“And Samuel said unto Saul: The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over his
people, over Israel. Now therefore hearken you unto the voice of the words of
the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts. I remember that which Amalek did to
Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of
Egypt.”
Our chapter revisits the longstanding enmity between the Chosen People and Amalek, a rivalry
going back to the days of Moses and Joshua. An epic fight, it represents an existential do-or-die,
kill or be killed. Centuries had passed since Amalek’s first dastardly ambush of the weak and
weary Jews. The passage of time, far from easing the pain, only further stoked the embers of
the visceral loathing.
“Thus says the LORD of hosts. I remember that which Amalek did to Israel…Now go and smite
Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not…” In the last chapter, we
read that King Saul fought on multi fronts. High on his list of military objectives was eliminating
Amalek. This the army accomplished, with a degree of success. “And he did valiantly, and smote
the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them.”
When it comes to understanding the Jewish/Amalek toxicity, Abravanel spells out the two
things that are at stake: fulfilling a divine command (“Thus says the LORD of hosts…”) and
avenging Jewish honor (“I remember that which Amalek did to Israel…”). To be blunt, we’re
talking about a take-no-prisoner directive. Compassion for that bastard nation, Abravanel
asserts, is more than misguided virtue signaling; it’s criminal. Amalek is rotten to the core, blank
of redeeming value. As a consequence, Heaven demands the Hebrews obliterate the Amalekite
scourge – unequivocally. Apropos, even war spoils are off limits.
Abravanel explains the Bible’s extreme approach to Amalek, one requiring their eradication.
Predictably and naturally enough, he is guided by reason based on universally accepted societal
mores. To the point, Abravanel lays out three cornerstones of normative human conduct vis-à-
vis legitimate and time-tested attitudes toward national defense and self-preservation. Not to
spoil the punchline, if you will, Abravanel will first define normative behavior before concluding
how Amalek is empty of such motives.
- Self-preservation demands a people to defend their homeland and property – tooth and
nail. Should an enemy invade, or even think of so doing, decency and heroism call for a
preemptive strike so to guard the land, its citizenry, and assets. - Frequently, invaders will stage an attack on a neighboring or distant land for purposes of
settling that place in order to rid it of evildoers and other scum. - On occasion, an army will raid other lands, not to occupy their territory, but rather to
avenge prior wrongs perpetrated upon them. Honor or self-respect fuel the raider’s
motivation.
Here, Abravanel asserts, are the three outlines of the main causes that trigger war. These may
be called just wars, owing to their inherent fair-mindedness. Wide consensus grants legitimacy.
In Samuel 15, Abravanel’s discourse delves into each and every one of the three acceptable
motives for waging war. Amalek’s ambush in the desert years, and the subsequent fights that
Amalek initiated against the Chosen People, were not only unprovoked, but also uncalled for.
What did, then, set off the Amalekites? Abravanel provides two rationales. One is the Amalekite
attitude toward God. They heard what the God of Israel wrought on behalf of the Jews in Egypt.
Seeking to dampen belief in the Creator, Amalek pounced on the Hebrews in the desert in
hopes of showing the world that God is not omnipotent.
The second reason has to do with settling an old family feud. Amalek hailed from Esau, Jacob’s
twin brother. Their father Isaac blessed Jacob saying that Esau would be the subservient sibling.
By ambushing Jacob’s descendants in the desert wilderness, Amalek sought to prove that Esau’s
blessing (“you shall live by the sword…”) had the might to undo Isaac’s blessing to Jacob.
Furthermore, the Amalekites’ sadistic provocations proved only one thing: pathological hatred
for the Hebrews. Indeed, Amalek, as Abravanel develops in his lengthy essay, qualify as the
worst of the worse. Hence, Heaven obligates the Hebrews to blot them out and rid the planet
of this evil incarnate and foe of mankind.