amalekite

1 definition found

amalekite - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary :

  Amalekite
  a tribe that dwelt in Arabia Petraea, between the Dead Sea and
  the Red Sea. They were not the descendants of Amalek, the son of
  Eliphaz, for they existed in the days of Abraham (Gen. 14:7).
  They were probably a tribe that migrated from the shores of the
  Persian Gulf and settled in Arabia. "They dwelt in the land of
  the south...from Havilah until thou comest to Shur" (Num. 13:29;
  1 Sam. 15:7). They were a pastoral, and hence a nomadic race.
  Their kings bore the hereditary name of Agag (Num. 24:7; 1 Sam.
  15:8). They attempted to stop the Israelites when they marched
  through their territory (Deut. 25:18), attacking them at
  Rephidim (Ex. 17:8-13; comp. Deut. 25:17; 1 Sam. 15:2). They
  afterwards attacked the Israelites at Hormah (Num. 14:45). We
  read of them subsequently as in league with the Moabites (Judg.
  3:13) and the Midianites (Judg. 6:3). Saul finally desolated
  their territory and destroyed their power (1 Sam. 14:48; 15:3),
  and David recovered booty from them (1 Sam. 30:18-20). In the
  Babylonian inscriptions they are called Sute, in those of Egypt
  Sittiu, and the Amarna tablets include them under the general
  name of Khabbati, or "plunderers."