Amorites
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Bible Concordance
Amorites (82 Occurrences)

Genesis 10:16 and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite; (See RSV NIV)

Genesis 14:7 They returned, and came to En Mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (KJV DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Genesis 15:21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." (WEB KJV DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Genesis 48:22 And I have given you more than your brothers, even Shechem as your heritage, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow. (BBE RSV NIV)

Exodus 3:8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. (KJV DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Exodus 3:17 And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. (KJV DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Exodus 13:5 And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. (KJV WBS RSV NIV)

Exodus 23:23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. (KJV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 33:2 and I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite-- (See RSV NIV)

Exodus 34:11 Observe thou that which I am commanding thee this day; behold, I am driving out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. (See RSV NIV)

Numbers 13:29 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 by the coast of Jordan. (KJV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 21:13 From there they traveled, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that comes out of the border of the Amorites: for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 21:21 Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 21:25 Israel took all these cities: and Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its towns. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 21:26 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 to the Arnon. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 21:29 Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NIV)

Numbers 21:31 Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 21:32 Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took its towns, and drove out the Amorites who were there. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 21:34 Yahweh said to Moses, "Don't fear him: for I have delivered him into your hand, and all his people, and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 22:2 Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 32:33 Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, according to the cities of it with their borders, even the cities of the surrounding land. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 32:39 The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein. (WEB JPS ASV BBE DBY NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 1:4 after he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 1:7 turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all the places near there, in the Arabah, in the hill country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the seashore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 1:19 We traveled from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 1:20 I said to you, "You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God gives to us. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 1:27 and you murmured in your tents, and said, "Because Yahweh hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 1:44 The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 3:2 Yahweh said to me, "Don't fear him; for I have delivered him, and all his people, and his land, into your hand; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 3:8 We took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon; (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 3:9 (which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir;) (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 4:46 beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck, when they came forth out of Egypt. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 4:47 They took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise; (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 7:1 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; (KJV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 20:17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee: (KJV DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 31:4 Yahweh will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land; whom he destroyed. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 2:10 For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 3:10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. (KJV DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Joshua 5:1 It happened, when all the kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard how that Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we had passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Joshua 7:7 Joshua said, "Alas, Lord Yahweh, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish? I wish that we had been content and lived beyond the Jordan! (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 9:1 Now on hearing the news of these things, all the kings on the west side of Jordan, in the hill-country and the lowlands and by the Great Sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, (BBE RSV NIV)

Joshua 9:10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 10:5 Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their armies, and encamped against Gibeon, and made war against it. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 10:6 The men of Gibeon sent to Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, "Don't abandon your servants! Come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us; for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the hill country have gathered together against us." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Joshua 10:12 Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh in the day when Yahweh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand still on Gibeon! You, moon, stop in the valley of Aijalon!" (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 11:3 And to the Canaanites on the east and on the west, and to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill-country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. (BBE RSV NIV)

Joshua 12:2 Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the middle of the valley, and half Gilead, even to the river Jabbok, the border of the children of Ammon; (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 12:8 In the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: (KJV BBE DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Joshua 13:4 on the south; all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the border of the Amorites; (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Joshua 13:10 and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, to the border of the children of Ammon; (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 13:21 all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Joshua 24:8 "'I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan: and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land; and I destroyed them from before you. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 24:11 And you went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand. (KJV BBE DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Joshua 24:12 I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Joshua 24:15 If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 24:18 Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 1:34 The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country; for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; of Abednego. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 1:35 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 subject to forced labor. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 1:36 The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward. (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 3:5 The children of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 6:10 and I said to you, "I am Yahweh your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell." But you have not listened to my voice.'" (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 10:8 They troubled and oppressed the children of Israel that year: eighteen years oppressed they all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 10:11 Yahweh said to the children of Israel, "Didn't I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 11:19 Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him,'Let us pass, please, through your land to my place.' (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 11:21 Yahweh, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 11:22 They possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Judges 11:23 So now Yahweh, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them? (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

1 Samuel 7:14 The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and its border did Israel deliver out of the hand of the Philistines. There was peace between Israel and the Amorites. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS NAS RSV NIV)

2 Samuel 21:2 The king called the Gibeonites, and said to 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 to them: and Saul sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah); (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

1 Kings 4:19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer who was in the land. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

1 Kings 9:20 As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel; (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

1 Kings 21:26 He did very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom Yahweh cast out before the children of Israel. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

2 Kings 21:11 "Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols; (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Chronicles 1:14 and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite; (See NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 8:7 As for all the people who were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel; (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezra 9:1 Now when these things were done, the princes drew near to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Nehemiah 9:8 And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous: (KJV DBY WBS NIV)

Psalms 135:11 Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan, (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 136:19 Sihon king of the Amorites; for his loving kindness endures forever; (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 17:9 In that day your towns will be like the waste places of the Hivites and the Amorites which the children of Israel took for a heritage, and they will come to destruction. (BBE RSV)

Amos 2:10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. (See JPS NIV)

Thesaurus
Amorites (82 Occurrences)
... 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 ...
/a/amorites.htm - 50k

Perizzites (23 Occurrences)
... that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey;
unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the ...
/p/perizzites.htm - 15k

Hivites (24 Occurrences)
... that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey;
unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the ...
/h/hivites.htm - 15k

Jebusites (29 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Jebusites (29 Occurrences). Genesis 15:21 the Amorites,
the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." (WEB KJV DBY WBS NIV). ...
/j/jebusites.htm - 17k

Sihon (34 Occurrences)
... The whole country on the east of Jordan, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, was possessed
by the Amorites, whose king, Sihon, refused to permit the Israelites to ...
/s/sihon.htm - 20k

Reigned (206 Occurrences)
... him: for I have delivered him into your hand, and all his people, and his land;
and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at ...
/r/reigned.htm - 37k

Og (22 Occurrences)
... whose territory, embracing 60 cities, was conquered by Moses and the Israelites
immediately after the conquest of Sihon, king of the Amorites (Numbers 21:33-35 ...
/o/og.htm - 17k

Arnon (23 Occurrences)
... The stream is almost dry in summer. It is now called el-Mujeb. The territory
of the Amorites extended from the Arnon to the Jabbok. Int. ...
/a/arnon.htm - 17k

Girgashites (7 Occurrences)
... See NIV). Genesis 15:21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites,
and the Jebusites." (WEB KJV DBY WBS NIV). Deuteronomy 7:1 ...
/g/girgashites.htm - 8k

Heshbon (37 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Intelligence, a city ruled over by Sihon, king
of the Amorites (Joshua 3:10; 13:17). It was taken by Moses ...
/h/heshbon.htm - 22k

ATS Bible Dictionary
Amorites

A people descended from Emer, the fourth son of Canaan, Genesis 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, Numbers 13:29 21:21-31 Joshua 5:1 Jud 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, Genesis 15:16 Am 2:9. See CANAANITES.

By the expression, "Thy father was an Amorite and thy mother a Hittite." Ezekiel 16:3, God reminds the Jews that they were naturally no more worthy of divine favor than the worst of the heathen Canaanites.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
AMORITES

am'-o-rits; Amorites ('emori, always in the singular like the Babylonian Amurru from which it is taken; Amorraioi):

1. Varying Use of the Name Explained

2. The Amorite Kingdom

3. Sihon's Conquest

4. Disappearance of the Amorite Kingdom

5. Physical Characteristics of the Amorites

The name Amorite is used in the Old Testament to denote

(1) the inhabitants of Palestine generally,

(2) the population of the hills as opposed to the plain, and

(3) a specific people under a king of their own. Thus

(1) we hear of them on the west shore of the Dead Sea (Genesis 14:7), at Hebron (Genesis 14:13), and Shechem (Genesis 48:22), in Gilead and Bashan (Deuteronomy 3:10) and under Hermon (Deuteronomy 3:8; Deuteronomy 4:48). They are named instead of the Canaanites as the inhabitants of Palestine whom the Israelites were required to exterminate (Genesis 15:16 Deuteronomy 20:17 Judges 6:10 1 Samuel 7:14 1 Kings 21:26 2 Kings 21:11); the older population of Judah is called Amorite in Joshua 10:5, 6, in conformity with which Ezekiel (16:3) states that Jerusalem had an Amorite father; and the Gibeonites are said to have been "of the remnant of the Amorites" (2 Samuel 21:2). On the other hand

(2), in Numbers 13:29 the Amorites are described as dwelling in the mountains like the Hittites and Jebusites of Jerusalem, while the Amalekites or Bedouins lived in the south and the Canaanites on the seacoast and in the valley of the Jordan. Lastly (3) we hear of Sihon, "king of the Amorites," who had conquered the northern half of Moab (Numbers 21:21-31 Deuteronomy 2:26-35).

1. Varying Use of the Name Explained:

Assyriological discovery has explained the varying use of the name. The Hebrew form of it is a transliteration of the Babylonian Amurru, which was both sing. and plural. In the age of Abraham the Amurru were the dominant people in western Asia; hence Syria and Palestine were called by the Babylonians "the land of the Amorites." In the Assyrian period this was replaced by "land of the Hittites," the Hittites in the Mosaic age having made themselves masters of Syria and Canaan. The use of the name "Amorite" in its general sense belongs to the Babylonian period of oriental history.

2. The Amorite Kingdom:

The Amorite kingdom was of great antiquity. About 2500 B.C. it embraced the larger part of Mesopotamia and Syria, with its capital probably at Harran, and a few centuries later northern Babylonia was occupied by an "Amorite" dynasty of kings who traced theft descent from Samu or Sumu (the Biblical Shem), and made Babylon their capital. To this dynasty belonged Khammu-rabi, the Amraphel of Genesis 14:1. In the astrological documents of the period frequent reference is made to "the king of the Amorites." This king of the Amorites was subject to Babylonia in the age of the dynasty of Ur, two or three centuries before the birth of Abraham He claimed suzerainty over a number of "Amorite" kinglets, among whom those of Khana on the Euphrates, near the mouth of the Khabur, may be named, since in the Abrahamic age one of them was called Khammu-rapikh and another Isarlim or Israel. A payment of a cadastral survey made at this time by a Babylonian governor with the Canaanite name of Urimelech is now in the Louvre. Numerous Amorites were settled in Ur and other Babylonian cities, chiefly for the purpose of trade. They seem to have enjoyed the same rights and privileges as the native Babylonians. Some of them were commercial travelers, but we hear also of the heads of the great firms making journeys to the Mediterranean coast.

In an inscription found near Diarbekir and dedicated to Khammu-rabi by Ibirum (= Eber), the governor of the district, the only title given to the Babylonian monarch is "king of the Amorites," where instead of Amurru the Sumerian Martu (Hebrew moreh) is used. The great-grandson of Khammu-rabi still calls himself "king of the widespread land of the Amorites," but two generations later Babylonia was invaded by the Hittites, the Amorite dynasty came to an end, and there was once more a "king of the Amorites" who was not also king of Babylonia.

The Amorite kingdom continued to exist down to the time of the Israelite invasion of Palestine, and mention is made of it in the Egyptian records as well as in the cuneiform Tell el-Amarna Letters, and the Hittite archives recently discovered at Boghaz-keui, the site of the Hittite capital in Cappadocia. The Egyptian conquest of Canaan by the kings of the XVIIIth Dynasty had put an end to the effective government of that country by the Amorite princes, but their rule still extended eastward to the borders of Babylonia, while its southern limits coincided approximately with what was afterward the northern frontier of Naphtali. The Amorite kings, however, became, at all events in name, the vassals of the Egyptian Pharaoh. When the Egyptian empire began to break up, under the "heretic king" Amenhotep IV, at the end of the XVIIIth Dynasty (1400 B.C.), the Amorite princes naturally turned to their more powerful neighbors in the north. One of the letters in the Tell el-Amarna correspondence is from the Pharaoh to his Amorite vassal Aziru the son of Ebed-Asherah, accusing him of rebellion and threatening him with punishment.

Eventually Aziru found it advisable to go over openly to the Hittites, and pay the Hittite government an annual tribute of 300 shekels of gold. From that time forward the Amorite kingdom was a dependency of the Hittite empire, which, on the strength of this, claimed dominion over Palestine as far as the Egyptian frontier. The second successor of Aziru was Abi-Amurru (or Abi-Hadad), whose successor bore, in addition to a Semitic name, the Mitannian name of Bentesinas. Bente-sinas was dethroned by the Hittite King Muttallis and imprisoned in Cappadocia, where he seems to have met the Hittite prince Khattu-sil, who on the death of his brother Muttallis seized the crown and restored Bente-sinas to his kingdom. Bente-sinas married the daughter of Khattu-sil, while his own daughter was wedded to the son of his Hittite suzerain, and an agreement was made that the succession to the Amorite throne should be confined to her descendants. Two or three generations later the Hittite empire was destroyed by an invasion of "northern barbarians," the Phrygians, probably, of Greek history, who marched southward, through Palestine, against Egypt, carrying with them "the king of the Amorites." The invaders, however, were defeated and practically exterminated by Ramses III of the XXth Egyptian Dynasty (1200 B.C.). The Amorite king, captured on this occasion by the Egyptians, was probably the immediate predecessor of the Sihon of the Old Testament.

3. Sihon's Conquest:

Egyptian influence in Canaan had finally ceased with the invasion of Egypt by the Libyans and peoples of the Aegean in the fifth year of Meneptah, the successor of Ramses II, at the time of the Israelite Exodus. Though the invaders were repulsed, the Egyptian garrisons had to be withdrawn from the cities of southern Palestine, where their place was taken by the Philistines who thus blocked the way from Egypt to the north. The Amorites, in the name of their distant Hittite suzerains, were accordingly able to overrun the old Egyptian provinces on the east side of the Jordan; the Amorite chieftain Og possessed himself of Bashan (Deuteronomy 3:8), and Sihon, "king of the Amorites," conquered the northern part of Moab.

The conquest must have been recent at the time of the Israelite invasion, as the Amorite song of triumph is quoted in Numbers 21:27-29, and adapted to the overthrow of Sihon himself by the Israelites. `Woe unto thee,' it reads, `O Moab; thou art undone, O people of Chemosh! (Chemosh) hath given thy sons who escaped (the battle) and thy daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.' The flame that had thus consumed Heshbon, it is further declared, shall spread southward through Moab, while Heshbon itself is rebuilt and made the capital of the conqueror: "Come to Heshbon, that the city of Sihon (like the city of David, 2 Samuel 5:9) may be rebuilt and restored. For the fire has spread from Heshbon, the flame from the capital of Sihon, devouring as far as Moab (reading `adh with the Septuagint instead of `ar), and swallowing up (reading bale`ah with the Septuagint) the high places of Arnon." The Israelite invasion, however, prevented the expected conquest of southern Moab from taking place.

4. Disappearance of the Amorite Kingdom:

After the fall of Sihon the Amorite kingdom disappears. The Syrians of Zobah, of Hamath and of Damascus take its place, while with the rise of Assyria the "Amorites" cease to be the representatives in contemporary literature of the inhabitants of western Asia. At one time their power had extended to the Babylonian frontier, and Bente-sinas was summoned to Cappadocia by his Hittite overlord to answer a charge made by the Babylonian ambassadors of his having raided northern Babylonia. The Amorite king urged, however, that the raid was merely an attempt to recover a debt of 30 talents of silver.

5. Physical Characteristics of the Amorites:

In Numbers 13:29 the Amorites are described as mountaineers, and in harmony with thins, according to Professor Petrie's notes, the Egyptian artists represent them with fair complexions, blue eyes and light hair. It would, therefore, seem that they belonged to the Libyan race of northern Africa rather than to the Semitic stock. In western Asia, however, they were mixed with other racial elements derived from the subject populations, and as they spoke a Semitic language one of the most important of these elements would have been the Semites. In its general sense, moreover, the name "Amorite" included in the Babylonian period all the settled and civilized peoples west of the Euphrates to whatever race they might belong.

LITERATURE.

Hugo Winckler, Mitteilungen der deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft (1907), No. 35, Berlin; Sayce, The Races of the Old Testament, Religious Tract Soc., 1890.

A. H. Sayce

MOUNT OF THE AMORITES

("Hill-country of the Amorites" (Deuteronomy 1:7, 20, 24; compare Numbers 13:29 Joshua 10:6, etc.)): The region intended is that afterward known as the hill country of Judah and Ephraim, but sometimes "Amorites" is used as a general designation for all the inhabitants of Canaan (Genesis 15:16 Joshua 24:8, 18, etc.).

See AMORITES.

Easton's Bible Dictionary
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 (13. 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 Genesis 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).

Strong's Hebrew
2776. Cheres -- a mountain East of the Jordan, also dwelling place ...
... a mountain East of the Jordan, also dwelling place of the Amorites. Transliteration:
Cheres Phonetic Spelling: (kheh'-res) Short Definition: Heres. ...
/hebrew/2776.htm - 6k

5511. Sichon -- a king of the Amorites
... << 5510, 5511. Sichon or Sichon. 5512 >>. a king of the Amorites. Transliteration:
Sichon or Sichon Phonetic Spelling: (see-khone') Short Definition: Sihon. ...
/hebrew/5511.htm - 6k

567. Emori -- perhaps "mountain dwellers," a Canaanite tribe
... << 566, 567. Emori. 568 >>. perhaps "mountain dwellers," a Canaanite tribe.
Transliteration: Emori Phonetic Spelling: (em-o-ree') Short Definition: Amorites. ...
/hebrew/567.htm - 6k

Subtopics

Amorites

Amorites were Giants

Amorites: Allotted to Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh

Amorites: Chiefs of

Amorites: Conquest of

Amorites: Descendants of Canaan

Amorites: Given to Descendants of Abraham

Amorites: Hornets Sent Among

Amorites: Idolatry of

Amorites: Intermarry With Jews

Amorites: Judgments Denounced Against

Amorites: Kings of

Amorites: Not Exterminated

Amorites: Struck Down by Chedorlaomer and Rescued by Abraham

Amorites: Territory of

Amorites: Wickedness of

The Amorites of Gigantic Strength and Stature

The Amorites: Acquired an Extensive Territory from Moab East of Jordan

The Amorites: Ahab Followed the Abominations of

The Amorites: Brought Into Bondage by Solomon

The Amorites: Character of Idolatrous

The Amorites: Character of Profane and Wicked

The Amorites: Defeated by Chedorlaomer

The Amorites: Deprived of Their Eastern Territory by Israel

The Amorites: Descent From, Illustrative of Man's Natural State

The Amorites: Descent of

The Amorites: Doomed to Utter Destruction

The Amorites: Forbearance of God Towards

The Amorites: Governed by Many Independent Kings

The Amorites: had Many and Strong Cities

The Amorites: had Peace With Israel in the Days of Samuel

The Amorites: Jacob Took a Portion From

The Amorites: Joined Abraham Against the Kings

The Amorites: Kings of, Degraded and Slain

The Amorites: Kings of, Great and Powerful

The Amorites: Land of, Given to Reubenites

The Amorites: Manasseh Exceeded Abominations of

The Amorites: Miraculous Overthrow of

The Amorites: One of the Seven Nations of Canaan

The Amorites: Originally Inhabited a Mountain District in the South

The Amorites: Refused a Passage to Israel

The Amorites: The Gibeonites a Tribe of, Deceived Israel Into a League

The Amorites: The Israelites Unable to Expel, But Extracted Tribute From

The Amorites: The Jews After the Captivity Condemned for Intermarrying With

The Amorites: Western Kings of, Confederated Against Israel

Related Terms

Perizzites (23 Occurrences)

Hivites (24 Occurrences)

Jebusites (29 Occurrences)

Sihon (34 Occurrences)

Reigned (206 Occurrences)

Og (22 Occurrences)

Arnon (23 Occurrences)

Girgashites (7 Occurrences)

Heshbon (37 Occurrences)

Boundary (83 Occurrences)

Ruling (123 Occurrences)

Merchandise (34 Occurrences)

Battle (282 Occurrences)

Per'izzites (21 Occurrences)

Coasts (58 Occurrences)

Hermon (16 Occurrences)

Amorite (81 Occurrences)

Bethhoron (12 Occurrences)

Beth-horon (12 Occurrences)

Ammon (100 Occurrences)

Dispossessed (42 Occurrences)

Machir (20 Occurrences)

Aijalon (10 Occurrences)

Ajalon (10 Occurrences)

Perizzite (22 Occurrences)

Defeated (88 Occurrences)

Jeb'usites (30 Occurrences)

Babylonia (17 Occurrences)

Drove (89 Occurrences)

Ruled (84 Occurrences)

Overcame (84 Occurrences)

Surrounding (78 Occurrences)

Fought (109 Occurrences)

Dispossess (44 Occurrences)

Dwelt (307 Occurrences)

Mountains (221 Occurrences)

Moab (162 Occurrences)

Jebusite (39 Occurrences)

Gilgal (39 Occurrences)

Bashan (54 Occurrences)

Hivite (25 Occurrences)

Hittite (45 Occurrences)

Coast (70 Occurrences)

Villages (106 Occurrences)

Kadeshbarnea (9 Occurrences)

Kadesh-barnea (9 Occurrences)

Neighboring (11 Occurrences)

Jazer (13 Occurrences)

Jaazer (12 Occurrences)

Lowlands (25 Occurrences)

Gorge (19 Occurrences)

Extending (15 Occurrences)

Extends (15 Occurrences)

Edrei (8 Occurrences)

Eriaku

Engedi (6 Occurrences)

Eri-aku

Dependent (35 Occurrences)

Drave (13 Occurrences)

Moriah (2 Occurrences)

Ai'jalon (10 Occurrences)

Ash'taroth (12 Occurrences)

Aroer (17 Occurrences)

Amalekites (36 Occurrences)

Alongside (10 Occurrences)

Settlements (27 Occurrences)

Sidonians (16 Occurrences)

Shaalbim (2 Occurrences)

Senir (4 Occurrences)

Ciccar

Dried (66 Occurrences)

Borders (104 Occurrences)

Jabbok (7 Occurrences)

Driving (144 Occurrences)

Pitched (101 Occurrences)

Hail (42 Occurrences)

Possessed (100 Occurrences)

Encamped (115 Occurrences)

Beyond (209 Occurrences)

Amorite
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