Reference: Amorites
American
A people descended from Emer, the fourth son of Canaan, Ge 10:16. They first peopled the mountains west of the Dead sea, near Hebron; but afterwards extended their limits, and took possession of the finest provinces of Moab and Ammon, on the east between the brooks Jabbok and Arnon, Nu 13:29; 21:21-31; Jos 5:1; Jg 11:13. Moses took this country from their king, Sihon. The lands which the Amorites possessed on this side Jordan were given to the tribe of Judah, and those beyond the Jordan to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The name Amorite is often taken in Scripture for Canaanite in general, Ge 15:16; Am 2:9. See CANAANITES.
By the expression, "Thy father was an Amorite and thy mother a Hittite." Eze 16:3, God reminds the Jews that they were naturally no more worthy of divine favor than the worst of the heathen Canaanites.
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But in the fourth generation they shall come here again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.
And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, Let me pass through your land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's highway, until we are past your borders. read more. And Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. And Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was fortified. And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon. Therefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and established: For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it has consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to you, Moab! you are undone, O people of Chemosh: he has given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites. We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reaches unto Medeba. Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.
And say, Thus says the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite.
Easton
highlanders, or hillmen, the name given to the descendants of one of the sons of Canaan (Ge 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" (De 1:7,19-20). They seem to have originally occupied the land stretching from the heights west of the Dead Sea (Ge 14:7. Comp. Ge 13:8; De 3:8; 4:46-48), embracing "all Gilead and all Bashan" (De 3:10), with the Jordan valley on the east of the river (Ge 4:26), the land of the "two kings of the Amorites," Sihon and Og (De 31:4; Jos 2:10; 9:10). The five kings of the Amorites were defeated with great slaughter by Joshua (Jos 10:10). They were again defeated at the waters of Merom by Joshua, who smote them till there were none remaining (Jos 11:8). It is mentioned as a surprising circumstance that in the days of Samuel there was peace between them and the Israelites (1Sa 7:14). The discrepancy supposed to exist between De 1:44 and Nu 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 Ge 34:2 are the "Amorites" of Ge 48:22. Comp. Jos 10:6; 11:19 with 2Sa 21:2; also Nu 14:45 with De 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" (De 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 (De 3:9).
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And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray you, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.
And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.
And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.
And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.
Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country, and struck them, and routed them, even unto Hormah.
Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country, and struck them, and routed them, even unto Hormah.
Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places near there, in the plain, in the hills, and in the lowland, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which you saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea. And I said unto you, you are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God does give unto us.
And the Amorites, who dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
And the Amorites, who dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side of Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon; (Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Senir;) read more. All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
On this side of Jordan, in the valley opposite Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel defeated, after they were come forth out of Egypt: And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of Jordan toward the sun rising; read more. From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,
And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto their land, when he destroyed them.
For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth.
And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Abandon not your hand from your servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us.
And the LORD brought panic upon them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Bethhoron, and struck them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.
And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who struck them, and chased them unto great Sidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpah eastward; and they struck them, until they left none remaining.
There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all others they took in battle.
And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and their territory did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
Hastings
An ancient people whose presence can be traced in Palestine and Syria and also in Babylonia. From De 3:9 it appears that their language differed only dialectically from Canaanite, which was Hebrew. This view is confirmed by many proper names from the monuments. They were accordingly of the same race as the Canaanites. Contract tablets of the time of Hammurabi (b.c. 2250) show that Amorites were in Babylonia at that time (cf. Meissner, Altbab. Privatrecht, No. 42). At this period their country was designated by the ideogram MAR-TU. It has long been known that this ideogram stood for Palestine and Syria. At that time, then, the Amorites were already in the West.
Because of the identity of their proper names, it is believed that the Amorites were identical in race with that Semitic wave of immigration into Babylonia which produced the first dynasty of Babylon, the dynasty of Hammurabi (cf. Paton, Syria and Palestine, 25
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The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.
From there they moved, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.
And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites who dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.
And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not allow them to come down to the valley: But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became forced laborers. read more. And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.
Now when I passed by you, and looked upon you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yea, I swore unto you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord GOD, and you became mine.
You are your mother's daughter, that loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
Morish
Am'orites
A people descended from Canaan, son of Ham. Ge 10:16, They dwelt in the mountains, as their name signifies, and were apparently at times in the mountains both east and west of the Jordan. Nu 13:29; Jos 5:1; Jg 1:34-36; 10:8; 1Ki 4:19. Being the most dominant and the most corrupt people or tribe they sometimes represent the Canaanites generally. Ge 15:16; 1Ki 21:26. When Abraham was at Hebron some confederated with him. Ge 14:13. A remnant out of the Gentile nations was thus associated with the heir of promise, though Lot (a type of Israel after the flesh) had separated from him.
When Israel approached the promised land, they were in the east, and refused to let Israel pass; but they were overcome, their cities taken, and the people slain, with Sihon their king. Nu 21:21-26; De 2:24; Am 2:9-10. Some must have escaped, for we read of them later, and one of the controversies Jehovah had with Israel was for worshipping their gods. Ezr 9:1-2. Solomon made them tributary. 1Ki 9:20-21; 2Ch 8:7-8. The Gibeonites were a remnant of the Amorites. 2Sa 21:2. After this nothing is heard of them. The low state of Jerusalem (Judah) by nature is described by stating her origin, her father being an Amorite and her mother a Hittite, but God in grace had compassion upon her in her degradation, and raised her into great glory; though, alas, she was shamefully unfaithful. Eze 16:3-43.
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And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were allies with Abram.
But in the fourth generation they shall come here again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.
And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, Let me pass through your land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's highway, until we are past your borders. read more. And Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. And Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was fortified. And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.
Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.
And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not allow them to come down to the valley: But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became forced laborers. read more. And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.
And that year they harassed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)
And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel, Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, of those did Solomon conscript for forced labor unto this day.
Now when these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, in regard to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters as wives for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy race has mixed itself with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass.
And say, Thus says the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite. And as for your nativity, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt at all, nor swaddled at all. read more. No eye pitied you, to do any of these unto you, to have compassion upon you; but you were cast out in the open field, and you were loathed, in the day that you were born. And when I passed by you, and saw you polluted in your own blood, I said unto you when you were in your blood, Live; yea, I said unto you when you were in your blood, Live. I have caused you to multiply as the bud of the field, and you have increased and become great, and you are come to excellent beauty: your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare. Now when I passed by you, and looked upon you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yea, I swore unto you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord GOD, and you became mine. Then I washed you with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered work, and gave you sandals of badgers' skin, and I clothed you with fine linen, and I covered you with silk. I adorned you also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands, and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head. Thus were you adorned with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you did eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and you were exceedingly beautiful, and you did prosper into a kingdom. And your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty: for it was perfect through my splendor, which I had put upon you, says the Lord GOD. But you did trust in your own beauty, and played the harlot because of your renown, and poured out your harlotry on every one that passed by; his it was. And of your garments you did take, and adorned your high places with various colors, and played the harlot on them: the like things have never been, neither shall be. You have also taken your fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made to yourself images of men, and did commit harlotry with them, And took your embroidered garments, and covered them: and you have set my oil and my incense before them. My food also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you have even set it before them for a sweet aroma: and thus it was, says the Lord GOD. Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne unto me, and these have you sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this act of your harlotries a small matter, That you have slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them? And in all your abominations and your harlotries you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were polluted in your blood. And it came to pass after all your wickedness, (woe, woe unto you! says the Lord GOD;) That you have also built unto you an eminent place, and have made yourself a high place in every street. You have built your high place at the head of every street, and have made your beauty to be abhorred, and have offered yourself to everyone that passed by, and multiplied your harlotries. You have also played the harlot with the Egyptians your neighbors, strong in lust; and have increased your harlotries, to provoke me to anger. Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your allowance of food, and delivered you unto the will of them that hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way. You have played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yea, you have played the harlot with them, and yet could not be satisfied. You have moreover multiplied your harlotry with trading in the land of Chaldea; and yet you were not satisfied with this. How weak is your heart, says the Lord GOD, seeing you do all these things, the work of a brazen harlot; In that you build your shrine at the head of every street, and make your high place in every street; and have not been as a harlot, in that you scorned payment; But as a wife that commits adultery, who takes strangers instead of her husband! They give gifts to all harlots: but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and hire them, that they may come unto you on every side for your harlotry. And you are different from other women in your harlotries, therefore none follows you to commit harlotries: and in that you give a reward, and no reward is given unto you, therefore you are different. Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD; Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your harlotries with your lovers, and with all the idols of your abominations, and by the blood of your children, which you did give unto them; Behold, therefore I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all them that you have loved, with all them that you have hated; I will even gather them round about against you, and will uncover your nakedness unto them, that they may see all your nakedness. And I will judge you, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring blood upon you in fury and jealousy. And I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your shrine, and shall break down your high places: they shall strip you also of your clothes, and shall take your beautiful jewels, and leave you naked and bare. They shall also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords. And they shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women: and I will cause you to cease from playing the harlot, and you also shall give no hire any more. So will I make my fury toward you to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense your way upon your head, says the Lord GOD: and you shall not commit this lewdness in addition to all your abominations.
Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
Watsons
AMORITES, the descendants of Amori, or Haemorri, or Amorrhaeus, Ge 10:16, the fourth son of Canaan, whose first possessions were in the mountains of Judea, among the other families of Canaan: but, growing strong above their fellows, and impatient of confinement within the narrow boundaries of their native district, they passed the Jordan, and extended their conquests over the finest provinces of Moab and Ammon; seizing and maintaining possession of that extensive and almost insulated portion of country included between the rivers Jordan, Jabbok, and Arnon. This was the kingdom, and Heshbon the capital, of the Amorites, under Sihon their king, when the Israelites, in their way from Egypt, requested a passage through their country. This request, however, Sihon refused; and came out against them with all his force, when he was slain, his people extirpated, and his kingdom taken possession of by the Israelites. It was subsequently divided between the tribes of Reuben and Gad, Nu 13:29; 21:13,25; Jos 5:1; 11:3; Jg 11:19,22.
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The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.
From there they moved, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.
And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
And to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpah.
And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray you, through your land into my place.