Exodus 17:13-15

"And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi."

"Joshua discomfited Amalek ..." Josephus described this victory as a near-total slaughter of the Amalekites, only the coming of night preventing their utter destruction. He also recounts the capture of vast quantities of supplies and booty of all kinds. He also explained the relative peace enjoyed by Israel during the ensuing stay in the wilderness as having been due to this great victory which "terrified the neighboring nations."[19] Certainly, there was some excellent reason why the next attack of Israel by the Amalekites came nearly forty years afterward, and why as Rahab said, "The fear of you has fallen upon all of us" (Joshua 2:9).

"Write this for a memorial in a book ..." The Hebrew text in this place has THE book, and any Hebrew scholar will allow that this is indeed a permissible rendition, nor is it invalidated by the fact that the vowel points were not added by the Hebrews until after 500 A.D.[20] The fact is they did add them; and there were the strongest reasons why they made it read THE book. As Orlinsky said:

"The Hebrew always writes in the book ... an oject being conceived as definite in the Hebrew, not only because it is already known, or has been mentioned before, but also because it is taken for a particular purpose, and so made definite in the speaker's or writer's mind."[21]

"The book" is also given as an alternative reading here in the Cross-Reference Bible of 1910.[22">Exodus 17:14.">[22] We accept this rendition as correct, there being no reason whatever for rejecting it. Rawlinson's comment is:

"The original has `write this in THE book.' It is clear that a book already existed, in which Moses entered events of interest, and now he was divinely commanded to record in it the great victory over Amalek, and the threat uttered against them."[23]

And does anyone have to be told what that book is? It is the Pentateuch! The allegations of scholars like Honeycutt that the instruction in Exodus 17:14 with regard to perpetual enmity against Amalek "reflects the conflict between Israel and the Amalekites during the times of the monarchy,"[24] overlook the truth that if that had been so, there would have been no need to "rehearse all this in the ears of Joshua!" (Exodus 17:14).

"And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi ..." The purpose of every altar is that of offering sacrifice, and although no sacrifices are mentioned here, it may be assumed that offerings of thanksgiving were made to God. The bestowal of a special name emphasizes the significance and importance of the event memorialized.

"Jehovah-nissi ..." This is usually interpreted as, "The Lord my Banner," but there appears some doubt of this, since the Septuagint (LXX) rendered it, "The Lord is My Refuge," and Josephus translated it, "The Lord the Conqueror."[25]