Amalek

"Amalekites" redirects here. For the group in the Book of Mormon, see Amalekites (Book of Mormon).

Amalek (/ˈæməlɛk/; Biblical Hebrew: עֲמָלֵק‎, romanized: ʿĂmālēq) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or the territories of Amalek, which they inhabited.

According to the Torah, there is a commandment to exterminate the memory of Amalek. However, most Jewish commentators maintain that this commandment is no longer applicable today, either because it could only be fulfilled during the period when there was a king in Israel; because the biblical Amalek no longer exists; or because the commandment is understood as symbolic, representing the elimination of evil in the world or as a call for God to carry out this act.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.