Why Amalek's Reach for God's Throne Doomed Their Memory

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Ki Teitzei 17:3

Curated by Arthur·Translated by Maggid (Beta)·

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said in the name of Rabbi Alexandri: One verse says, "You shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek" (Deuteronomy 25:19), and another verse says, "For I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek" (Exodus 17:14). How can these two verses be reconciled? Before they stretched out their hands against the throne, "You shall blot out"; once they stretched out their hands against the throne, "I will blot out." Is it possible for flesh and blood to stretch out his hand against the throne of the Holy One, blessed be He? Rather, it is through the one who destroyed Jerusalem, as it is written, "For at that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord" (Jeremiah 3:17). Therefore it is written, "For I will utterly blot out."

Themes

Divine JusticeJerusalem

Biblical References

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