The Amalekites in History and the Bible

Episode 22: Amalek is Israel's most hated foe in the historical books of the Bible, yet the real history of the conflict between Judah and Amalek may lie in the Persian period with the migration of Edomites to the Negev and southern Judah. With a lack of archaeological evidence to go on, a careful reading of the Bible must be our guide to untangling their history. Contents: 0:04 - Prologue 1:20 - The challenge of studying the Amalekites 2:13 - General observations 3:34 - The raid on Ziklag and David’s revenge (1 Samuel 30) 7:16 - The Amalekites defeat Israel (Numbers 14) 9:10 - Excursus on Judahite resentment toward the Edomites 11:13 - The Israelites defeat Amalek (Exodus 17) 15:10 - The Deuteronomic law on Amalek 16:55 - Saul’s holy war (1 Samuel 15) 21:30 - The invention of King Agag 22:48 - Were the Amalekites actually Israelites? 24:41 - Amalek’s legacy 26:49 - Credits and bonus clip ★ Special thanks to John Kesler for consulting and advice. Recommended reading: ⦾ The Biblical Saga of King David by John Van Seters, 2009 → Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/43sQLPr Donate a few siglos to support this channel: ⦾ https://ko-fi.com/pauldavidson Sources and References (not exhaustive): ⦾ Albertz, Rainer (2014). Wilderness Material in Exodus (Exodus 15-18). In: The Book of Exodus: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation. ⦾ Auld, A. Graeme (2011). I & II Samuel (Old Testament Library). ⦾ Baden, Joel S. (2009). J, E, and the Redaction of the Pentateuch. ⦾ Brown, John Pairman (1995). Israel and Hellas. ⦾ Daniels, Quinn (2023). The Root of Ephraim among Amalek in the Song of Deborah. JBL 142/2. ⦾ Edelman, Diana (1988). Tel Masos, Geshur, and David. JNES 47/4. ⦾ Edenberg, Cynthia and Juha Pakkala (Eds) (2013). Is Samuel Among the Deuteronomists? Current Views… ⦾ Edenburg, Cynthia (2025). In Search of Amalek. In: Israel, Judah and Neighboring Groups in the Books of Samuel. ⦾ Finkelstein, Israel (2014). The Southern Steppe of the Levant Ca. 1050-750 BCE: A Framework for a Territorial History. PEQ 146/2. ⦾ Finkelstein, Israel (2022). Essays on Biblical Historiography: From Jeroboam II to John Hyrcanus I. ⦾ Foresti, Fabrizio (1984). The Rejection of Saul in the Perspective of the Deuteronomistic School. ⦾ Frevel, Christian (2023). History of Ancient Israel. ⦾ Frevel, Christian (2020. Desert Transformations: Studies in the Book of Numbers. ⦾ Harvey, John (2004). Retelling the Torah: The Deuteronomistic Historian's Use of Tetrateuchal Narratives. ⦾ Hofreiter, Christian (2018). Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages. ⦾ Houtman, Cornelis (1993). Exodus (Historical Commentary on the Old Testament). ⦾ Johnstone, William (1993). The Use of the Reminiscences in Deuteronomy. In: Abschied vom Jahwisten. ⦾ Johnstone, William (2014). Exodus 1-19 (Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary). ⦾ Kletter, R. and Brand, E. (1998). A New Look at the Iron Age Silver Hoard from Eshtemoa. ZDPV 114. ⦾ Levenson, John D. (1997). Esther (Old Testament Library). ⦾ Levin, Yigal (2021). Amalek, Saul and David. ⦾ Levine, Baruch (1993). Numbers 1-20: A New Translation. ⦾ Lipinski, E. (2018). A History of the Kingdom of Israel. ⦾ MacDonald, Nathan (2012). Anticipations of Horeb. In: Studies on the Text and Versions of the Hebrew Bible. ⦾ Mayes, A.D.H. (1979). Deuteronomy (New Century Bible Commentary). ⦾ Na’aman, Nadav (2010). The Date of the List of Towns that Received the Spoil of Amalek. Tel Aviv 37. ⦾ Na’aman, Nadav (2014). The Settlement of the Ephrathites in Bethlehem and the Location of Rachel’s Tomb. RB 121. ⦾ Propp, William H.C. (1999). Exodus 1-18:A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. ⦾ Sawyer, John F. A., and David J. A. Clines (Eds) (1983). Midian, Moab and Edom. ⦾ Singer-Avitz, Lily (1999). Beersheba: A Gateway Community in Southern Arabian Long-Distance Trade in the Eighth Century BCE. ⦾ Smith, Mark S. (1997). The Pilgrimage Pattern in Exodus. ⦾ Sperling, S. David (2020). The Original Torah: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers. ⦾ Van Seters, John (1994). The life of Moses: the Yahwist as historian in Exodus-Numbers ⦾ Van Seters, John (2009). The Biblical Saga of King David. ⦾ Van Seters, John (2013). The Yahwist: A Historian of Israelite Origins. ⦾ Tebes, Juan Manuel (2017). Memories of humiliation, cultures of resentment towards Edom…. Nations and Nationalism 2017. #biblestudyvideo #history #Israel #deconstruction