War with the Amalekites

(Exodus 17:8 - 17:16)

Then, the Amalekites appeared and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.  Moses ordered Joshua, "Choose a company of fighting men, march them out, and engage the Amalekites in battle.  Tomorrow, I will be watching from the top of the hill with the divine staff in my hand."

Joshua did as Moses had told him and fought with the Amalekites, while Moses ascended the hill to observe the battle with Aaron and Hur.  When Moses kept his arms raised, Israel would prevail in the battle, but, if he let them down, the Amalekites would then start winning.  Moses’ arms soon became heavy with fatigue: a stone was then found to place under him so he could sit down on it.  Aaron and Hur, positioned on each side of him, held up his arms.  Thus, they were able to keep his arms raised until sunset.  And, by force of arms, Joshua was able to defeat the Amalekite forces and put them to flight.

Jehovah said to Moses, "Inscribe this in a book so it will be remembered -- and drum it into the ears of Joshua -- I will wipe out the memory of the Amalekites upon the earth!"

Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah-nissi [Jehovah is my banner], because, he said, “I have raised my arms to Jehovah’s banner, and so Jehovah will continue to wage war against the Amalekites from one generation to the next.” 

Notes
1.  Two new characters are introduced here without any real introduction.  One is Joshua, who assumes the role as the military commander of the Israelites.  The other is Hur, obviously a confidant of Moses and Aaron.  Joshua will figure prominently as a Hebrew leader.  (By the way, his name in Hebrew, Yehoshua, is the same as that of Jesus.)  Hur merits only a couple further mentions.  He has been identified as either the husband of Miriam or her son, but the Bible itself has nothing to say on the subject.

2.  The Israelites are now required to fight, having been attacked by the Amalekites.  Fight with what?  Where did their swords, spears, shields, and armor come from?  There is no record of them taking arms with them when they left Egypt, only a lot of looted jewelry and raiment.  With a day's notice, Joshua is able to raise an army, train and equip it, and fight a winning battle.  Amazing!

3.  Moses tells Joshua he will be watching the battle from the top of a hill with his staff in his hands.  This is the magical staff that summoned so many of the plagues back in Egypt and here in the desert had just been used to produce water from a rock.  Yet, when Moses is on the hill, no mention is made of the staff, only the arms of Moses, which, when raised, cause the Israelites to prevail in battle.  This is puzzling, considering the importance of the staff.  Did he have it in one of his hands, or in both?

4.  The Israelites can win the fight against the Amalekites only because Moses keeps his arms raised.  There is a recurring theme here.  Left to their own devices, the people of Israel are ever doomed.  They are continually dependent upon magic and miracles and the help of Jehovah for everything, their freedom, victory in battle, their next meal.  It is never their integrity and character, their intelligence, imagination, and resourcefulness, their courage and determination that brings them success of any sort. They are never rewarded for their own efforts, but must receive as a blessing from their god all that they have.  And these blessings come with a price, their dedication and obedience to Jehovah, for they are no longer slaves to Egypt, but slaves to Jehovah.

5.  There is a promise that the Israelites will forever be at war with the Amalekites.  One presumes that the Amalekites initiated hostilities because the Israelites were encroaching upon their land, which, from the standpoint of Jehovah, is despicable.  If these Amalekites are such a bad lot and going to be such a thorn in the side of the Israelites, why doesn't Jehovah simply dispose of them right now?  He had no qualms about annihilating every firstborn Egyptian, presumably millions of people, in a single night -- an epic act of mass murder!  (And he was able to do it with a dispatch that the Nazi perpetrators of the Jewish genocide would have envied.)  Why doesn't he at least send a few little plagues against them, give them bedbugs, cause their hair to fall out, or make their milk sour, or something?  And, if he really wants the memory of the Amalekites to be erased from human history, why does he order Moses to write about them and chronicle their evil deeds for posterity?

6.  The Amalekites are generally taken to be the descendants of Amalek, Esau’s grandson and the son of Eliphaz, and were a nomadic tribe of Sinai and the Negez who became, over the course of many centuries, the archenemies and nemesis of the Hebrew people.   This origin was challenged, even in ancient times, and there is a view that the Amalekites may have existed in the region earlier, during the days of Abraham.  Many later peoples, the Armenians, the Germans, and, more recently, the Palestinians, have been identified with the Amalekites.