What is Amalek?
{{Judaism}} '''Amalek''' was a [[nation]] in the [[Torah]] and [[Old Testament]] whose [[people]] called the Amalekites were [[enemies]] of the [[Israelites]]. ==Genesis== In the [[Book of Genesis]], [[Chapter]] 36 [[Verse]] 10, [[Esau]] married a [[woman]] [[name]]d Ada and she gave [[birth]] to a [[son]] [[name]]d Eliphaz. Then in Chapter 36 Verse 12, Eliphaz had a [[concubine]] named Timna and she gave [[birth]] to a [[son]] named Amalek. ==Exodus== In the [[Book of Exodus]] Chapter 17, Amalek’s [[descendant]]s called the Amalekites attacked the [[Israelites]] after the Israelites left [[Egypt]]. So [[Moses]] sent [[Joshua]] to [[fight]] the Amalekites. As long as Moses held his [[hand]]s in the [[air]], the Israelites were [[win]]ning but Moses’s hands got tired so he got his [[brother]] [[Aaron]] to hold one up while [[Hur]] held the other up. And Joshua beat the Amalekites. Then in the [[Book of Exodus]] [[Chapter]] 17 Verse 14, the Lord told Moses “[[write]] this for a [[memorial]] in the [[book]] and recount it in the [[hear]]ing of [[Joshua]], that I will utterly blot out the [[name]] of Amalek from under [[heaven]]”. ==Numbers== In the [[Book of Numbers]], [[King]] [[Balak]] of [[Moab]] hired [[Balaam]] to [[curse]] the [[Israelite]]s but Balaam ended up [[blessing]] the Israelites instead. And when Balaam had a [[vision]] of the [[future]] of the [[Israelites]] and their [[victory]] over their [[enemies]], he said “ Amalek was the first of the [[nation]]s but his [[end]] shall come to destruction” (Numbers 24:20). ==Deuteronomy== In the [[Book of Deuteronomy]], [[Chapter]] 25, the Lord tells the [[Israelite]]s to “remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of [[Egypt]]” that the Amalekites attacked the Israelites from behind and [[kill]]ed the tired and weak. And because of it, the Lord tells the [[Israelites]] to “blot out the [[memory|remembrance]] of Amalek from beneath [[heaven]]. You shall not forget.” ==First Samuel== In the first [[Book]] of [[Samuel]], [[Cha