Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Exodus 17:8-16
A Sudden Attack From an Unexpected Foe (Exodus 17:8).
Up to this point the problems of the journey have been physical problems arising from the environment, but now the children of Israel are reminded of other dangers, the dangers arising from people who resent their presence. This would seem not just to be a raiding party but a determined attack to prevent their progress. A sub-tribe of Amalekites had no doubt spotted them and reported their presence and their large numbers, to the wider elements of the Amalekites, who were Bedouin tribesmen and who would see this area as their territory, and under invasion. The Bedouin roamed widely in the semi-desert seeking pasturage, food and water. They were fierce warriors and very independent. This was probably an amalgamation of a number of their sub-tribes for a determined attack No doubt they also hoped to gather much spoil. It does not mean that they had permanent residence in this area.
a Amalek come and fight with Israel in Rephidim (Exodus 17:8).
b Moses tells Joshua to select men to go and fight with Amalek (Exodus 17:9 a).
c On the next day he will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in his hand (Exodus 17:9 b).
d Joshua did as Moses had commanded and fought with Amalek (Exodus 17:10 a).
e Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill, and whenever Moses held up his hand Israel prevailed, but when he let it down Amalek prevailed (Exodus 17:10).
e Moses hands were heavy with tiredness and they put a stone under him and he sat on it. Then they supported his hands, one on one side and the other on the other, and his hands were heavy until the going down of the sun (Exodus 17:12).
d Thus Joshua discomfited Amalek with the edge of the sword (Exodus 17:13).
c Yahweh tells Moses to record what happened in a written record as a memorial and remind Joshua of it constantly, that He would blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven (Exodus 17:14).
b Moses built an altar and named it, ‘Yahweh is our banner' (Exodus 17:15).
a Moses says, ‘Yahweh has sworn. Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation'.
Note that in ‘a' Amalek come and fight with Israel in Rephidim, while in the parallel Yahweh will continually war with Amalek from then on. They had been foolish to interfere with His people. In ‘b' Joshua has to select men to fight with Amalek, and in the parallel Yahweh is their banner. In ‘c' Moses stands on the top of the hill with the staff of God in his hand, and in the parallel Yahweh tells Moses to record what happened in a written record as a memorial and remind Joshua of it constantly, that He would blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. Moses' intercession had been so effective that it has reached even into heaven, and into future generations yet to come. In ‘d' Joshua fought with Amalek, and in the parallel he discomfited them with the edge of the sword. In ‘e' the raised hand of Moses causes Israel to prevail, whereas when it falls Amalek prevail, while in the parallel his hands are successfully supported by Aaron and Hur all day (so that Israel finally prevail).
‘Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim.'
The short terse phrase ‘then came Amalek' stresses the unexpected and surprise nature of their attack. The Amalekites had connections with the sons of Esau from whom they possibly took their name (Genesis 36:12). (‘All the country of the Amalekites' in Genesis 14:7 may be a scribal updating of a previous description. Alternately Esau's son's name may have been taken from Amalek).
They are described by Balaam in Numbers 24:20 as ‘the first of the nations' and he forecast their destruction. This probably means the first of the nations to attack the children of Israel after they left Egypt, or the first to attack them on their reaching Kadesh (Numbers 14:45). Or it may suggest an admiration for their nomadic way of life seeing them as nearest to the lives of the ancients.
This verse probably refers to their first attack, for in Deuteronomy 25:17 we are told that the first that the children of Israel knew of their presence was when they attacked the rear of the party, where the weakest and most feeble were found, at a time when they were all weary. It would leave them stunned and apprehensive. This treacherous behaviour ensured the Amalekites' later condemnation.
“In Rephidim.” The rock from which the water came was in Horeb. But at this point only the elders had been to that rock. Thus this attack may well have taken place when the elders returned from the rock and when the people started off to move there to take advantage of the water (the Amalekites attacked the tail of the caravan). The final movement of the children of Israel to Horeb to take advantage of the water from the rock is not mentioned, it is assumed, and by Exodus 18:5 they are encamped ‘at the Mount of God' in Horeb. We have seen previously how sometimes Yahweh commanded something and its occurrence was then assumed. But before that they have to deal with this menace.
‘And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us out men and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” '
It is possible that the Amalekites, having made their presence felt and having realised the largeness of the numbers they were against, then approached and demanded that the children of Israel turn back, with the warning that if they did not do so they would be attacked again in force. But whatever the case Moses, having no doubt sent out spies to ascertain the source of the attack, recognised that the large force they had detected meant that they had a fight on their hands. Joshua may well have been one of those spies.
The Amalekites were not to know that the children of Israel were inexperienced warriors. But in fact they were so, for we must remember that the children of Israel had done no fighting either before or since being delivered. There can, however, be little doubt that Moses would have ensured that they had some military training while on the journey, for it would have been folly not to have done so. And he was presumably aided in this by Joshua whom he no doubt found to be a willing pupil, and who was a ‘young man' (Exodus 33:11). It was the young men who would have been most willing to do the military training and there were no experienced older men to assist with it (although their numbers may have included ex-mercenaries). Moses may well have been the only one trained to handle arms, unless possibly they had with them some Israelites who had been mercenaries, or some ex-mercenaries were included in the ‘mixed multitude' of Exodus 12:38.
Thus we should not be surprised to find such a young man being given the responsibility of leading the troops. The fact that he is mentioned without introduction need also not surprise us. His name is at this point simply mentioned as the one chosen to select the best fighters, whom he would know from training, and to lead the attack, possibly because he was the spy who reported back on the situation. It was only later that he received a permanent appointment, although he may even by this stage have been in charge of the Tent of Meeting (Exodus 33:11). Besides the incident was specifically recorded in writing (Exodus 17:14) and the compiler probably copied this down without addition. At the time it was first recorded Joshua would be the hero and would need no introduction. He would be known to all.
“Joshua” is sometimes called Hoshea (Numbers 13:8 - dropping the Yah prefix). He is later called a young man and becomes the servant (aide-de-camp) of Moses (Exodus 33:11).
“I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” Once more Moses' staff is called ‘the staff of God' (compare Exodus 4:20). It was the sign that Moses' authority came from Yahweh. Thus it demonstrated that Yahweh would fight for them. Note Moses confidence, ‘I will stand'. It would not be long before he would have to sit. The battle was to be longer than he expected, and his confidence in his own strength was too great. But the fact that he was there with the staff of God would be a huge confidence booster to Joshua.
‘So Joshua did as Moses had said to him and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was that when Moses held up his hand Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed.'
The length of the battle emphasises the size of the Amalekite forces, and the inexperienced Joshua with his inexperienced troops had a real fight on their hands. Meanwhile Moses went with Aaron and Hur to the top of the hill, probably so that he could be seen by his troops. This incident reminds us how old he was. We tend to forget that he was now an old man. Hur is mentioned again along with Aaron in Exodus 24:14 (see also Exodus 31:2) which emphasises his authoritative position.
“And when Moses held up his hand Israel prevailed.” This was, of course, with the staff of God in his hand. This was no doubt seen as because this ensured the assistance of Yahweh. But there can be no doubt that such a belief would have given the troops new life whenever they saw it. And when his hand fell the reverse would be the case. They were not seasoned fighters like the Amalekites and their only hope lay in their larger numbers, and in Yahweh.
Note the description of the battle - ‘Joshua -- fought with Amalek', then ‘when Moses held up his hand Israel prevailed', then ‘when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed, then - ‘Joshua discomfited Amalek'. It is made quite plain Who was the source of the victory.
‘But Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side, and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua mowed down (Hebrew ‘prostrated') Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.'
This brings out the genuineness of the account. Moses was not seen as a superhuman figure but revealed as a weary old man unable to last out the day, simply because it was so. This was a contemporary record. Yet his importance comes out in that without him the battle would have been lost. Inexperienced troops need such incentives as he provided if they are to succeed in a tough battle. They needed to know that Moses and the staff of God were in action.
The lifting up of the hand was the sign of entering into a solemn oath (Genesis 14:22; Exodus 6:8; Exodus 17:16) and the raising of both hands may have symbolised the fact that Moses was calling on the throne of Yahweh for Him to be faithful to His covenant oath. But the final idea is clear. All depended on Yahweh.
The length of the battle emphasises the size of the Amalekite force, but in the end they were ‘prostrated' before Israel. Their superior experience could not combat the size of the opposing Israelite force when its morale was maintained by knowing that Yahweh fought for them. God wrought for them but He also expected them to fight for themselves.
The battle would be an important lesson for the future. It gave them their first experience of victory, and it let them know that with Yahweh fighting for them they were invincible. They had seen it against the Egyptians but now they experienced it in live battle. The next time this would make them stronger.
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, Write this for a memorial in a document, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembering of Amalek from under heaven.'
The instruction to write the details of what had happened is given because Yahweh wants His covenant concerning Amalek to be read and reread to Joshua. This confirms the practise, which we gathered from an examination of Genesis, that important covenant documents were written out in this way ‘for a memorial', with the reading out of the covenant to those involved in view.
“For a memorial.” To act as a constant reminder.
“I will utterly blot out the remembering of Amalek from under heaven.” The crimes of Amalek were firstly, that they were the first to attack the children of Israel after they left Egypt, and secondly, that they did so in a cowardly way, attacking the weakest and most helpless of Yahweh's people. We are constantly reminded throughout the Old Testament of Yahweh's great concern for the weak and helpless, the widow and the orphan and suchlike.
‘And Moses built an altar and called the name of it Yahweh-nissi (Yahweh is my banner) and he said, “Truly with a hand to the throne of Yah I swear, ‘Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation'.” '
The altar would be built for the purpose of offering sacrifice, and we note that Moses is said to have built it (been responsible for its building) and not Aaron. Moses was still looked to as the tribal priest. Its name was ‘Yahweh is my banner'. This may look back to his activity on the hilltop with the idea that his staff was like a banner, although the parallel in the analysis also connects it with the going into battle, but its main meaning is that Yahweh will always go with Israel into war as their banner, in this case against Amalek.
“Truly with a hand to the throne (or ‘to the banner”) of Yah I swear.' The Hebrew is uncertain. The word translated throne (kes) is not known elsewhere but can be taken as another form of kisse (throne). The raising of the hand was a strong form of oath (Genesis 14:22; Exodus 6:8). However Hebrew n is very similar to k and in context we may possibly read ‘nes' (as in Exodus 17:15) meaning banner suggesting a very early copying error. But we are always loath to suggest such errors without evidence.
“Yahweh will have war with Amalek.” There would be no lasting truce with the Amalekites. They had proved their treacherous nature by their actions here. They dwelt ‘in the land of the south' (Numbers 13:29 compare Genesis 12:9 where this means the Negev) and would cause further trouble to the children of Israel when they were at Kadesh, an oasis in the south lands. They were a constant problem to Israel when Israel was weak (Judges 3:13; Judges 6:3; Judges 6:33; Judges 7:12; Judges 10:12) and Samuel sought their destruction on the grounds of what had happened here at Rephidim which possibly patterned contemporary behaviour (1 Samuel 15). The remnant of the Amalekites were finally destroyed at their stronghold in Mount Seir in the days of Hezekiah (1 Chronicles 4:43).
“From generation to generation.” The blotting out was not to take place immediately. It would be a process through a number of generations.
Note for Christians.
In this passage the people of God were attacked by an enemy after they had been saved from Egypt and were on their way to live under the Kingly Rule of God. From that point of view they can be seen as a type of the Christian, who is saved from ‘the world' and is a pilgrim on his way to the heavenly Kingdom of God. For the assault of evil on the people of righteousness has been true in all ages, and never more so than in our spiritual warfare today. And the way of deliverance is the same in all cases. It is through trust in God, and standing firm against the enemy. It is especially interesting here that the general who saved the people was called ‘Yahweh is salvation' or ‘Yahweh saves'.
We may note here that technically Moses did not pray. He did not need to pray. His confidence in Yahweh was such that he knew that all that he had to do was indicate Yahweh's presence as there on their behalf, and Yahweh would do the rest. Prayer would only have been necessary if Israel had sinned. We also need to learn that sometimes it is not prayer that is required, but confidence in God. There comes a time when prayer is not necessary because we already have God's promise. Then instead we may praise in confident expectancy of what He will do. It was said of Praying Hyde that he gave up much of his time to praise because he found that it was the more effective in bringing down the blessing of God.
End of note.