Exodus 17:14

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

The LORD said to Moses,“Write this as a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in Joshua’s hearing; for I will surely wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה כְּתֹ֨ב זֹ֤את זִכָּרוֹן֙ בַּסֵּ֔פֶר וְשִׂ֖ים בְּאָזְנֵ֣י יְהוֹשֻׁ֑עַ כִּֽי־מָחֹ֤ה אֶמְחֶה֙ אֶת־זֵ֣כֶר עֲמָלֵ֔ק מִתַּ֖חַת הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃

Transliteration

And wa-yōʾmer YHWH unto-mōsheh kətōb this zikkārôn in-the-sēper and-wəśîm in-ʾoznê yəhôshûaʿ that-māḥōh ʾemḥeh ʾet-zēker ʿămālēq from-under the-shāmāyim.

Grammar Details

• *wa-yōʾmer*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular - and he said
• *YHWH*: proper noun - LORD/Yahweh
• *mōsheh*: proper noun - Moses
• *kətōb*: qal imperative masculine singular - write
• *zikkārôn*: masculine singular noun - memorial/remembrance
• *sēper*: masculine singular noun with definite article - the book/scroll
• *wəśîm*: waw-consecutive + qal imperative masculine singular - and put/place
• *ʾoznê*: feminine dual construct - ears of
• *yəhôshûaʿ*: proper noun - Joshua
• *māḥōh*: qal infinitive absolute - utterly
• *ʾemḥeh*: qal imperfect 1st person singular - I will blot out/erase
• *ʾet*: direct object marker
• *zēker*: masculine singular construct - memory/remembrance of
• *ʿămālēq*: proper noun - Amalek
• *shāmāyim*: masculine dual noun with definite article - the heavens/sky

Word Meanings

• *wa-yōʾmer*: said/spoke/commanded
• *kətōb*: write/record/inscribe
• *zikkārôn*: memorial/remembrance/record
• *sēper*: book/scroll/document
• *wəśîm*: put/place/set
• *ʾoznê*: ears/hearing
• *māḥōh* *ʾemḥeh*: utterly blot out/completely erase/totally destroy
• *zēker*: memory/remembrance/mention
• *shāmāyim*: heavens/sky

Referenced Verses

• Exod 34:27 : 27 The LORD said to Moses,“Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
• 1 Sam 30:17 : 17 But David struck them down from twilight until the following evening. None of them escaped, with the exception of four hundred young men who got away on camels.
• 1 Sam 30:1 : 1 David Defeats the Amalekites On the third day David and his men came to Ziklag. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They attacked Ziklag and burned it.
• Num 24:20 : 20 Balaam’s Final Prophecies Then Balaam looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle:“Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end will be that he will perish.”
• 2 Sam 8:12 : 12 including Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek. This also included some of the plunder taken from King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah.
• Exod 12:14 : 14 This day will become a memorial for you, and you will celebrate it as a festival to the LORD– you will celebrate it perpetually as a lasting ordinance.
• Exod 13:9 : 9 It will be a sign for you on your hand and a memorial on your forehead, so that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth, for with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.
• Exod 24:4 : 4 and Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Early in the morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and arranged twelve standing stones– according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
• 2 Sam 1:1 : 1 ¶ David Learns of the Deaths of Saul and Jonathan After the death of Saul, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, he stayed at Ziklag for two days.
• 2 Sam 1:8-9 : 8 He asked me,‘Who are you?’ I told him,‘I’m an Amalekite.’ 9 He said to me,‘Stand over me and finish me off! I’m very dizzy, even though I’m still alive.’ 10 So I stood over him and put him to death, since I knew that he couldn’t live in such a condition. Then I took the crown which was on his head and the bracelet which was on his arm. I have brought them here to my lord.” 11 David then grabbed his own clothes and tore them, as did all the men who were with him. 12 They lamented and wept and fasted until evening because Saul, his son Jonathan, the LORD’s people, and the house of Israel had fallen by the sword. 13 David said to the young man who told this to him,“Where are you from?” He replied,“I am an Amalekite, the son of a resident foreigner.” 14 David replied to him,“How is it that you were not afraid to reach out your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of the soldiers and said,“Come here and strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died. 16 David said to him,“Your blood be on your own head! Your own mouth has testified against you, saying‘I have put the LORD’s anointed to death.’”
• 1 Chr 4:43 : 43 and defeated the rest of the Amalekite refugees; they live there to this very day.
• Ezra 9:14 : 14 Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant?
• Job 18:17 : 17 His memory perishes from the earth, he has no name in the land.
• Job 19:23 : 23 Job’s Assurance of Vindication“O that my words were written down, O that they were written on a scroll,
• Ps 9:6 : 6 The enemy’s cities have been reduced to permanent ruins; you destroyed their cities; all memory of the enemies has perished.
• Prov 10:7 : 7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the reputation of the wicked will rot.
• Hag 2:2-3 : 2 “Ask the following questions to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the remnant of the people: 3 ‘Who among you survivors saw the former splendor of this temple? How does it look to you now? Isn’t it nothing by comparison?’”
• Num 33:2 : 2 Moses recorded their departures according to their journeys, by the commandment of the LORD; now these are their journeys according to their departures.
• Deut 25:17-19 : 17 Treatment of the Amalekites Remember what the Amalekites did to you on your way from Egypt, 18 how they met you along the way and cut off all your stragglers in the rear of the march when you were exhausted and tired; they were unafraid of God. 19 So when the LORD your God gives you relief from all the enemies who surround you in the land he is giving you as an inheritance, you must wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven– do not forget!
• Deut 31:9 : 9 The Deposit of the Covenant Text Then Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carry the ark of the LORD’s covenant, and to all Israel’s elders.
• Josh 4:7 : 7 tell them how the water of the Jordan stopped flowing before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the water of the Jordan stopped flowing. These stones will be a lasting memorial for the Israelites.”
• 1 Sam 15:2-3 : 2 Here is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has said:‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed Israel along the way when Israel came up from Egypt. 3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare them. Put them to death– man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”
• 1 Sam 15:7-8 : 7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is next to Egypt. 8 He captured King Agag of the Amalekites alive, but he executed all Agag’s people with the sword.
• 1 Sam 15:18 : 18 The LORD sent you on a campaign saying,‘Go and exterminate those sinful Amalekites! Fight against them until you have destroyed them.’
• 1 Sam 27:8-9 : 8 Then David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites.(They had been living in that land for a long time, from the approach to Shur as far as the land of Egypt.) 9 When David would attack a district, he would leave neither man nor woman alive. He would take sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and would then go back to Achish.