The Rebuke of the Nations and the Blotting of the Wicked

Rabbi Levi opened: "You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked, You have blotted out their name forever and ever" (Psalms 9:6). "You have rebuked the nations" — this is Amalek, of whom it is written, "Amalek was the first of the nations" (Numbers 24:20). "You have destroyed the wicked one" — this is the wicked Esau, of whom it is written, "And they shall call them the borders of wickedness" (Malachi 1:4). If a person should say to you that Jacob too is included, say to him: "You have destroyed the wicked one" — it is not written "the wicked ones," but "the wicked one," that is, the wicked Esau. "You have blotted out their name forever and ever" (Psalms 9:6) — "You shall blot out the memory of Amalek" (Deuteronomy 25:19).