Places in the Bible · Region

Amalek

Amalek is a region mentioned in 28 verses. Its most likely location is Amalek. The name means “a people that licks up.”

panorama of a region in Amalek
panorama of a region in Amalek · Photo: Someone35 (CC-BY-SA-3.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Where is Amalek?

Approx. 30.6483, 34.4222 · OpenStreetMap · Google Maps

Possible modern locations

IdentificationTypeConfidence
AmalekregionHigh

Amalek in the Bible dictionary

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.”

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain. Full dictionary entry →

Verses that mention Amalek

  • Exodus 17:8

    Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

  • Exodus 17:9

    And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

  • Exodus 17:10

    So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

  • Exodus 17:11

    And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

  • Exodus 17:13

    And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

  • Exodus 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.

  • Exodus 17:16

    For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

  • Numbers 13:29

    The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

  • Numbers 24:20

    And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.

  • Numbers 24:24

    And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.

All 28 references