17:14 The Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in the38 book, and rehearse39 it in Joshua’s hearing;40 for I will surely wipe out41 the remembrance42 of Amalek from under heaven.
tn The presence of the article does not mean that he was to write this in a book that was existing now, but in one dedicated to this purpose (book, meaning scroll). See GKC408§126.s.
39
tn The Hebrew word is “place,” meaning that the events were to be impressed on Joshua.
40
tnHeb “in the ears of Joshua.” The account should be read to Joshua.
41
tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense to stress the resolution of Yahweh to destroy Amalek. The verb מָחָה (makhah) is often translated “blot out”—but that is not a very satisfactory image, since it would not remove completely what is the object. “Efface, erase, scrape off” (as in a palimpsest, a manuscript that is scraped clean so it can be reused) is a more accurate image.
42
sn This would seem to be defeated by the preceding statement that the events would be written in a book for a memorial. If this war is recorded, then the Amalekites would be remembered. But here God was going to wipe out the memory of them. But the idea of removing the memory of a people is an idiom for destroying them—they will have no posterity and no lasting heritage.