SPECIAL TOPIC: AMORITE

SPECIAL TOPIC: AMORITE (BDB 57, KB 67)

The term “Amorite” (Akkadian, “land to the west”) is used in four senses.

1. one of the several indigenous tribes of Canaan (e.g. Gen. 10:16;
15:18-21; Exod. 3:8,17; Deut. 20:17; Jos. 24:11; Ezra 9:1; Neh. 9:8 [nomadic tribes from
Akkadian texts])

2. a general name for people to the west of Mesopotamia (cf. Jdgs. 6:10; 2 Kgs. 21:11; Ezek. 16:3, also from Assyrian and
Babylonian texts)

3. inhabitants of the highlands as opposed to Canaanites who occupy
the lowlands (cf. Num. 13:29; Deut. 1:7,19,20; 3:2)

4. Canaanite and Amorite are both used to designate all the
indigenous tribes of Palestine/Canaan (cf. Gen. 15:16; Jdgs. 6:10; Jos. 7:7; 1
Sam. 7:14; 1 Kgs. 21:26; 2 Kgs. 21:11)