Deuteronomy 25:18

Deu 25:18 How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, [even] all [that were] feeble behind thee, when thou [wast] faint and weary; and he feared not God.

Ver. 18. How he met thee by the way.] Not with bread and water, but with fire and sword. See Exo 17:8.

And he feared not God.] Who had so powerfully brought his Israel out of Egypt. See Job 6:14 Gen 20:11. {See Trapp on "Job 6:14"} {See Trapp on "Gen 20:11"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 18. Smote the hindmost of thee] See Clarke on Ex 17:8. It is supposed that this command had its final accomplishment in the death of Haman and his ten sons, Esther iii., vii., ix., as from this time the memory and name of Amalek was blotted out from under heaven, for through every period of their history it might be truly said, They feared not God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. how he met thee by the way] better, fell on thee. Cp. 1Sa_15:2 : how he set himself against him (Israel) in the way.

and smote the hindmost of thee] Lit. docked the tail of thee; elsewhere only in Jos_10:19 (E?).

all that had broken down in thy rear] The vb. is not found elsewhere.

feared not God] See E, Gen_20:11; Gen_42:18, Exo_1:17, all of non-Israelites; and cp. Amos’ denunciations of foreign peoples for inhumanity (Amo_1:3 to Amo_2:3). A people so devoid of natural religion as to kill the non-combatants deserved no mercy, as the next v. declares.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

How he met thee by the way,.... Not with necessary provisions, food and drink, which would have been but a piece of kindness and humanity to travellers; but met them sword in hand, in order to stop their journey, and make them captives, at least to harass and distress them:

and smote the hindmost of thee; came upon them in a sly cowardly manner, and attacked their rear:

even all that were feeble behind thee: women and children, and such men as were weak, sickly, labouring under some disorder, and so lagged behind, and could not keep up with the rest; on these Amalek first fell, and began his attack here:

when thou wast faint and weary; with travelling, and the more so for want of water, which was their case at Rephidim, when Amalek came out against them; which is another aggravation of their unkind usage of them they were not to forget:

and he feared not God; who was then in the pillar of cloud and fire with Israel, which phenomenon Amalek might see, and yet did not fear; and who had done such wonders for Israel in Egypt, and had brought them from thence, and had drowned Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea, of which doubtless Amalek had heard, and yet feared not the Lord, who had done such great things.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

God. This circumstance is not mentioned, Exodus xvii. 14.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Smote the hindmost of thee; which God permitted, both for the punishment of Israel’s sins, and to harden and prepare them for the difficulties of their expedition.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And smote the hindmost of thee; literally, and tailed thee; i.e. cut off thy tail, or rear. The verb (bNezi) occurs only here and in Jos_10:19. It is a denominative from bn; z; a tail, and, like many denominatives, both in the Hebrew and in other languages, it has the sense of taking away or cutting off the thing expressed by the noun from which it is formed, like the English verb to skin, for example.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

אשר קרך בדרך HOW HE MET THEE BY THE WAY — The word קרך is connected in meaning with מקרה “a sudden happening”, i.e., he came against thee by surprise. Another explanation is: it is connected in meaning with the term קרי, nocturnal pollution and uncleanness, because he polluted them by pederasty. Yet another explanation is that it is connected in meaning with the expression קור in the phrase קור וחום “cold and heat” and it means: he made you cold and lukewarm after the boiling heat you had before. For all the nations were afraid to war against you and this one came and began to point out the way to others. A parable! It may be compared to a boiling hot bath into which no living creature could descend. A good-for-nothing came, and sprang down into it; although he scalded himself he made it appear cold to others (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Teitzei 9).

ויזנב בך means, smiting the membrum; he cut off the membra and threw them up provocatively towards Heaven (God) (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Teitzei 10).

כל הנחשלים אחריך [AND HE SMOTE THE HINDMOST OF THEE] EVEN THOSE THAT WERE FEEBLE BEHIND THEE — i.e., those who were enfeebled because of their sins and whom the clouds had expelled from the protection they afforded (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Teitzei 10).

ואתה עיף ויגע AND THOU WAST FAINT AND WEARY — faint through thirst, for it is written, (Exodus 17:3) “And the people thirsted there for water” and it is written immediately afterwards (v. 8) “Then came Amalek”.

ויגע AND WEARY — from the journey (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Teitzei 10).

ולא ירא AND HE FEARED NOT — Amalek feared not אלהים GOD so as to refrain from harming you (Sifrei Devarim 296:7).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.