the Third Week of Advent
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Bible Dictionaries
Amalekites The
Smith's Bible Dictionary
or Am'alekites, The. A nomadic tribe of uncertain origin, which occupied the peninsula of Sinai and the wilderness intervening between the southern hill-ranges of Palestine and the border of Egypt. Numbers 13:29; 1 Samuel 15:7; 1 Samuel 27:8. Their wealth consisted in flocks and herds.
Mention is made of a "town" 1 Samuel 15:5, but their towns could have been little more than stations or nomadic enclosures. The Amalekites first came in contact with the Israelites at Rephidim, but were singally defeated. Exodus 17:8-16.
In union with the Canaanites, they again attacked the Israelites on the borders of Palestine, and defeated them near Hormah. Numbers 14:45. Saul undertook an expedition against them. 1 Samuel 14:48. Their power was thenceforth broken, and they degenerated into a horde of banditti. Their destruction was completed by David. 1 Samuel 30:1-17.
These files are public domain.
Smith, William, Dr. Entry for 'Amalekites The'. Smith's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/sbd/a/amalekites-the.html. 1901.
