Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.” Moses built an altar, and called its name “Yahweh our Banner”. He said, “Yah has sworn: ‘Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’ ”
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Exodus 17:14-16 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God’s rod in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy; so they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset. Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.” Moses built an altar, and called its name “Yahweh our Banner”. He said, “Yah has sworn: ‘Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.”
Moses built an altar, and called its name “Yahweh our Banner”.
He said, “Yah has sworn: ‘Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’ ”
-
And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:
For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
Show all 3 translations
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And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.'
And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Adonai-nissi.
And he said: 'The hand upon the throne of the LORD: the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.'
Cross-references (32)
- Genesis 22:14 (v15) Abraham called the name of that place “Yahweh Will Provide”. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.”
- Judges 6:24 (v15) Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it “Yahweh is Peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
- Exodus 34:27 (v14) Yahweh said to Moses, “Write these words; for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
- Psalms 60:4 (v15) You have given a banner to those who fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth.
- 1 Samuel 30:1 (v14) When David and his men had come to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid on the South, and on Ziklag, and had struck…
Show all 32 cross-references
- 1 Samuel 30:17 (v14) David struck them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped from there, except four hundred young…
- Numbers 24:20 (v14) He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, But his latter end shall come to destruction.”
- Genesis 33:20 (v15) He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.
- Numbers 33:2 (v14) Moses wrote the starting points of their journeys by the commandment of Yahweh. These are their journeys according to their starting points.
- Deuteronomy 25:17-19 (v14) Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came out of Egypt; how he met you by the way, and struck the rearmost of you, all who…
- 2 Samuel 8:12 (v14) of Syria, of Moab, of the children of Ammon, of the Philistines, of Amalek, and of the plunder of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
- Psalms 21:8-11 (v16) Your hand will find out all of your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a fiery furnace in the…
- Isaiah 66:1 (v16) Yahweh says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest?
- Exodus 12:14 (v14) This day shall be a memorial for you. You shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh. You shall keep it as a feast throughout your generations by…
- Exodus 13:9 (v14) It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that Yahweh’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong…
- Exodus 24:4 (v14) Moses wrote all Yahweh’s words, then rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars for…
- 1 Samuel 15:2-3 (v14) Yahweh of Armies says, ‘I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way, when he came up out of Egypt. Now…
- 1 Samuel 15:7-8 (v14) Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt. He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and…
- Deuteronomy 31:9 (v14) Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, and to all the elders of…
- Joshua 4:7 (v14) then you shall tell them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of Yahweh’s covenant. When it crossed over the…
- 1 Samuel 15:18 (v14) and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are…
- 1 Samuel 27:8-9 (v14) David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for those were the inhabitants of the land, who were…
- 2 Samuel 1:1 (v14) After the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag;
- 2 Samuel 1:8-16 (v14) He said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ He said to me, ‘Please stand beside me, and kill me; for anguish has…
- 1 Chronicles 4:43 (v14) They struck the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and have lived there to this day.
- Ezra 9:14 (v14) shall we again break your commandments, and join ourselves with the peoples that do these abominations? Wouldn’t you be angry with us until…
- Job 18:17 (v14) His memory will perish from the earth. He will have no name in the street.
- Job 19:23 (v14) “Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
- Psalms 9:6 (v14) The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin. The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.
- Proverbs 10:7 (v14) The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.
- Haggai 2:2-3 (v14) “Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant…
- Acts 7:49 (v16) ‘heaven is my throne, and the earth a footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build me?’ says the Lord. ‘Or what is the place of…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv14–16 In the book of the Law.
In the book of the Law.
Hebrew, put it in the ears of Joshua.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Exo 17:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write…
Exo 17:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this [for] a memorial in a book, and rehearse [it] in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
Ver. 14. In a book.] Or, In the book that thou art now in writing, viz., the Pentateuch, the most ancient book that is extant.
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I will utterly put out, &c,] The portion of wicked men is to be "forgotten in the city where they had so done." {Ecc 8:10} Their memory dies with them: or, if it be preserved, it stinks in keeping, and remains as a curse and perpetual disgrace.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14–16 In a book; even in this book, which Moses…
In a book; even in this book, which Moses was to write by God’s inspiration and appointment. See Exo 34:27; Deu 31:9,22. In the ears of Joshua, thy successor, and the captain of my people, that he and all succeeding governors may watch all occasions to execute this command.
I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek, i.e. I will utterly destroy them; for a person or people dead or destroyed are soon forgotten, Psa 31:12, and the grave is called the land of forgetfulness, Psa 88:12. Or thus, Though they are now a numerous and flourishing people, and in great repute, I will make them few and inglorious, for such are little minded or remembered; for this is not to be understood absolutely of a speedy and utter extinction of them, for he supposeth their being from generation to generation, Exo 17:16, but comparatively. From under heaven; from the face of the whole earth.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–16 And the Lord said unto Moses,.... After the battle…
And the Lord said unto Moses,.... After the battle was over, and the Israelites had got the victory:
write this for a memorial in a book: not in loose papers, but in a book, that it might continue; meaning that the account of this battle with Amelek should be put down in the annals or journal of Moses, in the book of the law he was writing, or was about to write, and would write, as he did, see Jos 1:7 that so it might be kept in memory, and transmitted to the latest posterity; it being on the one hand an instance of great impiety, inhumanity, and rashness, in Amalek, and on the other a display of the goodness, kindness, and power of God on the behalf of his people: and
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rehearse it in the ears of Joshua; who was a principal person concerned in this battle, and therefore, when the account was written and rehearsed, could bear witness to the truth of it, as well as he was to be the chief person that should be concerned in introducing the Israelites into the land of Canaan, and subduing the Canaanites; and therefore this, and what follows, was to be rehearsed to him, as the rule of his conduct toward them, and particularly Amalek:
for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amelek from under heaven; so that they shall be no more a nation, and their name never mentioned, unless with disgrace and contempt. This was fulfilled partly by Saul, Sa1 15:8 and more completely by David, Sa1 30:17, and the finishing stroke the Jews give to Mordecai and Esther, as the Targum of Jerusalem on Exo 17:6.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v15 And Moses built an altar, and called it Jehovah-niffi…
And Moses built an altar, and called it Jehovah-niffi - The Lord is my banner. The presence and power of Jehovah was the banner under which they were lifted, by which they were animated, and kept together, and therefore which they erected in the day of their triumph. In the name of our God we must always lift up our banners: He that doth all the work should have all the praise. Write this for a memorial - This is the first mention of writing we find in scripture; and perhaps the command was not given till after the writing of the law on tables of stone.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Verse 14. Write this for a memorial in a…
Verse 14. Write this for a memorial in a book] This is the first mention of writing on record: what it signified, or how it was done, we cannot tell. But it is evident that either this passage is introduced here instead of De 25:17, by way of anticipation, or that by the words כתב שפר kethob and sepher was intended only a monumental declaration of the defeat of Amalek by Joshua, by some action or symbolical representation; for it is immediately subjoined, "And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi." See Dr. A. Bayley, and see the note on chap. xxx. It is very likely that the first regular alphabetical writing in the world was that written by the finger of God himself on the two tables of stone. What is said here was probably by way of anticipation, or means some other method of registering events than by alphabetical characters, if we allow that God gave the first specimen of regular writing on the tables of stone, which did not take place till some time after this.
Rehearse it in the ears of Joshua] Thus showing that Joshua was to succeed Moses, and that this charge should be given to every succeeding governor.
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I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek] This threatening was accomplished by SAUL, 1Sa 15:3, c. four hundred and twelve years after. Judgment is God's strange work; but it must take place when the sins which incensed it are neither repented of nor forsaken. This people, by their continued transgressions, proved themselves totally unworthy of a political existence; and therefore said God to Saul, Go, and utterly destroy the SINNERS the Amalekites; 1Sa 15:18. So their continuance in sin was the cause of their final destruction.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv15–16 Exo 17:15. And Moses built an altar, and called…
Exo 17:15. And Moses built an altar, and called it Jehovah-nissi — The Lord is my banner. The presence and power of Jehovah was the banner under which they were listed, by which they were animated and kept together, and therefore which they erected in the day of their triumph. In the name of our God we must always lift up our banners: he that doth all the work should have all the praise.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv14–16 In a book - in the book, i. e.…
In a book - in the book, i. e. the book which contained the history of God’s dealings with His people. Moses was further instructed to impress the command especially on the mind of Joshua, as the leader to whom the first step toward its accomplishment would be entrusted on the conquest of Canaan. The work was not actually completed until the reign of Hezekiah, 1Ch 4:43.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Of Josue, and of all who shall govern after…
Of Josue, and of all who shall govern after him, that they may remember to execute my decree of extermination, against these cruel Amalecites, who have first dared to oppose the progress of my dejected people. (Haydock) --- Moses mentions, that they particularly attacked the feeble and stragglers, (Deuteronomy xxv. 18,) though their army was very formidable, Judith iv. 13. Saul received an express order to destroy this nation; and he made such havoc among them, that they never rose again to any importance, and were confounded with the Idumeans, 1 Kings xv. 3. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v14 Write this for a memorial--If the bloody character of…
Write this for a memorial--If the bloody character of this statute seems to be at variance with the mild and merciful character of God, the reasons are to be sought in the deep and implacable vengeance they meditated against Israel (Psa 83:4).
Next: Exodus Chapter 18
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14. Write — This is the first time that…
14. Write — This is the first time that this word occurs in the Bible. Until quite recently the existence of the art of writing in the time of Moses was frequently disputed by the opponents of revelation; but it is now settled that the Phenicians, whose alphabet was the same as that of the Hebrews, practiced writing at least as early as the time of Moses. The best idea of the form of the letters can be obtained from the fac simile of the famous Moabite stone discovered in 1868, which contains an inscription of Mesha, king of Moab, (2Ki_3:4, which see,) vaunting his victories over Omri, king of Israel, in the tenth century B.C., the oldest alphabetic inscription as yet known. (“The Moabite Stone,” by Dr. Ginsburg, London, 1871.) Writing is here spoken of as if familiar to the Israelites, and it will be noticed, not mere monumental writing, as of a few words upon a stone, but in a book, upon papyrus, which denotes much advancement in the art.
In a book — In the (well-known) book; our translation improperly omits the article. (Gesenius, Gr., § 109, 3, Rem. 1; Ewald, Lehrb., § 277, a.) It was the book wherein was kept the record of this wonderful history, wherein all God’s statutes were written down. It was doubtless the book used by Moses, or his scribes, in the composition of the Pentateuch, if not the Pentateuch itself.
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In the ears of Joshua — Because he was to be the military leader, and to execute this commission upon Amalek.
I will utterly put out — Literally, wiping I will wipe out; fearfully graphic words. Amalek was a nation which had “filled the measure of its iniquities,” and God appointed Israel to blot it from being.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14. this] the preceding incident.
14. this] the preceding incident.
in a book] The Heb., as pointed, is, in the book, whence it has often been supposed that the reference is to the history which Moses had already begun to write. But though this might be the meaning of the Heb., it is certainly not the necessary meaning: ‘the Hebrew always writes in the book, Num_5:23, 1Sa_10:25, Jer_32:10, Job_19:23 (cf. Est_9:25 Heb.)’ (Di.); an object being conceived as definite in Heb. not only because it is already known or has been mentioned before, but also because it is taken for a particular purpose, and so made definite in the speaker’s or writer’s mind. See numerous examples in G.-K. § 126r, s: e.g. Exo_16:32 the omerful, Exo_21:20 with the rod, Num_21:9 put it on the pole, Jos_2:15 with the cord, &c.; in all such cases we naturally say a.
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rehearse] Heb. place; the meaning being, impress it upon Joshua. ‘Rehearse,’ at least as understood now, is not very suitable. It means properly (from Fr. reherser) to harrow over again, fig. to go over repeatedly: in Jdg_5:11, 1Sa_17:31, it is used in the sense of tell, recite.
for (marg.) &c.] The memory of the incident is to be preserved, because, on account of the unfriendliness shewn in it by Amalek, it is Jehovah’s purpose to blot out their name from under heaven.
I will utterly blot out, &c.] Repeated, in the form of an injunction laid upon Israel, in Deu_25:19. To ‘blot out from under heaven,’ also, Deu_9:14; Deu_29:20.
14, 15. Provision made for the remembrance of the victory to be handed down to future generations.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–16 (14) Write this for a memorial in a book.—Heb.,…
(14) Write this for a memorial in a book.—Heb., in the book. That “book” existed long prior to Moses is implied in his quotation of them (Gen_5:1; Num_21:14), and has of late years been abundantly proved by the discoveries made of Egyptian papyruses dating from a time long anterior to the Jewish lawgiver. The expression used in the present place, if it may be trusted,[59] “the book,” is remarkable, and seems to imply that a book already existed at the date of the engagement, in which God’s dealings with His people were entered from time to time. (See Introduction to Speaker’s Commentary, vol. i., p. 1.) This book was probably the germ of the existing Pentateuch, which was composed in many portions, and at intervals, as occasion arose.
[59] Bĕsêpher, “in a book,” and bassêpher. “in the book, differ only in the pointing, which, resting solely on tradition cannot be entirely depended on. The LXX. omit the article.
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I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek.—The extermination of Amalek, here prophesied, was afterwards laid as a positive command upon the Israelites (Deu_25:19), and was accomplished in part by Saul and David (1Sa_14:48; 1Sa_15:7; 1Sa_27:8; 1Sa_30:17; 2Sa_8:12), but finally and completely in the reign of Hezekiah (1Ch_4:43). Amalek’s sin was, that after all the signs and wonders which had shown the Israelites to be God’s peculiar people, he braved God’s displeasure by attacking them (Deu_25:18). To this audacity and contempt of Jehovah’s power he added a cruel pitilessness, when he fell upon the rear of an almost unarmed host, at a time when they were “faint and weary.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Write this in a book. The original has, "Write…
Write this in a book. The original has, "Write this in the book." It is clear that a book already existed, in which Moses entered events of interest, and that now he was divinely commanded to record in it the great victory over Amalek, and the threat uttered against them. The record was to be for a memorial
1. that the victory itself might be held in remembrance through all future ages, as a very signal instance of God"s mercy; and
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2. that when the fulfilment of the threat came, (1Ch_4:43) God might have his due honour, and his name be glorified. Rehearse it in the ears of Joshua. "Hand down," i.e. , to thy successor, Joshua, the tradition of perpetual hostility with Amalek, and the memory of the promise now made, that the whole nation shall be utterly blotted out from under heaven. (Compare Deu_25:19) The special sin of Amalek was,
1. That he attacked God"s people, not fearing God (ib, verse 18);
2. That he had no compassion on his own kindred: and
3. That he fell on them when they were already suffering affliction, andwere "feeble, and faint and weary" (ib).
Vers. 14 16. God"s mercies need memorial, and obtain it in several ways.
Deliverance from Amalek was a great and noticeable mercy. It was.
1. UNDESERVED, as the people had just been murmuring against God,and threatening to stone his prophet (vers. 3-4).
2. TIMELY. Defeat, or even an indecisive success, would have broughtupon the Israelites a host of enemies, under whose combined or continuous attacks they must have succumbed. The complete discomfiture of the powerful Amalek struck terror into the hearts of the neighbouring peoples, and induced them to leave Israel for nearly forty years unmolested.
3. WONDERFUL. Amalek was warlike, accustomed to contend with the great nation of the Egyptians; Israel had had all warlike aspirations checked and kept down by above 400 years of servitude and peace. Amalek was no doubt well armed; Israel can have possessed few weapons. Amalek knew the country, could seize the passes, and select a fitting moment for attack; to all Israel, except Moses and Aaron, (Exo_4:27) the country was strange, the passes unknown, and perhaps the very idea of their being attacked unforeseen and unexpected. The attack actually came close upon the great suffering from thirst, when Israel was "feeble" and "faint and weary". (Deu_25:18) So signal a mercy deserved special remembrance. Men soon forget the favours they receive at God"s hands. That this favour might not be forgotten, God required two things:
4. That a record of it should be inserted in his book. There is no other memorial comparable with this, whether we consider the honour of it, since to obtain record there, an event must be indeed an important one; or the enduringness, since God"s book will continue to the world"s end; or the celebrity, since it is read by all nations. And God"s special command for the insertion, stamps the event with an extra mark of dignity,
5. That it should be handed on traditionally to Joshua, and through him to others. Tradition is one of the modes by which God maintains the knowledge of his truth in the world, and is at no time wholly superseded by the written Word, since there are at all times persons in the world too young or too illiterate to have direct access to the Word, who must receive their religious instruction orally from teachers. Tradition alone would be a very unsafe guide; but tradition, checked by a book, is of no little value in enlarging the sphere of religious knowledge, and amplifying and rendering more intelligible the written record. To the two modes of securing continued remembrance of the defeat of Amalek required by God, Moses added a third the erection of a material monument, to which he gave a commemorative name. Many victories have been thus commemorated, as those of Marathon, Blenheim, Trafalgar, Waterloo, etc.; but no erector of such a memorial has ever given to his work so noble and heart-stirring a name as Moses gave. "The Lord is my banner under no other standard will I serve or fight no other leader will I acknowledge no other lord shall have dominion over me. "The Lord is my banner under this banner I engaged Amalek he, and he alone, gave me the victory through him, and him alone, do I look to discomfit my other enemies. Be the enemies material or spiritual, external or internal, to him only do I trust to sustain me against them. None other name is there under heaven, through whom salvation is to be obtained, the adversary baffled, Amalek put to confusion.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv14–15 I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek.
Exo_17:14
I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek.
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Lessons
1. Jehovahs victories over His Churchs enemies He giveth in charge to be recorded.
2. Writing and tradition are both Gods ways of recording His works for future ages.
3. Gods book is the best record of His mighty works done for His Church.
4. A memorial would God have kept by the records of Gods works to men.
5. God hath irreconcilable displeasure against some enemies above the rest.
6. Blotting out of the names of such enemies will God make, who would blot out the name of His Church. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Destruction of Amalek
I. It is probable that from this time Moses began to keep a journal of striking and useful occurrences. Great men have frequently done the same for intellectual, and good men for religious, purposes.
II. Whatever may be said of the particular mode, the thing itself is of importance. If we are to be affected with transactions and feelings, they must be in some way secured and retained.
III. A reason is assigned for the recording and rehearsing of this transaction in a dreadful menace. The threatening was executed partially by Saul; but fully by David.
IV. The scriptures cannot be broken. Whatever improbabilities appear--whatever difficulties stand in the way--whatever delays intervene--Gods counsels of old are faithfulness and truth; not a lot of His Word shall fail. (W. Jay.)
Use of history
Lucius Lucullus, being appointed captain-general over the Roman forces against Mithridates, had not great experience or knowledge in war, but only what he had gotten by reading history, yet proved a discreet and valiant commander, and vanquished at that time two of the greatest princes in the East. Thus it is that history is, and may be, the director of meanest men in any of their actions, how others have behaved themselves upon several occasions, and what hath followed thereupon; it is a trusty counsellor of state, by whose advice and direction a commonwealth may be framed, governed, reformed, and preserved, an army may be ordered, enemies vanquished, and victory obtained. In it, as in a glass, we see and behold Gods providence guiding and ruling the world, and mens actions which arrive often at unexpected events, and even sometimes reach unto such ends as are quite contrary to the actors intentions; it is a punisher of vice, presenting aged folly green and fresh to posterity; not suffering sin to die, much less to be buried in oblivion; it is also a rewarder of virtue, reserving worthy deeds for imitation; a good work, though it die in doing, is a reward to itself, yet that some dull natures might be stirred up the more, and all benefited by seeing gracious steps before them, this only is exempted by a firm decree from the stroke of death, to live in history. (J. Crompton.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v15
Exodus
JEHOVAH NISSI
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Exo 17:15.
We are all familiar with that picturesque incident of the conflict between Israel and Amalek, which ended in victory and the erection of this memorial trophy. Moses, as you remember, went up on the mount whilst Joshua and the men of war fought in the plain. But I question whether we usually attach the right meaning to the symbolism of this event. We ordinarily, I suppose, think of Moses as interceding on the mountain with God. But there is no word about prayer in the story, and the attitude of Moses is contrary to the idea that his occupation was intercession. He sat there, with the rod of God in his hand, and the rod of God was the symbol and the vehicle of divine power. When he lifted the rod Amalek fled before Israel; when the rod dropped Israel fled before Amalek. That is to say, the uplifted hand was not the hand of intercession, but the hand which communicated power and victory. And so, when the conflict is over, Moses builds this memorial of thanksgiving to God, and piles together these great stones-which, perhaps, still stand in some of the unexplored valleys of that weird desert land-to teach Israel the laws of conflict and the conditions of victory. These laws and conditions are implied in the name which he gave to the altar that he built-Jehovah Nissi, ‘the Lord is my Banner.’
Now, then, what do these stones, with their significant name, teach us, as they taught the ancient Israelites? Let me throw these lessons into three brief exhortations.
I. First, realise for whose cause you fight.
The Banner was the symbol of the cause for which an army fought, or the cognizance of the king or commander whom it followed. So Moses, by that name given to the altar, would impress upon the minds of the cowardly mob that he had brought out of Egypt-and who now had looked into an enemy’s eyes for the first time-the elevating and bracing thought that they were God’s soldiers, and that the warfare which they waged was not for themselves, nor for the conquest of the country for their own sake, nor for mere outward liberty, but that they were fighting that the will of God might prevail, and that He might be the King now of one land-a mere corner of the earth-and thereby might come to be King of all the earth. That rude altar said to Israel: ‘Remember, when you go into the battle, that the battle is the Lord’s; and that the standard under which you war is the God for whose cause you contend-none else and none less than Jehovah Himself. You are consecrated soldiers, set apart to fight for God.’
Such is the destination of all Christians. They have a battle to fight, of which they do not think loftily enough, unless they clearly and constantly recognise that they are fighting on God’s side.
I need not dwell upon the particulars of this conflict, or run into details of the way in which it is to be waged. Only let us remember that the first field upon which we have to fight for God we carry about within ourselves; and that there will be no victories for us over other enemies until we have, first of all, subdued the foes that are within. And then let us remember that the absorbing importance of inward conflict absolves no Christian man from the duty of strenuously contending for all things that are ‘lovely and of good report,’ and from waging war against every form of sorrow and sin which his influence can touch. There is no surer way of securing victory in the warfare within and conquering self than to throw myself into the service of others, and lose myself in their sorrows and needs. There is no possibility of my taking my share in the merciful warfare against sin and sorrow, the tyrants that oppress my fellows, unless I conquer myself. These two fields of the Christian warfare are not two in the sense of being separable from one another, but they are two in the sense of being the inside and the outside of the same fabric. The warfare is one, though the fields are two.
Let us remember, on the other hand, that whilst it is our simple bounden duty, as Christian men and women, to reckon ourselves as anointed and called for the purpose of warring against sin and sorrow, wherever we can assail them, there is nothing more dangerous, and few things more common, than the hasty identification of fighting for some whim, or prejudice, or narrow view, or partial conception of our own, with contending for the establishment of the will of God. How many wicked things have been done in this world for God’s glory! How many obstinate men, who were really only forcing their own opinions down people’s throats because they were theirs, have fancied themselves to be pure-minded warriors for God! How easy it has been, in all generations, to make the sign of the Cross over what had none of the spirit of the Cross in it; and to say, ‘The cause is God’s, and therefore I war for it’; when the reality was, ‘The cause is mine, and therefore I take it for granted that it is God’s.’
Let us beware of the ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing,’ the pretence of sanctity which is only selfishness with a mask on. And, above all, let us beware of the uncharitableness and narrowness of view, the vehemence of temper, the fighting for our own hands, the enforcing of our own notions and whims and peculiarities, which have often done duty as being true Christian service for the Master’s sake. We are God’s host, but we are not to suppose that every notion that we take into our heads, and for which we may contend, is part of the cause of God.
And then remember what sort of men the soldiers in such an army ought to be. ‘Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.’ These bearers may either be regarded as a solemn procession of priests carrying the sacrificial vessels; or, as is more probable from the context of the original, as the armour-bearers of the great King. They must be pure who bear His weapons, for these are His righteous love, His loving purity. If our camp is the camp of the Lord, no violence should be there. What sanctity, what purity, what patience, what long-suffering, what self-denial, and what enthusiastic confidence of victory there should be in those who can say, ‘We are the Lord’s host, Jehovah is our Banner!’ He always wins who sides with God. And he only worthily takes his place in the ranks of the sacramental host of the Most High who goes into the warfare knowing that, because He is God’s soldier, he will come out of it, bringing his victorious shield with him, and ready for the laurels to be twined round his undinted helmet. That is the first of the thoughts, then, that are here.
II. The second of the exhortations which come from the altar and its name is, Remember whose commands you follow.
The banner in ancient warfare, even more than in modern, moved in front of the host, and determined the movements of the army. And so, by the stones that he piled and the name which he gave them, Moses taught Israel and us that they and we are under the command of God, and that it is the movements of His staff that are to be followed. Absolute obedience is the first duty of the Christian soldier, and absolute obedience means the entire suppression of my own will, the holding of it in equilibrium until He puts His finger on the side that He desires to dip and lets the other rise. They only understand their place as Christ’s servants and soldiers who have learned to hush their own will until they know their Captain’s. In order to be blessed, to be strong, to be victorious, the indispensable condition is that our inmost desire shall be, ‘Not my will, but Thine be done.’
Sometimes, and often, there will be perplexities in our daily lives, and conflicts very hard to unravel. We shall often be brought to a point where we cannot see which way the Banner is leading us. What then? ‘It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait’ for the salvation and for the guidance of his God. And we shall generally find that it is when we are looking too far ahead that we do not get guidance. You will not get guidance to-day for this day next week. When this day next week comes, it will bring its own enlightenment with it.
‘Lead, kindly Light, . . .
. . .One step enough for me.’
Let us take short views both of duty and of hope, and we shall not so often have to complain that we are left without knowing what the Commander’s orders are. Sometimes we are so left, and that is a lesson in patience, and is generally God’s way of telling us that it is not His will that we should do anything at all just yet. Sometimes we are so left in order that we may put our hand out through the darkness, and hold on by Him, and say, ‘I know not what to do, but mine eyes are towards Thee.’
And be sure of this, brethren, that He will not desert His own promise, and that they who in their inmost hearts can say, ‘The Lord is my Banner,’ will never have to complain that He led them into a ‘pathless wilderness where there was no way.’ It is sometimes a very narrow track, it is often a very rough one, it is sometimes a dreadfully solitary one; but He always goes before us, and they who hold His hand will not hold it in vain. ‘The Lord is my Banner’; obey His orders and do not take anybody else’s; nor, above all, the suggestions of that impatient, talkative heart of yours, instead of His commandments.
III. Lastly, the third lesson that these grey stones preach to us is, Recognise by whose power you conquer.
The banner, I suppose, to us English people, suggests a false idea. It suggests the notion of a flag, or some bit of flexible drapery which fluttered and flapped in the wind; but the banner of old-world armies was a rigid pole, with some solid ornament of bright metal on the top, so as to catch the light. The banner-staff spoken of in the text links itself with the preceding incident. I said that Moses stood on the mountain-top with the rod in his hand. Now that rod was exactly a miniature banner, and when he lifted it, victory came to Israel; and when it fell, victory deserted their arms. So by the altar’s name he would say, Do not suppose that it was Moses that won the battle, nor that it was the rod that Moses carried in his hand that brought you strength. The true Victor was Jehovah, and it was He who was Moses’ Banner. It was by Him that the lifted rod brought victory; as for Moses, he had nothing to do with it; and the people had to look higher than the hill-top where he sat.
This thought puts stress on the first word of the phrase instead of on the last, as in my previous remarks. ‘The Lord is my Banner,’-no Moses, no outward symbol, no man or thing, but only He Himself. Therefore, in all our duties, and in all our difficulties, and in all our conflicts, and for all our conquests, we are to look away from creatures, self, externals, and to look only to God. We are all too apt to trust in rods instead of in Him, in Moses instead of in Moses’ Lord.
We are all too apt to trust in externals, in organisations, sacraments, services, committees, outside aids of all sorts, as our means for doing God’s work, and bringing power to us and blessing to the world. Let us get away from them all, dig deeper down than any of these, be sure that these are but surface reservoirs, but that the fountain which fills them with any refreshing liquid which they may bear lies in God Himself. Why should we trouble ourselves about reservoirs when we can go to the Fountain? Why should we put such reliance on churches and services and preaching and sermons and schemes and institutions and organisations when we have the divine Lord Himself for our strength? ‘Jehovah is my Banner,’ and Moses’ rod is only a symbol. At most it is like a lightning-conductor, but it is not the lightning. The lightning will come without the rod, if our eyes are to the heaven, for the true power that brings God down to men is that forsaking of externals and waiting upon Him which He never refuses to answer.
In like manner we are too apt to put far too much confidence in human teachers and human helpers of various kinds. And when God takes them away we say to ourselves that there is a gap that can never be filled. Ay! but the great sea can come in and fill any gap, and make the deepest and the driest of the excavations in the desert to abound in sweet water.
So let us turn away from everything external, gather in our souls and fix our hopes on Him; let us recognise the imperative duty of the Christian warfare which is laid upon us; let us docilely submit ourselves to His sweet commands, and trust in His sufficient and punctual guidance, and not expect from any outward sources that which no outward sources can ever give, but which He Himself will give-strength to our fingers to fight, and weapons for the warfare, and covering for our heads in the day of battle.
And then, when our lives are done, may the only inscription on the stone that covers us be ‘Jehovah Nissi: the Lord is my banner’ ! The trophy that commemorates the Christian’s victory should bear no name but His by whose grace we are more than conquerors. ‘Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v14 I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek
I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek
God speaks of destroying Amalek as if he were removing people's memory of Amalek. When a group of people is completely destroyed, there is nothing to remind people about them. AT: "I will completely destroy Amalek" (See: Metaphor)
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a hand was lifted up
People would raise their hand when they made a promise or pledge, so raising the hand represents making a promise. AT: "a promise was made" (See: Metonymy)
a hand was lifted up
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Yahweh lifted up his hand" or "Yahweh made a solemn promise" (See: Active or Passive)
Amalek
This refers to the Amalekites. AT: Amalekites" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Yahweh
Moses
Joshua
heaven
altar
call
generation
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14–16 17:14-16 By their unprovoked attack on the people through…
17:14-16 By their unprovoked attack on the people through whom God was extending his blessing, the Amalekites incurred the unending wrath of God. God’s hand can be extended in blessing, or it can be extended in curse. Those who reject the hand of blessing experience the curse (see 1 Sam 15).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.