Amorite
Bible Usage:
- First Reference: Genesis 10:16
- Last Reference: Amos 2:10
Dictionaries:
- Included in Eastons: No
- Included in Hitchcocks: Yes
- Included in Naves: No
- Included in Smiths: No
- Included in Websters: No
- Included in Strongs: Yes
- Included in Thayers: No
- Included in BDB: Yes
Strongs Concordance:
- H567 Used 14 times
bitter; a rebel; a babbler
(dwellers on the summits, mountaineers), one of the chief nations who possessed the land of Canaan before its conquest by the Isr'lites. As dwelling on the elevated portions of the country, they are contrasted with the Canaanites, who were the dwellers in the lowlands; and the two thus formed the main broad divisions of the Holy Land, (Numbers 13:29) and see (14:7; 1:7,20) "Mountain of the Amorites;" (1:44; Joshua 5:1; 10:6; 11:3) They first occupied the barren heights west of the Dead Sea, at the place called afterwards Engedi. From this point they stretched west to Hebron. At the date of the invasion of the country, Sihon, their then king, had taken the rich pasture land south of the Jabbok. This rich tract, bounded by the Jabbok on the north, the Arnon on the south, the Jordan on the west and "the wilderness" on the east, (Judges 11:21,22) was, perhaps in the most special sense the "land of the Amorites," (Numbers 21:31; Joshua 12:2,3; 13:10; Judges 11:21,22) but their possessions are distinctly stated to have extended to the very foot of Hermon, (3:8; 4:48) embracing "Gilead and all Bashan," (3:10) with the Jordan valley on the east of the river. (4:49) After the conquest of Canaan nothing of importance is heard of the Amorites in the Bible.
Highlanders, or hillmen, the name given to the descendants of one of the sons of Canaan (Genesis 14:7), called Amurra or Amurri in the Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions. On the early Babylonian monuments all Syria, including Palestine, is known as "the land of the Amorites." The southern slopes of the mountains of Judea are called the "mount of the Amorites" (Deuteronomy 1:7, 19, 20). They seem to have originally occupied the land stretching from the heights west of the Dead Sea (Genesis 14:7) to Hebron (Comp. 13:8; Deuteronomy 3:8; 4:46-48), embracing "all Gilead and all Bashan" (Deuteronomy 3:10), with the Jordan valley on the east of the river (4:49), the land of the "two kings of the Amorites," Sihon and Og (Deuteronomy 31:4; Joshua 2:10; 9:10). The five kings of the Amorites were defeated with great slaughter by Joshua (10:10). They were again defeated at the waters of Merom by Joshua, who smote them till there were none remaining (Joshua 11:8). It is mentioned as a surprising circumstance that in the days of Samuel there was peace between them and the Israelites (1 Samuel 7:14). The discrepancy supposed to exist between Deuteronomy 1:44 and Numbers 14:45 is explained by the circumstance that the terms "Amorites" and "Amalekites" are used synonymously for the "Canaanites." In the same way we explain the fact that the "Hivites" of Genesis 34:2 are the "Amorites" of 48:22. Comp. Joshua 10:6; 11:19 with 2 Samuel 21:2; also Numbers 14:45 with Deuteronomy 1:44. The Amorites were warlike mountaineers. They are represented on the Egyptian monuments with fair skins, light hair, blue eyes, aquiline noses, and pointed beards. They are supposed to have been men of great stature; their king, Og, is described by Moses as the last "of the remnant of the giants" (Deuteronomy 3:11). Both Sihon and Og were independent kings. Only one word of the Amorite language survives, "Shenir," the name they gave to Mount Hermon (Deuteronomy 3:9).
Descendants of Canaan
Genesis 10:15-16; 1 Chronicles 1:13-14
Were giants
Amos 2:9
Smitten by Chedorlaomer and rescued by Abraham
Amos 1:14
Territory of
General references
Genesis 14:7; Numbers 13:29; Numbers 21:13; Deuteronomy 1:4; Deuteronomy 1:7; Deuteronomy 3:8-9; Deuteronomy 1:19; Joshua 5:1; Joshua 10:5; Joshua 12:2-3; Judges 1:35-36; Judges 11:22
Given to descendants of Abraham
Genesis 15:21; Genesis 48:22; Deuteronomy 1:20; Deuteronomy 2:26-36; Deuteronomy 7:1; Joshua 3:10; Judges 11:23; Amos 2:10
Allotted to Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh
Numbers 32:33-42; Joshua 13:15-21
Conquest of
Numbers 21:21-30; Joshua 10:11; Judges 1:34-36
Chiefs of
Joshua 13:21
Wickedness of
Genesis 15:16; 2 Kings 21:11; Ezra 9:1
Idolatry of
Judges 6:10; 1 Kings 21:26
Judgments denounced against
Exodus 23:24; Exodus 33:2; Exodus 34:10-11; Deuteronomy 20:17-18
Hornets sent among
Joshua 24:12
Not exterminated
Judges 1:34-36; Judges 3:1-3; Judges 3:5-8; 1 Samuel 7:14; 2 Samuel 21:2; 1 Kings 9:20-21; 2 Chronicles 8:7
Intermarry with Jews
Ezra 9:1-2; Ezra 10:18-44
Kings of
Joshua 10:3-26