Amalek: Robber or Theif?

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Amalek: Robber or Theif?

Of all the tribes the Israelites fought with, Amalek and his group seem to be one of the most remembered. It seems as if he had no fear of YHVH. First, let’s look at something interesting. In the Talmud it says that a thief is not the same as a robber. The thief is fined double, whereas the robber only pays back the principal. The thief does not differentiate between man and God. A robber does not make deliberations before he acts. He needs or wants something, so he steals it. He never really gives any forethought to the crime. The thief on the other hand, is meticulous in planning and carrying out his act. He goes to great pains to see that he is not caught. He knowingly and with great awareness rejects YHVH. He steals with great fervor, brandishing his weapon to protect himself from anyone who may try to stop him. He cares much more for what people think of him than what YHVH will think.

The one who acts without forethought is not nearly as malicious of an individual, as this one who carefully plans out his crime. Here is where we see the great arrogance of Amalek. The Torah says that Klal Israel was weak and exhausted when they were attacked by Amalek. So this means Amalek was deliberate in his actions. He wasn’t just strolling around the plains one day when it came to him, “hey, what I need is a good battle to fight today to get my blood pumping.” No, he “planned” his attack against the Hebrew people at a time when they were down and out. He knew exactly what he was doing. He planned his battle when he knew the people were so exhausted they had very little fight left in them. He acted deliberately, just like a thief. He acted with malice toward the Hebrew people and with contempt towards YHVH. He took all the factors into the battle equation except for one, YHVH.

He did not care about YHVH’S thoughts on the matter. Even those of us who do walk in the Torah and try to please YHVH, can sometimes do things with the “mindset” of a thief. Sometimes we deliberately do things we know is not right to do, yet we not only do them, but plan them out. We map them out in our heads, where the thinking process is the first step. We just don’t all at once commit adultery. It started in the thinking processes of our mind. Maybe you might intentionally plant a bad seed at work to make “your” work look better than someone else’s. Did that “just happen”, or did you think about it first. If you thought about it first, you’re a thief. You stole someone else’s work or good name and used it for your own good. We only think of robbers and thieves as people who steal money most of the time. Maybe YHVH looks at it a bit differently. However, Amalek was a thief. He was trying to take a land that didn’t belong to him. He set out with a deliberate plan to get what he wanted. Let us not be like Amalek in our lives. Shalom