Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 12/07/2004 15:29, Harold R. Holmyard III wrote:

> ...
>
> 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.


Surely there is more to "blotting out the memory" than simply allowing 
them to be forgotten - something which hasn't happened, and would in 
fact have been more likely to happen if Moses had not commanded them to 
be remembered! I expect that the meaning is in fact in this context more 
like terminating their family line, with "memory" as a metonymy for 
"posterity". In fact there may be a deliberate play on words between 
ZEKER "memory", the word used in Deut 25:19, and ZAKAR "male". The 
thought is obviously similar to 1 Kings 14:10 although the exact words 
are different.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/