Editing Amalek (section)

==Interpretation==
===Judaism===
[[File:Davidster Dick Stins The Hague.jpg|thumb|"Davidster" ([[Star of David]]) by Dick Stins is a [[The Holocaust|Holocaust memorial]] in [[The Hague]]. The text at the side (in Dutch and Hebrew) is from [[Deuteronomy]] 25:17, 19 – "Remember what Amalek has done to you ... do not forget."]]

In the ''[[Mishneh Torah]]'', [[Maimonides]] derived three commandments, two positive and one negative, related to references to Amalek in the [[Torah]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! #
! Type
! Commandment
! Source
|-
| 59
| Negative
| Not to forget the wicked deeds which Amalek perpetrated against us<ref>{{cite web |title=Mishneh Torah, Negative Mitzvot |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Negative_Mitzvot.59 |website=[[Sefaria]] |access-date=15 January 2024}}</ref>
| "Do not forget" ({{bibleverse|Deut.||25:19|HE}})
|-
| 188
| Positive
| To exterminate the seed of Amalek<ref>{{cite web |title=Mishneh Torah, Positive Mitzvot|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.25.18?lang=bi&aliyot=0&p2=Mishneh_Torah%2C_Positive_Mitzvot.188 |website=[[Sefaria]] |access-date=15 January 2024}}</ref>
| "You shall blot out the memory of Amalek" ({{bibleverse|Deut.||25:19|HE}})
|-
| 189
| Positive
| To constantly remember what Amalek did to us<ref>{{cite web |title=Mishneh Torah, Positive Mitzvot |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.25.18?lang=bi&aliyot=0&p2=Mishneh_Torah%2C_Positive_Mitzvot.189 |website=[[Sefaria]] |access-date=15 January 2024}}</ref>
| "Remember what Amalek did to you" ({{bibleverse|Deut.||25:17|HE}})
|}

Many rabbinic authorities such as [[Maimonides]] ruled that the commandment only applies to a Jewish king or an organized community, and cannot be performed by an individual.<ref>[[Maimonides]] (Sefer Hamitzvot, end of positive commandments), [[Nachmanides]] (Commentary to Exodus 17:16), Sefer HaYereim (435), Hagahot Maimoniyot (Hilchot Melachim 5:5)</ref> According to [[Rashi]], the Amalekites were sorcerers who could transform themselves to resemble animals, in order to avoid capture. Thus, in {{Bibleverse|1 Samuel|15:3}}, it was considered necessary to destroy the livestock when destroying Amalek.<ref>[[Rashi]], 1 Samuel 15:3 commentary, The Rubin Edition, {{ISBN|1-57819-333-8}}, p. 93</ref> According to ''[[Haggahot Maimuniyyot]]'', the commandment only applies to the [[Messianic Age]] and not present times; medieval authorities widely support this limitation.<ref>{{cite web |first=Aryeh |last=Klapper |url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-not-to-talk-about-amalek/ |title=How Not to Talk About Amalek |work=The Times of Israel |date=4 March 2020 |access-date=16 January 2022 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304085123/https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-not-to-talk-about-amalek/ |archive-date=2020-03-04 }}</ref> According to the Midrash, every nation on Earth has a guardian angel overseeing its destiny, except for two: Israel rejected archangel [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]] as its guardian, in favor of God himself. The other is Amalek, whose guardian angel is the foremost angel of evil, [[Satan]]. The final war will be fought between the children of God and the children of Satan, between good and evil. This is possibly why the 188th commandment exists: to wipe out Amalek completely, male and female, young and old, sparing none, since evil has no future. However, one obscure prophecy states that all nations will eventually worship God alone, which raises the question of how there can be a [[Third Temple]] when Amalek is wiped out. The Midrash state there is no quandary, given the last Amalekite is a convert to Judaism.<ref>THE MIDRASH SAYS, Copyright 1980 Rabbi Moshe Weissman, Brooklyn, NY.  Benei Yakov Publications 1742 E.7th St. Brooklyn, NY 11223.</ref>

Maimonides elaborates that when the Jewish people wage war against Amalek, they must request the Amalekites to accept the [[Seven Laws of Noah]] and pay a tax to the Jewish kingdom. If they refuse, they are to be executed.<ref>[[Mishneh Torah]], Hilchot Melachim uMilchamot, 6:1 and 6:4</ref>

Other Talmudic commentators argued that the calls to spare no Amalekite or "blot out their memory" were metaphorical<ref name="JTAreject">{{cite news |last1=Kampeas |first1=Ron |title=Netanyahu rejects South Africa's claim that his quote about 'Amalek' was a call to genocide |url=https://www.jta.org/2024/01/16/israel/netanyahu-rejects-south-africas-claim-that-his-quote-about-amalek-was-a-call-to-genocide |access-date=13 February 2024 |work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |date=2024-01-16}}</ref> and did not require the actual killing of Amalekites. [[Samson Raphael Hirsch]] said that the command was to destroy "the remembrance of Amalek" rather than actual Amalekites.<ref>Commentary to Deuteronomy 25</ref> [[Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter]] interpreted the command as thoroughly hating Amalek without performing any physical action.<ref>Shemot Zachor 646</ref> [[Yisrael Meir Kagan]] said that God would perform the elimination of Amalek and that Jews only need to remember what Amalek did to them.<ref>Introduction to positive commandments, Beer Mayim Hayim, letter Alef</ref>

[[Isaac S.D. Sassoon]] believes that the ''[[herem (war or property)|ḥerem]]'' commands existed to prevent the Jewish community from being endangered but believes people should think twice before literally following them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sassoon |first=Isaac S.D. |date=May 14, 2015 |title=Obliterating Cherem |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/obliterating-cherem |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209001511/https://www.thetorah.com/article/obliterating-cherem |archive-date=February 9, 2024 |website=TheTorah.com}}</ref> Nathan Lopes Cardazo argues that the Torah's ethically questionable laws were intentional since they were a result of God working with an underdeveloped world. He believes that God appointed the [[Chazal]] to help humanity evolve in their understanding of the Torah.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cardazo |first=Nathan Lopes |date=October 19, 2016 |title=The Deliberately Flawed Divine Torah |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-deliberately-flawed-divine-torah |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212110948/https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-deliberately-flawed-divine-torah |archive-date=February 12, 2024 |website=TheTorah.com}}</ref>

=== Christianity ===
Theologian [[Charles Ellicott]] explains that the Amalekites were subject to ''ḥerem'' in the [[Book of Samuel]] for [[Incapacitation (penology)|incapacitation]] due to their 'accursed' nature and the threat they posed to the commonwealth of surrounding nations.<ref name="ellicott">{{Cite web|date=|title=1 Samuel 15: Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers|url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/1_samuel/15.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108155512/http://biblehub.com:80/commentaries/ellicott/1_samuel/15.htm |archive-date=2014-11-08 |access-date=|website=Biblehub}}</ref> [[Matthew Henry]] considers the ''ḥerem'' to be defensive warfare since the Amalekites were invaders.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=1 Samuel 14: Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible |url=https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/mhm/1-samuel-14.html#verses-47 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123041504/https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/mhm/1-samuel-14.html#verses-47 |archive-date=January 23, 2024 |website=StudyLight.org}}</ref> [[John Gill (theologian)|John Gill]] describes the ''ḥerem'' as the [[eye for an eye|law of retaliation]] being carried out.<ref>{{Cite web|title=1 Samuel 15: Gill's Exposition|url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/1_samuel/15.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217205118/http://biblehub.com:80/commentaries/gill/1_samuel/15.htm |archive-date=2013-12-17 |access-date=|website=Biblehub}}</ref>

According to Christian Hofreiter, almost all Christian authorities and theologians have historically interpreted the ''ḥerem'' passages literally. He states that "there is practically no historical evidence that anyone in the [[Great Church]]" viewed them as being purely an allegory. In particular, [[Augustine]], [[Thomas Aquinas]] and [[John Calvin]] have defended a literal reading of these passages at length. [[Origen]] is sometimes cited as having viewed the ''ḥerem'' passages allegorically; Hofreiter argues that although Origen prioritized a spiritual interpretation of the Bible, he did not deny that the ''herem'' passages described historical events.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hofreiter |first1=Christian |title=Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages |date=16 February 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-253900-7 |pages=247–248 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WlNDwAAQBAJ }}</ref>

[[Paul Copan]] argues that the ''ḥerem'' commands were hyperbolic since the passages contain [[merism]]s such as "man and woman"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Copan |first=Paul |title=Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God |date=2011 |publisher=Baker Books |isbn=978-0801072758 |pages=175–176}}</ref> and Near Easterners valued "bravado and exaggeration" when reporting warfare.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Copan |first=Paul |date=Fall 2010 |title=How Could God Command Killing the Canaanites? |journal=Enrichment Journal |pages=138–143}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Copan |first=Paul |title=Is God a Vindictive Bully? Reconciling Portrayals of God in the Old and New Testaments |date=2022 |publisher=Baker Academic |isbn=978-1540964557 |pages=205}}</ref> Kluger believes this is an earnest attempt to absolve the Israelites, and their God, of moral responsibility. Nonetheless, she argues Copan's interpretation still "normalizes mass violence" and "hostility towards targeted groups".{{sfn|Kugler|2020}}

=== Islam ===
[[Ibn Khaldun|Ibn Khaldūn]] believed that God ordered [[Talut|Saul]], the king of Israel, to depose the Amalekites, which caused [[Haman]]'s hostility to the Jews in the [[Book of Esther]].<ref name="Silverstein-2018">{{Cite book |last=Silverstein |first=Adam J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MzhxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 |title=Veiling Esther, Unveiling Her Story: The Reception of a Biblical Book in Islamic Lands |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0198797227 |pages=39–63}}</ref>

===Modern academia===
Some commentators have discussed the ethics of the commandment to exterminate all the Amalekites, including children, and the presumption of [[collective punishment]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Divine Command Ethics: Jewish and Christian perspectives |last=Harris |first=Michael J. |pages=137–138}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Bible's Top Fifty Ideas: The essential concepts everyone should know |last1=Elkins |first1=Dov Peretz |last2=Treu |first2=Abigail |pages=315–316}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Ethics of War: Shared problems in different traditions |first1=Richard |last1=Sorabji |last2=Rodin |first2=David |page=98}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Theory and Practice in Old Testament Ethics |author1=Rogerson, John William |author2=Carroll, M. Daniel |page=92}}</ref> It has also been described as [[Genocide|genocidal]], according to [[Genocide studies|genocide scholars]] like [[Norman Naimark]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Naimark |first1=Norman M. |title=Genocide: A World History |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-976526-3 |language=en|pages=8–9}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morriston |first1=Wes |title=Ethical Criticism of the Bible: The Case of Divinely Mandated Genocide |journal=Sophia |date=2012 |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=117–135 |doi=10.1007/s11841-011-0261-5 |s2cid=159560414 |url=https://spot.colorado.edu/~morristo/divinely-mandated-genocide.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Freeman |first1=Michael |title=Religion, nationalism and genocide: ancient Judaism revisited |journal=European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie / Europäisches Archiv für Soziologie |date=1994 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=259–282 |doi=10.1017/S000397560000686X |jstor=23997469 |s2cid=170860040 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23997469 |issn=0003-9756}}</ref>{{sfn|Kugler|2020}}

Kluger believes that the context of the extermination verses can be explained by the fact that the Israelites see the Amalekites as their "unwelcome brother" and they also see the Amalekites as the "[[Mamzer|rejected son]]", possessing all of the negative qualities that the Israelites inherently saw within themselves, which Kluger sees as a form of [[Self-hating Jew|self-hatred]]. However, she notes that the Hebrew Bible is surprisingly neutral when it describes the Amalekites and she also notes that the texts do not provide an adequate explanation on why they were singled out for complete annihilation, compared to the Egyptians and the Canaanites for example.{{sfn|Kugler|2020}}

Ada Taggar-Cohen observes that ''ḥerem'' commands were not uncommon in the ancient Near East. Their purpose was to show the enemy that the deity was on the aggressor's side and the enemy deserved the said deity's wrath as punishment for their "sins". It also allowed kings to pursue militarist policies without taking any moral responsibility for them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taggar-Cohen |first=Ada |date=October 6, 2022 |title=War at the Command of the Gods |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/war-at-the-command-of-the-gods |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209015324/https://www.thetorah.com/article/war-at-the-command-of-the-gods |archive-date=February 9, 2024 |website=TheTorah.com}}</ref>

C. L. Crouch considers the ''ḥerem'' commands to be an exceptional component to Israelite and Judahite warfare since they were erratically applied, even in the early stages of national and ethnic identity formation. They were an extreme means to eradicate the threat of chaos. Similar attitudes were held by [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyrian]] rulers such as [[Esarhaddon]] and [[Ashurbanipal|Assurbanipal]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crouch |first=C. L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vDF9A0jT8RQC |title=War and Ethics in the Ancient Near East: Military Violence in Light of Cosmology and History |date=2009 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3110223514 |edition=1st|doi=10.1515/9783110223521 }}</ref>