Exodus 17:13

13 Yehoshua defeated `Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Exodus 17:13 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 17:13

And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of
the sword.
] Amalek being distinguished from "his people", has led some to think that Amalek was the name of the king, or general of the army, and that it was a common name to the kings of that nation, as Pharaoh was to the kings of Egypt; but for this there is no foundation in the Scriptures: as Amelek signifies the Amalekites, his people may design the confederates and auxiliaries, the other people, as Ben Gersom expresses it, they brought with them to fight against Israel. And so Jerom F26 says, by him another Canaanite dwelt, who also fought against Israel in the wilderness, of whom it is so written, and Amalek and the Canaanite dwelt in the valley, ( Numbers 14:25 ) and who were all, the one as the other, at least the greatest part of them, cut to pieces by the edge of the sword of Joshua and the Israelites, who obtained a complete victory over them; as the spiritual Israel of God will at last over all their spiritual enemies, sin, Satan, the world, and death.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 Ut supra. (De Locis Hebr. fol. 87. M.)

Exodus 17:13 In-Context

11 It happened, when Moshe held up his hand, that Yisra'el prevailed; and when he let down his hand, `Amalek prevailed.
12 But Moshe' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aharon and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset.
13 Yehoshua defeated `Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 The LORD said to Moshe, "Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Yehoshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of `Amalek from under the sky."
15 Moshe built an altar, and called the name of it the LORD our Banner
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.