The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:18
And smote the hindmost of thee ; literally, and tailed thee ; i . e . cut off thy tail, or rear. The verb ( זִנֵּב ) occurs only here and in Joshua 10:19 . It is a denominative from זָנָב , a tail, and, like many denominatives, both in the Hebrew and in other languages, it has the sense of taking away or cutting off the thing expressed by the noun from which it is formed, like the English verb to skin, for example. HOMILETICS read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:17-19
The extermination of the merciless. The crime of the Amalekites was falling upon the hindmost, who were faint and weary. It was an act of judgment untempered by any mercy; and the decree of God is their extermination because they were merciless. Just as we see in another place that God won't forgive the unforgiving, so here we see that he will blot out the merciless from under his merciful heaven. "For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy" ( James 2:13 ). I.... read more