Mentioned in the Bible by name

Amalek

Then they turned and came to Ein-Mishpat [meaning: "source of justice"], that is, Kadesh, and conquered the whole land of the Amalekites. They also defeated the Amorites who lived in Hasazon-Tamar.

Then the Amalekites came and fought against Israel at Rephidim [meaning: "place of rest"].
[The Amalekites were descendants of Abraham through Esau, see Gen. 36:15. They were a nomadic people who lived in the Negev and Sinai and made their living by plundering, see Judg. 3:13. They had domesticated the camel and used it in their attacks. Camels can run at 70 km/h (much faster than a horse) and were well suited for surprise attacks by the Amalekite raiders, see Judg. 6:3, 5. Rumors of the Israelites' journey and the possessions they carried with them had surely reached the Amalekites, who were now moving south to find easy prey. In Deut. 25:17–18, it is described how they cowardly attacked and isolated some of the most exhausted Israelites who were at the rear. They are also described as godless. The story that follows also indicates that they were better equipped militarily than the Israelites, and had God not intervened in a supernatural way when Moses, Aaron, and Hur prayed, they would have easily defeated the Israelites, see verse 11.
The exact location of Rephidim is unknown. Since there was no water, it may not have been an oasis, as rest places usually were. The word Rephidim is plural and comes from Hebr. refida, which means back support and has to do with lying down and resting, but also support. The word refers to it being a "resting place" but also to Aaron and Hur "supporting" Moses' arms in prayer.]

Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us, go out and fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with God's (Elohim's) staff in my hand."

Joshua did as Moses had said and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron [Moses' brother], and Hur (Hebr. Chor) [a friend; the grandfather of the artist Bezalel, see Ex. 31:2] went up to the top of the hill (the height – Hebr. giva).

When Moses held up his hand, Israel had the upper hand, but when he let his hand fall (let it rest), the Amalekites had the upper hand.

Joshua weakened (struck down – Hebr. chalash) [unusual word, see Job 14:10; Isa. 14:12] Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword (literally "the mouth of the sword" – Hebr. peh cherev).

The Lord said to Moses: "Write this down as a memorial in a book (scroll), and repeat it in Joshua's ears (read/tell it to him), for I will blot out [erase – like a manuscript that is cleaned of writing] the memory of Amalek from under heaven (literally: 'from under heaven')."
[This is the first time it is implied that Joshua is the one who will succeed Moses. The scroll may refer to the Book of Exodus, or another separate scroll. In Deut. 25:17–19, this exhortation not to forget what the Amalekites did is repeated. The complete eradication of Amalek's memory from the earth is described from God's perspective – I will blot out from the heavens. In the Eccles. book, the perspectives "under the sun" (Eccles. 1:1) and "under the heavens" (Eccles. 3:1; 2 Cor. 12:2) are used, which are the highest and originate from God's throne room.]

He said, "The hand of the Lord (Yah) is on the throne of the Lord (Yahweh), and the Lord (Yahweh) will fight against Amalek from generation to generation (from family to family)."
[This is the first enemy Israel fights after the exodus. The words here are prophetic; several battles are fought with Amalek over the years. Eventually, King Saul is given the task of fighting the Amalekites, and at that time the prophet Samuel says that everything must be destroyed, but Saul is disobedient (1 Sam. 15:1–3). Later, during the time of Queen Est, the enemy is named Haman, who is also an Amalekite (Est. 3:1). Amalek is the origin of all hatred of Jews and anti-Semitism.]

The Amalekites live in the South (Negev), and the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the mountains, and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan."

Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley. Turn tomorrow and go into the wilderness by the way to the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea)."

The Amalekites and the Canaanites are before you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from following (turned your backs on) the Lord (Yahweh), the Lord (Yahweh) will not be with you."

The Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in the mountainous region came down and attacked them, striking them down as far as Horma.

And he looked at Amalek and took up his proverb (he began to speak in images and proverbs, often with many meanings; sometimes even prophetically – Hebr. mashal) and said:
"Amalek was the first of the nations (the pagan peoples)
but his end shall come with destruction."

Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came up from Egypt [Ex. 17:8–16],

Therefore, it shall be so: When the Lord (Yahweh) your God (Elohim) has given you rest from all your enemies around you in the land that the Lord (Yahweh) your God (Elohim) gives you as an inheritance to possess (take), then you shall completely erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven (literally: "from under heaven"). Do not forget this!
[The eradication of the memory of the Amalekites is described from God's perspective – I will eradicate from under the heavens, see Ex. 17:14. Saul forgot, see 1 Sam. 15, but the Amalekites (also called the Agagites) met their fate at the end of the Book of Esther, see Est. 3:1; 9:10.]

He [Eglon] gathered the sons of Ammon and Amalek, and he went and defeated Israel, and they occupied the City of Palms [Jericho, see Deut. 34:3].

Out of Ephraim came those whose roots are in Amalek,
after you Benjamin among your people,
out of Machir came princes, and out of Zebulun
those who wielded the scepter.
[There are no biological roots between Amalek and Ephraim; this refers to Joshua's defeat of Amalek. Joshua is an Ephraimite, and Amalek was the first enemy to fight against Israel in Rephidim after the exodus.]

Every time the Israelites had sown [their seed in the fall], [year after year for seven years] the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east came up against them,

And all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east gathered together, and they crossed over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.

And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east lay together in the valley like a swarm of locusts in number, and their camels were not to be counted, like the sand that is on the seashore in number.
[The swarm of locusts here refers to an invasion of locusts that come in such large swarms that they cause a minor solar eclipse where they pass. These swarms usually consist of many millions of locusts.]

and the Sidonians
and the Amalekites [Ex. 17:8]
and the Moabites [here the Midianites are expected]
when they oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you from their hand. [1 Chron. 4:41; 2 Chron. 20:1; 26:7]

And Avdon, the son of Hallel, the Pirathonite, died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

He [Saul] acted bravely and defeated the Amalekites and delivered Israel from the hand of those who had oppressed them.

Thus says the Lord of hosts (Yahweh Sebaot): I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he stood in their way on the way when they came up out of Egypt. [Ex. 17:8–16; Deut. 25:17–18]

Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey." [Num. 20:15–18]
[The Amalekites were a nomadic people who lived in southern Judah and the Negev desert. Like the Edomites, they were descended from Esau. They were Israel's arch enemies. It started as early as Ex. 17:8–13, when they wanted to prevent the Israelites from passing from Egypt to the west. Later, Moses urges them not to forget to destroy the Amalekites but to remember this well, see Deut. 25:19. In the Book of Esther, the evil Haman is a descendant of an Amalekite, see Est. 3:1. He wants to exterminate all Jews but fails. Amalek is also the spiritual force that throughout history has stood for/represented all kinds of anti-Semitism, i.e., a desire to exterminate the Jews. It has taken many forms throughout history, and even replacement theology (which teaches that the role of the Jews has been completely replaced by Christianity) is a variant of anti-Semitism.]

And Saul came to the city of Amalek [their capital] and lay in wait for him in the valley. [Probably in the brook of Egypt which the main road crossed, present-day Wadi el-Arish.]

And Saul said to the Kenites [Gen. 15:19; Num. 24:21–22; Judg 4:11; Deut. 5:24]: "Go, depart, go down from the Amalekites, lest we destroy you with them, for you showed kindness (loving care) to all the house of Israel when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites departed from the Amalekites.

And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah as one goes to Shur, which is before Egypt.

And he took Agag, king of the Amalekites, alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

And Saul said, "They have taken them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice them to the Lord (Yahweh) your God (Elohim), and the rest we have utterly destroyed."

and the Lord (Yahweh) sent you on a journey and said, 'Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are completely consumed.

And Saul said to Samuel, "I have obeyed the voice of the Lord (Yahweh) and have gone the way the Lord (Yahweh) sent me, and have captured Agag, king of the Amalekites, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

And Samuel said, "Bring Agag, king of the Amalekites, to me." And Agag came to him in chains. And Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is relentless."

And David and his men went up and made a raid on the Geshurites, the Gizrites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from ancient times, when one goes up to Shora and to the land of Egypt.

Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord (Yahweh) and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek [1 Sam. 15:10–23], therefore the Lord (Yahweh) has done this to you today.

And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag [border town between Judah and the Philistines in the southwest] on the third day [since David left Achish (king of Gath) and the Philistine army, see 1 Sam. 29:10], that the Amalekites had raided the south and over Ziklag and had struck Ziklag and burned it with fire.
[The Amalekites surely remembered what David had done to them a few years earlier, see 1 Sam. 27:8. Another aspect is also Saul's failure to destroy Amalek, see 1 Sam. 15:3, 9, 17–19.]

And David said to him, "Whose are you? Where do you come from?" And he said, "I am a young Egyptian, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me because I fell ill three days ago.

And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David saved his two wives.

[The story continues from 1 Sam. 31:11–13, the year is about 1010 BC.]
After Saul's [the first king of Israel] death, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, David stayed two days in Ziklag. [1 Sam. 30]

Then he asked me, 'Who are you?' And I answered him, 'I am an Amalekite.

And David said to the young man who had told him, "Who are you?" He replied, "I am the son of a foreign Amalekite."

from Aram, from Moab, from the sons of Ammon, from the Philistines, from Amalek, and from the spoils of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

They struck down the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped. Then they settled there and still live there today.

King David also dedicated these to the Lord (Yahweh), as he had done with the silver and gold he had brought home from all the other peoples: from the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines, and Amalekites.

Assyria [the most brutal enemies, the people of Mesopotamia] have also joined them,
they have become an arm (force) to the children of Lot [the Moabites and Ammonites, see Deut. 2:9, 19].
[The Assyrian superpower is described in terms of the historical close regional enemies. The psalmist suggests that Moab and Ammon have formed an alliance with Assyria against Israel.]
Selah. [Probably a break for instrumental interlude, a pause to reflect on what has just been sung.]