Deuteronomy 25:18
“how he met you by the way, and struck the rearmost of you, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary; and he didn’t fear God.”
What does Deuteronomy 25:18 mean?
When the Israelites were wandering in the desert after leaving Egypt, the Amalekites attacked them from behind, deliberately targeting the weakest and most exhausted people in the group. This passage emphasizes that Amalek's cruelty wasn't just an act of war, but a deliberate choice to prey on the vulnerable without any sense of reverence for God. The attack was cowardly and shameless, hitting people when they were at their most defenseless. By highlighting that Amalek "didn't fear God," the text frames this not merely as a military defeat Israel suffered, but as an affront to God's order and compassion, which is why it remained significant in Israel's memory.