Amalekites (Heb. Amaleq; Vulgate [Septuagint] Amalec and Amalecites)

AMALECITI (Hebr. Amaleq; Vulgate [with the Septuagint] Amalec and Amalecites). — A Semitic nomadic people, inhabiting the desert regions between northern Sinai and southern Palestine (Negeb), mentioned in the Bible from the time of Abraham to that of Hezekiah; they do not appear in extrabiblical documents. From the Sinai Peninsula, north of Sinai, they bordered Egypt to the west; to the northeast they extended into the territory of the Edomites (southern Palestine), and to the east into that of the Moabites (from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Elanitic). Only once is one of their cities mentioned (I Sam. 15:5). A group of A. seems to have infiltrated peacefully as far as the territory of the tribe of Ephraim, giving its name to the mountain on which the city of Pharathon stood (Iude. 12:15; cf. 5:14), Abdon (v.).

In Gen. 36:12, 16, 22, an Amaleq, son of Eliphaz and grandson of Esau, is mentioned as one of the progenitors

of the Edomite tribes; but he is not the ancestor of the A., since they existed earlier. Their remote antiquity is indicated in Num. 24:20: “Amaleq is the first of the nations”; I Reg. 27:8: “they dwelt from ancient times (mē-'ōlām) from Sur to the land of Egypt.” And whereas the Edomites were to be spared by the Hebrews (cf. Deut. 2:4-8), the A. were subject to the herem (v.), that is, they were devoted to destruction, and the war against them was holy (Ex. 17:4, 16; Deut. 25:19; I Sam. 15).

Warlike, the A. appear for the first time at the time of the expedition of the Elamite Chodorlahomor and three other eastern kings, who, “having come to 'En-Mishpat, which is Cades, struck the entire territory of the A.” (Gen. 14:7). At the time of the exodus from Egypt, at Raphidim (v.), northwest of Sinai, the Hebrews, attacked by hordes of A. raiders, defeated them after a fierce battle through the power of Moses’ prayer (Ex. 17:8-16). The following year, when, contrary to Moses’ prohibition, the Israelites wished to cross the territory of the A. in order to enter Palestine directly from Cades, the A., together with the Canaanites, defeated them and pursued them as far as Horma (Num. 14:40-45).

At the time of the Judges, contingents of A. appear in aid of the Moabites and Midianites (Iud. 3:13; 6:3-33 and 7:12) in guerrilla warfare against the Israelites. But only at the time of Saul did the Hebrews conduct a full-scale struggle against these ancient enemies. Saul defeated them, Agag (v.), “from Hevila to Sur opposite Egypt,” almost completely destroying them (I Sam. 15:2-9). David too, first at the command of the Philistine king Achis (I Sam. 27:8), and then in order to recover the captives (I Sam. 30:1-20), led victorious expeditions against the A. from Siceleg. Finally, at the time of Ezechia, “five hundred men of the tribe of Simeon went to Mount Seir and struck the remnant of the surviving A.,” taking possession of their territory (I Par. 4:42). From the 8th century B.C. the A. disappear as a people; their remnants must have merged with the neighboring populations.