KING JAMES BIBLE DICTIONARY

A tribe that dwelt in Arabia Petraea, between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea. They were not the descendants of Amalek, the son of Eliphaz, for they existed in the days of Abraham (Genesis 14:7). They were probably a tribe that migrated from the shores of the Persian Gulf and settled in Arabia. "They dwelt in the land of the south...from Havilah until thou comest to Shur" (Numbers 13:29; 1 Samuel 15:7). They were a pastoral, and hence a nomadic race. Their kings bore the hereditary name of Agag (Numbers 24:7; 1 Samuel 15:8). They attempted to stop the Israelites when they marched through their territory (Deuteronomy 25:18), attacking them at Rephidim (Exodus 17:8-13; comp. Deuteronomy 25:17; 1 Samuel 15:2). They afterwards attacked the Israelites at Hormah (Numbers 14:45). We read of them subsequently as in league with the Moabites (Judges 3:13) and the Midianites (Judges 6:3). Saul finally desolated their territory and destroyed their power (1 Samuel 14:48; 15:3), and David recovered booty from them (1 Samuel 30:18-20). In the Babylonian inscriptions they are called Sute, in those of Egypt Sittiu, and the Amarna tablets include them under the general name of Khabbati, or "plunderers."

A people inhabiting the country south of Idumea and east of the Red Sea
Numbers 13:29; Numbers 14:25; 1 Samuel 15:7; 1 Samuel 27:8

Defeated by:

Chedorlaomer
Genesis 14:7

Joshua
Exodus 17:8; Exodus 17:13

Gideon
Jude 1:7

Saul
1 Samuel 14:47-48; 1 Samuel 15:1-33

David
1 Samuel 27:8-9; 1 Samuel 30:1-20

The Simeonites
1 Chronicles 4:42-43

Defeat the Israelites
Numbers 14:45; Judges 3:13

Israel commanded to destroy
Deuteronomy 25:17-19; 1 Samuel 28:18

Prophecies against
Exodus 17:14; Exodus 17:16; Numbers 24:20

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; 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 Isr'lites at Rephidim, but were signally defeated. (Exodus 17:8-16) In union with the Canaanites they again attacked the Isr'lites 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)

a mountain in Ephraim, (Judges 12:15) probably so named because the Amalekites once held possession of it.