Why Amalek Came Against an Israel Slack in Torah

"And Amalek came" (Exodus 17:8). Rabbi Joshua and Rabbi Hisma say: This verse is obscure but is explained through Job, "Can the reed grow up without a marsh?" and so forth (Job 8:11). Can this reed grow tall without a marsh and without water? Can this meadow-grass exist without water? So Israel cannot exist unless they occupy themselves with the Torah, and because they withdrew from words of Torah, therefore the enemy came upon them, for the enemy comes only on account of sin and transgression. Therefore it is said, "And Amalek came." Rabbi Eleazar of Modiin says: "And he came," for Amalek would enter beneath the wings of the cloud and steal souls from Israel and kill them, as it is said, "who met you on the way" (Deuteronomy 25:18). And others say: "and feared not God" (Deuteronomy 25:18) refers to Israel, who had no commandments in their hands. Rabbi Eliezer says: "And Amalek came," for he came openly, since all the comings by which he came he came only in stealth, as it is said, "who met you on the way," but this coming he came only openly. Rabbi Yose ben Halafta says: "And Amalek came," for he came with counsel. This teaches that Amalek gathered all the nations of the world and said to them: Come and help me against Israel. They said: We cannot stand against them, for Pharaoh stood against them and he and his army were drowned in the Sea of Reeds, as it is said, "And He shook off Pharaoh and his army" (Psalms 136:15); how can we stand against them? He said to them: I will give you counsel what to do. If they defeat me, flee for yourselves; and if not, come and help me against Israel. Therefore it is said, "And Amalek came," for he came with counsel. Rabbi Judah the Prince says: Amalek strode past five nations and came and made war with Israel, as it is said, "And Amalek came," and it is written, "Amalek dwells in the land of the south" (Numbers 13:29), for he was farther in than all of them. Rabbi Nathan says: Amalek came only from the mountains of Mount Seir; four hundred parasangs Amalek strode and came and made war with Israel. Others say: "And Amalek came" the ingrate, and let him exact punishment from Israel who were ingrates. It is written, "And these are they who conspired against him: Zabad son of Shimeath the Ammonitess and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess" (II Chronicles 24:26); let these ingrates come and exact punishment from Joash the ingrate, as it is said, "And Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done" (II Chronicles 24:22). And what was the punishment of the matter? "And it came to pass at the turn of the year that the army of Aram came up against him, and they came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and all their spoil they sent to the king of Damascus" (II Chronicles 24:23), and it is written, "And the LORD delivered a very great army into their hand" (II Chronicles 24:24); for what reason? "Because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, and against Joash they executed judgments" (II Chronicles 24:24). Do not read "judgments" (shefatim) but "abuses" (shefutim). And what abuses did they do? They appointed over him harsh ruffians who had never known a woman, and they afflicted him, as in the matter that is said, "And the pride of Israel was humbled" (Hosea 5:5). "And when they departed from him, for they left him in great diseases, his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him on his bed, and he died" (II Chronicles 24:25).