Exodus 17:8-16

Battle with the Amalekites

8 And Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.

9 And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us, and go out, fight against Amalek tomorrow. I [will be] standing on the top of the hill, and the staff of God [will be] in my hand."

10 And Joshua did as Moses had said to him to fight with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up [to] the top of the hill.

11 And when Moses raised his hand, Israel would prevail, but when he rested his hand, Amalek would prevail.

12 But the hands of Moses [were] heavy, and they took a stone and placed it under him, and he sat on it; Aaron and Hur supported his hands, {one on each side}, and his hands [were] steady until {sundown}.

13 And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with [the] {edge of the sword}.

14 And Yahweh said to Moses, "Write this [as] a memorial in the scroll and {recite it in the hearing of} Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens."

15 And Moses built an altar, and he called its name Yahweh [Is] My Banner.

16 And he said, "Because a hand [was] against the throne of Yah, a war [will be] for Yahweh with Amalek from generation [to] generation."

Exodus 17:8-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 17

The children of Israel coming to Rephidim, want water, and chide with Moses about it, who, crying to the Lord, is bid to smite the rock, from whence came water for them, and he named the place from their contention with him, Ex 17:1-7 at this place Amalek came and fought with Israel, who, through the prayer of Moses, signified by the holding up of his hands, and by the sword of Joshua, was vanquished, Ex 17:8-13, for the remembrance of which it was ordered to be recorded in a book, and an altar was built with this inscription on it, "Jehovahnissi": it being the will of God that Amalek should be fought with in every generation until utterly destroyed, Ex 17:14-16.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "and it would be"
• [b]. Or "one on one side and one on the other"; literally "one from this and one from this"
• [c]. Literally "the coming in of the sun"
• [d]. Literally "mouth of [the] sword"
• [e]. Literally "and put in the ears of"
• [f]. Or "indeed a hand on the throne of Yah"; the phrase is unclear