Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>]

Amalek committed a religious sin of opposing the divine will.
I'd also suggest that nations are considered as a whole and immutable.
Indeed, this is how modern societies operate, as well: nations suffer wars
because of transgressions of a few, and past grievances come out.
The logic of fathers and sons is inapplicable to nations. Perhaps, it is
only applied to neighbors, as many other commandments. In other words,
individual responsibility works inside Israelite society, but not in outside
relations.

Vadim Cherny


> Here is the text I read in both Engish (NAS) and Hebrew:
>
> Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I will punish Amalek for what
> he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way
> while he was coming up from Egypt.
>
>  e&-r$) le) r&yl qelm( h&( -r$) te) yTdqP tw)bc hwhy rm)hK
>  .eyrcMm wtl(B jrDB  wl
>
> The idea of wiping out Amelek did not come from Saul but
> from Yahweh through Samuel to Saul.  The idea was that
> instead of just attacking Amelek as any other enemy, i.e.
> fighting the solders and leaving the non-combatants alone,
> everyone and everything would be attacked and destroyed.
> The justification for depatrue from normal practice was the
> sin Amelek had committed two hundred years earlier of
> attacking Isreal as they left Egypt.
>
> I certainly don't mean to offend but the text seems quite
> straight forward and unambiguous.
>
> Jack Tladatsi
>