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The Amalekites of the Bible! 81

The Downfall of Egypt and

the Amalekites of the Bible!

The Egyp tian king-lists at Abydos in Up per Egypt com pletely
ig nore a pe riod of al most 500 years, and jump from King
Amenemhet IV of the 12th Dy nasty to King Aahmes of the 18th
-- why? What oc curred dur ing this pe riod of “dark ness” that the
Egyp tians re fused to re cord? Read the ac count by the Egyp tian
scribe Manetho and the tra di tions re corded by the Is lamic his to -
ri ans, and how a dev as tated Egypt was in vaded with out a fight
by ar mies from the “east.”

John D. Keyser

D ur ing the Ex o dus, when Mo ses and the Is ra el ites crossed the Gulf of Aqaba and en tered the
land of Midian, they were met, at a place called Rephidim, by an army of Amalekites. The Bi -
ble re counts the events that took place:

Now Amalek came and fought with Is rael in Rephidim. And Mo ses said to Joshua, “Choose
us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. To mor row I will stand on the top of the hill
with the rod of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Mo ses said to him, and fought with
Amalek. And Mo ses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Mo -
ses held up his hand, that Is rael pre vailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek pre -
vailed. But Mo ses’ hands be came heavy; so they took a stone and put it un der him, and he
sat on it. And Aaron and Hur sup ported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other
side; and his hands were steady un til the go ing down of the sun. So Joshua de feated Amalek
and his peo ple with the edge of the sword. -- Ex o dus 17:8-13, NKJV.

Just who were these Amalekites, and where did they come from? And what was to be their
ul ti mate place in his tory?

Origins of Amalek

The Bi ble dic tio nary, In sight on the Scrip tures, states that Amalek was a “son of Esau’s
first born Eliphaz, by his con cu bine Timna. (Ge.36:12, 16) Amalek, a grand son of Esau, was one of
the sheiks of Edom. (Ge.36:15,16) Amalek’s name also des ig nated his tribal de scen dants. --
De.25:17; Jg.7:12; 1 Sa.15:2" (Watch tower Bi ble & Tract So ci ety of New York, Inc. 1988. p.86.)

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