Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Dear Chris,

In the Jewish tradition, Amalek represents all those of Israel's enemies
from Haman to Hitler, who act out of pure hate and malice. The passage from
Deut. 25 (remembering to erase the memory of Amalek) is a positive
commandment, to be performed at all times. It was the basis of Samuel's
command to Saul to attack and annihilate Amalek (1 Sam. 15:2-3). Saul,
however, had mercy on Agag, king of Amalek, and Samuel had to finish the job
himself. This Agag managed to use this time to father a child (don't look
for that in the Bible) and eventually became the ancestor of Haman the
Agagite, the villain of the book of Esther. Israel's later enemies, from
Rome to Arafat, are heirs of Amalek in a more spiritual sense. Every year,
on the Sabbath before Purim (the festival which celebrates the events told
in the book of Esther), the passage from Deut. 25 is read in the synagogue,
and every Jew is expected to make a special effort to come and hear. On
Purim itself, the book of Esther is read aloud, and whenever Haman's name is
mentioned, the audience use noisemakers, cap guns, stomp their feet or
whatever, in order to drown out the sound of his name, thus "erasing his
memory".

Yigal
----- Original Message -----
From: "wattswestmaas" <wattswestmaas AT eircom.net>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 9:05 PM
Subject: [b-hebrew] RE: Amalek


>
> HH: The statement to remember Amalek is explained:
>
> Deut. 25:17 6 Remember what the Amalekites did to
> you along the way when you came out of Egypt.
> Deut. 25:18 When you were weary and worn out,
> they met you on your journey and cut off all who
> were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.
> Deut. 25:19 When the LORD your God gives you rest
> from all the enemies around you in the land he is
> giving you to possess as an inheritance, you
> shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under
> heaven. Do not forget!
>
> HH: The reason Israel is to remember Amalek is so
> that they will destroy them later when they are
> in a position to do so. God wants to judge
> Amalek. By destroying them Israel will as a
> result be instrumental in the memory of them
> fading.
>
> Yours,
> Harold Holmyard
>
>
> -Yes but God himself has said that He would have war with Amalek from
> generation to generation,  and also Balaam's utterances are clearly quite
> profound about Amalek.  Harold I would never have put this topic on the
list
> if it was so simple as that.  Amalek represents far more than a mere
nation.
>
> Thankyou for your comments on the other question by the way.
>
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