Amorites

The Amorites are a people who appear in the Old Testament as one of the native inhabitants of the land of Canaan. The New Korean Revised Version renders the name either as Amori jokssok ("the Amorite tribe") or as Amori saram ("the Amorite people").

Biblical References

• Genesis: Genesis 10:16 lists the Amorites among the descendants of Canaan. Genesis 14:13 mentions Mamre the Amorite, an ally of Abram. In Genesis 15:16, God tells Abram that his descendants will return to this land "in the fourth generation," because "the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full."
• Wilderness and conquest: Numbers 13:29 reports that the Amorites dwell in the mountains. Numbers 21:21–35 recounts Israel's victories over Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan. Deuteronomy 3:8 calls these two rulers "the two kings of the Amorites." In Joshua 10, "the five kings of the Amorites"—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon—attack Gibeon and are defeated by Joshua.
• Later references: 1 Kings 21:26 and 2 Kings 21:11 compare the wickedness of Ahab and Manasseh to the deeds of "the Amorites." Amos 2:9 describes the Amorite as one "whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks." Ezekiel 16:3 says of Jerusalem, "thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite."

Background

The English name "Amorite" derives from the Hebrew Emori. The term Amurru, found in Akkadian texts from Mesopotamia, is generally understood to mean "west" or "westerner." The First Dynasty of Babylon, to which Hammurabi belonged, is often described as Amorite in origin. Scholars differ, however, on how these peoples relate to the Amorites of the Bible and on how widely the Amorites were distributed.

Within the Bible itself, the name is used in two ways. In some passages, such as Numbers 13:29, it refers to a specific people living in the hill country; in others, such as Genesis 15:16 and Amos 2:9, it serves as a collective name for all the inhabitants of Canaan before Israel.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The Amorites are the native inhabitants of the land promised in the Abrahamic covenant. Scripture states that judgment upon them was deferred until their iniquity was "full." Deuteronomy 9:5 likewise explains that Israel received the land not because of its own righteousness but because of the wickedness of those nations. In later texts, "the deeds of the Amorites" functions almost as an idiom for idolatry.

The New Testament does not mention the Amorites by name. In Acts 13:19, however, Paul summarizes Israel's history by recalling that God "destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan" and "divided their land to them by lot"—that is, gave it to Israel as an inheritance.

Interpretation and Debate

• The command to destroy: How to understand the command to utterly destroy the Canaanite peoples is a long-standing question. One view, drawing on Genesis 15:16, reads it as just judgment following long forbearance. Another holds that the accounts contain hyperbolic language characteristic of ancient Near Eastern war records. These differences follow interpretive traditions and individual scholars rather than denominational lines.
• Spiritual interpretation: Church history includes an allegorical tradition that reads the Canaanite peoples as symbols of the sins or spiritual enemies believers must overcome. This reading is common in preaching, but it is not what the text directly states.
• The giant tradition: Amos 2:9 uses figurative language to express the might of the Amorites. Some link this verse with the account of the sons of Anak in Numbers 13:33 and portray the Amorites as a race of giants. Scripture, however, does not say that the Amorites as a whole were giants.

In the Korean Church

Joshua 24:15, "but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD," is frequently used in sermons for family worship and wedding services, and it is also widely adopted as a family motto. The verse stands within a passage (Joshua 24:14–25) in which the people are called to choose whom they will serve: "the gods of the Amorites" or the LORD.