Numbers 24:20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
20 Upon seeing Amalek, Balaam recited his poem:
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- 24:20 First: lit., “the beginning.” In the Bible, Amalek is a people indigenous to Palestine and therefore considered as of great antiquity. There is a deliberate contrast here between the words “first” and “end.”
1 Samuel 15:3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
3 Go, now, attack Amalek, and put under the ban[a] everything he has. Do not spare him; kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.”(A)
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- 15:3 Put under the ban: this terminology mandates that all traces of the Amalekites (people, cities, animals, etc.) be exterminated. No plunder could be seized for personal use. In the light of Dt 20:16–18, this injunction would eliminate any tendency toward syncretism. The focus of this chapter is that Saul fails to execute this order.
1 Samuel 15:20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
20 Saul explained to Samuel: “I did indeed obey the Lord and fulfill the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought back Agag, the king of Amalek, and, carrying out the ban, I have destroyed the Amalekites.
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