanation of Timna lineage see. read in Amalek. Judges 6:3, 33; 7:12 depict the Amalekites joining forces with the Midianites (who seem to have wandered in the area of Sinai [Exod 4:19] and wilderness E of Paran [1 Kings 11:18]; and also in the territory E of Gilead [Judg 8:4-12]), and making camel raids against the agriculture communities of Israel as far S as Gaza (6:3, 4). It is also a concept and a spiritual reality. Saul fought a war with King Agog, a descendant of Amalek, and was commanded to kill him, but didn't, out of pity. Not surprisingly, many rabbis and scholars identified the Nazis with Amalek beginning in the 1930s. Astonishingly, even those allegedly versed in Judaism are in denial about BLM. Gideon calls together an armynot just from Manasseh, but from the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali and Asher, too. Israel rebelled. [13] However, it is possible that some of the fortified settlements in the Negev highlands and even Tel Masos (near Beer-sheba) have Amalek connections. They reject discussion and other opinions. 4. We have many reasonable accounts of Amalek in Scripture, from Genesis to Psalms, that we have no reason to disbelieve and every reason to believe. . Israel is, quite simply, visual and undeniable proof that God rules the world. 25:19 Wipe out the descendants of Amalek There is no real purebred Amalek today since, according to the Talmud, King Sennacherib mixed up the nations, Rabbi Winston told, . Further, in their song (Judg 5:14) Deborah (who was from Ephraim, 4:5) and Barak speak of how Ephraim had shown strength in rooting out those of the Amalekites who were in its midst (cf. Although the son of a concubine, he nonetheless became head of a significant tribe, which in later times distinguished itself as a ruthless enemy of Israel. Ishmael was the elder brother of Isaac. The Amalekites were descendants of Esau's grandson, Amalek. The holiday where Queen Esther saved the Jewish people of Persia from being wiped out by the wicked Haman. Oh yeah? God tells Samuel that Sauls disobedience spells the end of his reign, and Samuel raises a lament to Saul. It goes like this. 15-33. It also means that Amalek has gotten mixed into the other nations and a little bit of Amalek is in everyone., Amalek is more than a physical people. Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, also known as Reuel, was "the priest of Midian " and a Kenite ( Judges 1:16 ). ", Rabbi Buchman cites the book Why the Jews authored by Prager and Telushkin which has a chapter on "Non-Jewish" Jews, from Marx to Chomsky. This demonstrates again Israels strong antipathy to Amalek. [4] Amalek is described as the "chief of Amalek" among the "chiefs of the sons of Esau",[5] from which it is surmised that he ruled a clan or territory named after him. Agag was the king of Amalek (1 Sam. Remember how He swore to blot out the memory of Amalek? Also connect with us for sale and purchase of websites. An expression denoting heat and cold (). In Judaism, the Amalekites came to represent the archetypal enemy of the Jews. They were saying that there is no room in this world for a covenant with God., Liberalism claims to be the avenger of justice and truth. God has made His point, so Gideon calls out the Ephraimites to join his pursuit. Which suits God just fine. Sure enough, Saul is defeated by the Philistines, but when Saul is injured, the man who ultimately kills him and takes his crown is an Amalekite (2 Samuel 1:810). The prophet Samuel tells Saul that God wants him to destroy the Amalekites for the way they treated Israel on its way out of Egypt. Hes still not getting the whole God of Angel Armies thing. That does not make them from Amalek but it is a trait of Amalek., Amalek wants life to be forfeit. When they joined the Midianites to invade Israel they came "with their cattle and their tents" ( Judges 6:3-5 ). Moses goes on to command that for this wicked treatment of an oppressed people, Israel later, when in the land of Canaan, was to exterminate the Amalekites (Deut 25:19). Haman was probably a descendant . Girl Child -Still a Burden for Indian Wives? Regarding the Sages statement that the descendants of Haman learned Torah in B'nei Brak, according to this opinion, it occurred out of error, for the Beit Din was unaware that the person coming to convert was from the seed of Amalek, and thus accepted him, and after having already been accepted, they did not reject him (Yeshuot Malko). Amalek's spirit has continued through the millenniaits viciousness culminating in the Shoa. However, this will most certainly be the beginning of the end, if Jews stoop to the level of Amalek and attack those weaker than us, without the pretext and rules of war. Anyway, God has work for Gideon. For Amalekites in the Book of Mormon, see, Commandment to exterminate the Amalekites, Religious and modern scholarly discussion. [47], In addition, the Amalekites, as a physical nation, have been extinct since the time of Hezekiah's reign, according to the Hebrew Bible. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) And where are all the miracles? According to the midrash (homiletic teachings), after killing Jewish men, Amalek cut off the brit milah (circumcision) of the male Jewish casualties and threw them up at heaven. First and foremost, Amalek is doubt in divine providence. 25:19 Not to forget Amalek's atrocities and ambush on our journey from Egypt in the desert, Some commentators have discussed the ethical deficiency of the commandment to exterminate all the Amalekites, especially including the command to kill children, and the presumption of collective punishment. The RSV in Judges 5:14 wrongly changes the words in Amalek to into the valley, although that v. indicates in a footnote that the Heb. In Esther, the Jew-hating Haman is called "the Agagite" (Esther 3:1). Rabbi Dayan played a. central role in so-called death curse ceremonies, or Pulsa diNura, aimed at Yitzhak Rabin and Ariel Sharon as a punishment for their giving up portions of Israel and dealing with murderers of Jews. Well, according to biblical scholar Matthew Henry, "The Amalekites were probably descendants of Esau (Genesis 36:12), and so enemies of Isaac's family." In other words, they were enemies of God's chosen people from the very beginning. [7] In the oracle of Balaam, Amalek was called the 'first of the nations'. Thats the spirit! Deuteronomy 25:18. On the other, the five kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (Zoar). They are leading a meaningless existence. Etymology [ edit] In some rabbinical interpretations, Amalek is etymologised as am lak, 'a people who lick (blood)', [2] but most specialists regard the origin to be unknown. Evidently the Amalekites had some cities, as this one, in which they sometimes settled, and possibly fulfilled religious obligations as has been shown was the case of nomadic tribes in the Trans-Jordan in connection with a 15th cent. The Nazis clearly did this. An ancient empire oppressing the Jews, a young virgin, a descendant of Israels kings, a murder that didnt quite take, a permanent yearly celebration of life is Esther an Advent story? Ultimately, liberalism is idolatry. Exodus 17:14-16 ESV. It should be mandatory reading at the Shabbat table. They were among the nomadic raiders defeated by Gideon and were condemned to annihilation by Samuel. Gideon, not convinced by an angel, this second miracle, and a dream from God, wants more. The story of Amalek and the kings of Israel is very much like the stories of Moab and Ammon. I want it becomes more important than anything. In it, he referred to Hamas as "the seed of Amalek." Amalek was the grandson of Esau whose descendants became a nation infamous for attacking the Hebrews after they came out of Egypt. in Madison, Wisconsin, ofCol. Hans Christian Heg, an immigrant from Norway who died fighting for the Union against slavery. The Amalekites never existed, and the stories in Scripture are entirely mythological. Concerning further harassment Moses recounts how, in Israels journey from Egypt, Amalek, with no fear of God, attacked their rear guard and cut off those who became physically weak (Deut 25:17, 18). Rabbi Dayan played a central role in so-called death curse ceremonies, or Pulsa diNura, aimed at Yitzhak Rabin and Ariel Sharon as a punishment for their giving up portions of Israel and dealing with murderers of Jews. The Amalekites presumably return to their homeland, embarrassed, to lick their wounds. Abraham was given the strength to conquer Amalek through the test of offering up Isaac, by putting aside his emotions to do the will of God. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or the territories of Amalek, which they inhabited. Not just defeat them, but destroy every man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey (1 Samuel 15:13). Streicher assumed that the origin of the Aryan race was in Persia, with a connection to the descendants of the Amalekites, who were the worst enemies of the Jewish people. Jews are confusing genuine justice with social justice. Thus, the continuing oppressive spirit of this pagan nomadic tribe required a different treatment by the Lord from that which was to be normally carried out; namely, that terms of peace be first offered to a potential enemy (Deut 20:10-12). Saul not only fails to kill Agag, but he also keeps all the best livestock alive and takes it for himself. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. Who are the descendants of Ishmael? Thursday evening marks the holiday of Purim. The story we remind ourselves of each year, by reading Parshah Zachor, is that of the attack of the Amalekites, who are the descendants of Eliphaz, son of Esau (the patriarch Jacob's brother and sworn enemy) and his concubine Timna. The Arabians mention Imlik, Amalik, or Ameleka among the aborigines of Arabia, the remains of which were mingled with the descendants of Qahtan (Joktan) and Adnan and became Mostarabs or Mocarabes, that is, Arabians mixed with foreigners. The district over which they ranged was south of Judah and probably extended into northern Arabia. Rabbi Berger quoted Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, an 11th century French Torah scholar who is known by the acronym Rashi, who explained the verse. Marilyn Wind, President, MERCAZ USA; Sheila Katz, CEO, National Council of Jewish Women; Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, Chief Executive, Rabbinical Assembly; Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President, Union of Reform Judaism; Leslie Lichter, Interim CEO, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism; Rabbi Marla Feldman, Executive Director, Women of Reform Judaism; Rabbi Hara Person, Chief Executive, Central Conference of American Rabbis; and, Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields, Executive Director, Women's League for Conservative Judaism, Moreover, in 2017 progressive Jews released an open letter in defense of anti-Semite Linda Sarsour this, despite Sarsour's praise for Nation of Islam leader and rabid anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, and the claim that "sharia law is reasonable.". Rabbi Yosef Berger, the rabbi of King Davids Tomb on Mount Zion, believes that Amalek exists in the world today, in individuals and also in nations. Judg 12:15 and remarks earlier). Which must have been a weird dream for them, and an even weirder interpretation, but their conversation encourages Gideon. However, the timeline gets confused immediately, because the name Amalekite shows up long before Esau does. Caroline Glick exposes the hypocrisy of far-Left Jewish organizations who deliberately choose to ignore the hatred and anti-Semitism of Black Lives Matter. Near the beginning of this period, King Eglon of Moab ruled Israel for eighteen years. Amalek is described as the "chief of Amalek" among the "chiefs of the sons of Esau," from which it is assumed that he ruled a clan or territory named after him (Genesis 36:15). Iran is willing to destroy their economy, they are willing to destroy their own country, just to convince the other Arab nations to attack Israel. Saul fought a war with King Agog, a descendant of Amalek, and was commanded to kill him, but didnt, out of pity. Eventually, Mosess brother Aaron and a man named Hur hold Mosess hands up for him, and Israel wins the day. Who Was Amalek Eliphaz, son of Esau (the patriarch Jacob 's brother and sworn enemy), and his concubine Timna had a child named Amalek. The Amalekites, descended from Amalek, a grandson of Esau, fall naturally into the anti-Israel alliance. d. In the time of David. But why did he do it? This curse begins the forty years of wandering, making sure an entire generation dies before they reach the land God gave Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. At the same time, an extremist rabbi has called for revenge attacks on Arabs, a protest of right-wing settlers turned into an attempt to bring down the home of the Mercaz HaRav terrorist, and a prominent Haredi rabbi, known for his legal decisions, issued a ruling that yeshivot (learning centers) have to fire the Arabs working for them, and already the ruling has begun being followed. Jealousy and its precipitous hatred for the Jews and Judeo-Christian America unite them. and Gr. Gideon and Purah overhear some soldiers talking about a dream, and the soldiers correctly interpret the dream to mean Gideon will destroy them. Zogby's initiatives promoted Jews as privileged 'whites.' (This is the same God who defeats enemies before Israels army even gets there.). Davids initial encounter with the Amalekites, in the OT record, took place during the time of his association with Achish, king of Gath, when the young Israelite made raids in the S against the Amalekites and others (1 Sam 27:8). They spread out around the camp, and on Gideons signal, they all smash their jars and blow their trumpets and light their torches and yell! The commandment to kill Amalekites is not practised by contemporary Jews, based on the argument that Sennacherib deported and mixed the nations, so it is no longer possible to determine who is an Amalekite. By the time he catches up with the enemy, there are only 15,000 left of the 135,000 who had originally gone to war against Israel. Among the victims of the four kings during this war was all the country of the Amalekites (Genesis 14:17). Hamas is clearly this way. How did he defeat Israel? The rabbis derived these from Deuteronomy 25:1718, Exodus 17:14 and 1 Samuel 15:3. At this place, following the Amalekite attack, Israel defeated her enemy (Exod 17:8-16). [46], Maimonides explains that the commandment to destroy the nation of Amalek requires the Jewish people to peacefully request that they accept upon themselves the Seven Laws of Noah and pay a tax to the Jewish kingdom. She replied she would rather be a handmaiden to the dregs of this nation than be the mistress of another Nation; to punish the Patriarchs for the affront they had made her, she was made the mother of Amalek, whose descendants would cause Israel much distress. For example, Rabbi Hayim Palaggi stated: We can rely on the maxim that in ancient times, Sennacherib confused the lineage of many nations. This was because Haman was considered to be an Amalekite although this label is more likely to be symbolic rather than literal.[33][34][35]. A tribe dwelling originally in the region south of Judah, the wilderness of et-Tih where the Israelites came into conflict with them. Their radical Islamic allies never stop in their all-consuming desire to create a global caliphate. Hence, Streicher's yell, "Purim Fest 1946!" Purim's historical background: get answers to your Bible questions from 50+ resources ($2,400+ value! For Sauls failure to fulfill completely the divine command, Samuel announced to the monarch the Lords rejection of him as king (1 Sam 15:10-23). 15:8). He was the youngest son of his father Joash and part of the smallest family in Manasseh, which was not exactly the dominant tribe in Israel. The Amalekites were a people of the Negev and adjoining desert that were a hereditary enemy of Israel from wilderness times to the early monarchy. 12; compare Timnah as name of an Edomite chief or clan, verse 40). Rabbi Yosef Dayan, a member of the nascent Sanhedrin, is unafraid to make difficult judgments with dire consequences. The book of Genesis was written down long after all of these events took place, and the people who heard it or read it would have immediately known where the Amalekites lived, which makes their name a convenient shorthand for their geography. Dear Reader take a moment and substitute the word America for the word Israel, and you will begin to see the trajectory of this article. Valerie Sobel emphatically points out what the Democratic Party has become in her "Dear Jewish American Leftists: It's Time for a Talk." But far too many Jewish organizations have given over their souls to the Red/Green alliance. They want the IDF to attack, as long as it means bad for Israel. [51], Theologian Charles Ellicott explains that the Amalekites were subject to cherem in the Book of Samuel for the purposes of incapacitation, due to their 'accursed' nature and the threat they posed to the commonwealth of surrounding nations. Therefore, Haman and his sons were Amalekites. C. David drove the Amalekites out of Negev into transjordan Edomite territory at Mt. Hadar Susskind, President and CEO, Americans for Peace Now; Rabbi Bennett Miller, National Chair, ARZA; Stuart Applebaum, President, Jewish Labor Committee; Meredith Jacobs, CEO, Jewish Women International; Janet Gurvitch, President, Na'amat USA; Thus, in 1 Samuel 15:3, it was considered necessary to destroy the livestock in order to destroy Amalek.[28]. [29] Groups identified with Amalek include the Romans, Nazis, Stalinists, ISIS, Palestinians[30] and bellicose Iranian leaders such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[31][32]. But each person must ask himself if he has the traits of Amalek., Amalek is a symbol, it is a character trait. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. Amalek resides in our society. But this one,came forward and started and showed the way to others. The police are warning that this week marks 40 days after Mugniyah was killed in Syria an event that Hizbollah attributes to Israel and are on high alert for revenge attacks on Israel. This can be Jews or non-Jews. David pursued the Amalekites, defeated all but four hundred of them, and took back all that had been stolen (1 Samuel 30:17-20). In Genesis 36:12 , we are introduced to Amalek 's parents. Early history. The shepherd boy who doesnt see an angel also doesnt compose a song about it. Then the future king, through the help of an abandoned Egyp. The Amalekites seem to have been fairly well controlled under the monarchy, for the OT does not mention them again until the time of Hezekiah (c. 700 b.c.) When God in judgment withdrew His hand of blessing and ordered them to go back S into the wilderness (14:1-25), the people again disobeyed God, and with their own feeble effort attacked the Amalekites. Origen of Alexandria is sometimes cited as having viewed the herem passages allegorically; Hofreiter argues that although Origen viewed a spiritual interpretation as having primary importance to Christians, he did not deny that the herem passages described historical events.[54]. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. Some of the ancestral connections are more obvious than others. Certainly, "chaos is the order of the day throughout the entire democratic world. Usually angels start off with Do not fear! But, as will become clear, Gideon did not have this problem, so this angel starts with The Lord is with you. And like hes talking to his brother and not a celestial being of unimaginable power, Gideon fires back. This can be the United Nations or even movements like BDS (Boycott Divest Sanctions). Judaism, which is based on the chesed (loving kindness) of Abraham, is intellect over emotions., Amalek: Leading the Nations to Hate Israel. Answer Ishmael was a son of Abraham, born of Sarah's maidservant Hagar in an attempt to bring into the world the son God had promised to Abraham and Sarah. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. This commandment requires killing all the men, women, and children, anywhere and at any time. So God sets about decimating Gideons army to make sure nobody can claim they did it on their own without Gods help. In an ideal time, it should be an extended party that would make any frat boy jealous! Without direct divine guidance, it is impossible to say with certainty who is Amalek, Berger told Breaking Israel News. Therefore, it is forbidden to perform the commandment. But wait, if this war happened while Abraham and Lot were still alive this was two generations before Jacob and Esau, which means it was four generations before Amalek was even born! Many prosperous people will join in for the greatest jealousy is of virtue, and even the rich and famous are infested with it. It seems like angels just appear to everybody in Scripture, but thats because those are the stories worth telling. [3] 600 Deut. Follow Christ's journey to the Cross. . This is seen by observing the Kenites who lived with the Amalekites at the city of Amalek (1 Sam 15:5, 6) and that they earlier had taken up this residence with the people in the region of the Negeb near Arad (Judg 1:16), which was only about twenty m. S of Hebron. [20], By the 19th century, there was strong support by Western theologians for the idea that the nation of Amalek could have flourished before the time of Abraham. "plan to undermine the Jewish community in America by organizing the Left here againstIsrael's 'oppression' of Palestinians.". Therefore, the archaeologist and historian Hugo Winckler suggested in 1895 that there were never any such people and the Biblical stories concerning them are entirely mythological and ahistorical. Amalek, a son of Esau's son Eliphaz, was presumably the eponymous ancestor of the Amalekites.