Amorites

Biblical References

The Amorites were among the native inhabitants of Canaan. In Genesis 10:16 they are listed among the descendants of Canaan. Exodus 3:8, Deuteronomy 7:1, and other passages repeatedly name them among the peoples living in the Promised Land.

• Genesis 14:13: Mamre, an ally of Abram, is identified as an Amorite.
• Genesis 15:16: Telling Abram that his descendants will return in the fourth generation, God says, "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full."
• Numbers 21:21–35: Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, refuses to let Israel pass through his land, goes to war against them, and is defeated. Deuteronomy 3:8 calls Sihon and Og king of Bashan "the two kings of the Amorites."
• Deuteronomy 1:44: The Amorites of the hill country chase Israel from Seir as far as Hormah.
• Joshua 10: Five Amorite kings, including the kings of Jerusalem and Hebron, attack Gibeon and are defeated by Joshua.
• Joshua 24:15: Joshua calls the people to choose between "the gods of the Amorites" and the LORD, declaring, "but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
• Other passages: 1 Kings 21:26 and 2 Kings 21:11 compare the idolatry of Ahab and Manasseh to the deeds of the Amorites. Amos 2:9 recalls that God destroyed the Amorite "whose height was like the height of the cedars." Ezekiel 16:3 rebukes Jerusalem with the words "thy father was an Amorite."

Background

Ancient Mesopotamian texts referred to the lands to the west and their inhabitants as "Amurru." The Hebrew term Emori is generally thought to be related to this word. In the early second millennium BC, Amorite dynasties arose throughout Mesopotamia; the First Dynasty of Babylon, under which Hammurabi reigned, is known to have been one of them. Scholars differ, however, on how these peoples relate to the Amorites of the Bible.

Within the Bible, the term "Amorite" is used in two senses. In a narrow sense it refers to the inhabitants of the hill country (Numbers 13:29) or of the region east of the Jordan; in a broad sense it refers to the native population of Canaan as a whole.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The Amorites are portrayed both as the earlier inhabitants of the Promised Land and as an example of the idolatry Israel was not to follow. The victories over Sihon and Og are celebrated as saving acts of God in Psalm 135:11 and Psalm 136:19–20. The name "Amorite" does not appear in the New Testament. However, when Paul says in Acts 13:19, "when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan," his words draw on the list of peoples in Deuteronomy 7:1.

Interpretation and Debate

• The meaning of Genesis 15:16: This verse is commonly read as evidence that the conquest of Canaan was a judgment on the sins of the land's inhabitants, carried out only after God had shown long patience.
• The ethics of the command to destroy: Interpretations differ. Some accept it as an actual historical judgment, others regard it as the hyperbolic language of ancient war accounts, and still others read it as a foreshadowing (type) of the believer's spiritual warfare.
• Accounts of giants: On the basis of the phrase "whose height was like the height of the cedars" in Amos 2:9, some describe the Amorites as a race of giants. Many interpreters, however, understand the expression as poetic exaggeration. Furthermore, explanations that group the Amorites with the sons of Anak or the Nephilim of Numbers 13:33 go beyond what the text directly states.

In the Korean Church

The words of Joshua 24:15, "but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD," are widely used as a motto for family faith. The verse frequently appears on framed plaques in homes and serves as a text for family worship. Genesis 15:16 is often cited in sermons on God's long-suffering and the timing of His judgment.