Exodus 17:8

Nova Vulgata

Venit autem Amalec et pugnabat contra Israel in Raphidim.

Parallel Translations

Clementine Latin Vulgate (1592)
Daboque tibi et semini tuo terram peregrinationis tuæ, omnem terram Chanaan in possessionem æternam, eroque Deus eorum.

Jerome's Latin Vulgate (405)
Venit autem Amalec, et pugnabat contra Israël in Raphidim.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Genesis 36:12, Genesis 36:16, Numbers 24:20, Deuteronomy 25:17, 1 Samuel 15:2, 1 Samuel 30:1, Psalms 83:7

Reciprocal: Genesis 14:7 - Amalekites Exodus 17:1 - Rephidim Exodus 19:2 - Rephidim Numbers 13:29 - Amalekites Judges 5:14 - Amalek Judges 12:15 - in the mount 2 Samuel 1:8 - an Amalekite Jeremiah 31:2 - The people

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then came Amalek,.... The Amalekites, who were not the posterity of Amalek, a son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, by Timna the concubine of Eliphaz, Genesis 36:12 who dwelt in the desert, to the south of Judea, beyond the city Petra, as you go to Aila, as Jerom says t; and so the Targum of Jonathan describes them as coming from the south; and Aben Ezra interprets them a nation that inhabited the southern country. Josephus u calls them the inhabitants of Gobolitis and Petra; but they were the descendants of Cush, and the same with those who were in Abraham's time long before Amalek, the descendant of Esau, was in being, Genesis 14:7 and who bordered eastward on the wilderness of Shur:

and fought with Israel in Rephidim; so that this was before they came from hence to Sinai, very probably as they were on the march thither, and before the rock was smitten, and they had been refreshed with water, and so while they were in distress for want of that, and therefore this must be a great trial and exercise to them. What should move the Amalekites to come and fight with them, is not easy to say; it is by many thought to be the old grudge of the children of Esau against the children of Israel, because of the affair of the birthright and blessing which Jacob got from Esau, who were now on their march for the land of Canaan, which came to him thereby: but it is hardly probable that these people should know anything of those matters at this distance, and besides were not of the race of Esau; and if anything of this kind was in remembrance, and still subsisted, it is most likely that the Edomites would have been concerned to stop them, rather than these: it is more probable, that these had heard of their coming out, of Egypt with great riches, the spoils of the Egyptians; and being an unarmed, undisciplined people, though numerous, thought to have taken this advantage against them of their distress and contentious, and plundered them of their wealth; unless we can suppose them to be an ally of the Canaanites, and so bound by treaty to obstruct their passage to the land of Canaan: but be it as it may; they came out against them, and fought with them without any provocation, the Israelites not attempting to enter their country, but rather going from it; for these seem to follow them, to come upon the back of them, and fall upon their rear, as appears from Deuteronomy 25:17.

t De locis Hebr. fol. 87. M. u Antiqu. l. 3. c. 2. sect. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Then came Amalek - The attack occurred about two months after the Exodus, toward the end of May or early in June, when the Bedouins leave the lower plains in order to find pasture for their flocks on the cooler heights. The approach of the Israelites to Sinai would of course attract notice, and no cause of warfare is more common than a dispute for the right of pasturage. The Amalekites were at that time the most powerful race in the Peninsula; here they took their position as the chief of the pagans. They were also the first among the pagans who attacked God’s people, and as such were marked out for punishment (see the marginal references).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 17:8. Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel — The Amalekites seem to have attacked the Israelites in the same way and through the same motives that the wandering Arabs attack the caravans which annually pass through the same desert. It does not appear that the Israelites gave them any kind of provocation, they seem to have attacked them merely through the hopes of plunder. The Amalekites were the posterity of Amalek, one of the dukes of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, and consequently Israel's brother, Genesis 36:15-16.

Fought with Israel — In the most treacherous and dastardly manner; for they came at the rear of the camp, smote the hindmost of the people, even all that were feeble behind, when they were faint and weary; see Deuteronomy 25:18. The baggage, no doubt, was the object of their avarice; but finding the women, children, aged and infirm persons, behind with the baggage, they smote them and took away their spoils.