Battle with Amalek

Who is Amalek/Amalekites?

There was an Amalek, son of Eliphaz and grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:9–12), suggesting that they were a clan of the Edomites. But the Amalekites already appear much earlier, in the lifetime of Abraham and well before the birth of Esau (Gen. 14:7). (Garrett) They are mentioned to be one of the earliest nations in the oracles of Baalam (Num. 24:20)

Amalekites lived in the Negev, south of Israel (Num. 13:29), and in Ishmaelite territory in western Arabia, between Havilah and Shur (1 Sam. 15:7).

They have a long history with the Israelites. They are mentioned as tribes from the desert in Judges, they fought with Saul and cost him his crown (1 Sam. 15:20-26). They Fought with David and throughout Israelite history.

It is unclear as to whether they were descendants of Amalek, the great-great-grandson of Abraham (son of Esau), but even if they were not they are certainly the same pirate-like outlaw group that raid in the south Arabah region.

Instruction for Battle

What is Joshua doing?

Leading in battle through a grueling and physical fight.

What is Moses doing?

There is no indication that Moses seeks a revelation from God about how best to handle the situation.

He does not ask, “What am I to do with these Amalekites?” Rather, he sizes up the situation and acts independently or intuitively. That suggests to Coats (1975: 37) that Moses acts more as a hero than as a man of God in this particular episode.

I am not so sure. As Goldingay (2003: 344–45) has said, “Perhaps there are times for consulting God and times for taking action with the power God has given you.”

Hur’s grandson, Bezalel, is the foreman overseeing the tabernacle’s construction

In his instructions to Joshua, Moses does not specify why he is going to the top of the hill with the rod in his hand.

Interestingly the word choice is different here than what is described as God standing on the rock in the previous.

From the historical context of the plagues of Egypt and the crossing of the Yam Suph, however, both Joshua and the reader understand that Moses, by means of the rod, will invoke divine power against the Amalekites as he watches the battle.

This divine power comes in the form of Moses holding up his arms as it affects the outcome of the battle.

This is the most prominent feature of this narrative is Moses’ upholding of the staff. Victory, for Israel, is from God. It is not a matter of having the stronger army.

This clearly communicates God’s favor, and Moses cannot be the hero, nor Joshua for that matter, because Joshua needed help from Moses and Moses is dependent upon Aaron and Hur.

What Aaron and Hur do for Moses is the ministry of believer to believer. Aaron and Hur certainly need Moses, but even Moses needs an Aaron and a Hur.

The assistance given by Aaron and Hur to Moses implies that even in spiritual conflict, one needs the assistance of others. Obviously what made Moses’s arms heavy was gravity, and the only thing that Aaron and Hur actually did was hold up his arms. But the image is an apt metaphor for one man, in a spiritual conflict, being supported by others.

There may be, however, another (indirect) NT connection. The Septuagint’s translation of “support” in “Aaron and Hur would support his hands” uses stērizō. This verb occurs in the NT for somebody “strengthening” somebody else

What is God doing?

This is revealed by what God says.

The long-term outcome of the battle is that Israel is eternally at war with Amalek. YHWH will obliterate Amalek, but this is not merely a prediction about divine activity. It is a charge that Israel must give no quarter to the Amalekites.

Amalek’s attack upon Israel was reckless folly. They become Israel’s eternal enemies and placed themselves and all their offspring under God’s curse. Acts of evil can have terrible and long-term repercussions.

He is remembered in the construction of an altar

Moses does not build this altar in anticipation of what God might do, but in response to what God has done (which is usual).

For Houtman (1989: 116–18), “on top of the throne of Yah(weh)” in v. 16 is the same as “on top of the hill” in v. 9 (ʿal-kēs yāh in v. 16; ʿal-rōʾš haggibʿâ in v. 9). On the peak of the hill, Moses is privy to God’s immediate presence, as he will be when he ascends to the peak of a much higher place in chap. 19.