Ammonites and Amorites | kissimmeehomeschool

The Ammonites

The Ammonites and the Amorites

"Who were the Ammonites?"

Ham son of the Biblical Patriarch Noah

Also Kham. Literal meanings are hot, burnt or dark (father of the Mongoloid and Negroid races - Hamites). He was the progenitor of:

Canaan "down low" (sons were Zidon, Heth, Amori, Gergashi, Hivi, Arkee, Seni, Arodi, Zimodi and Chamothi) - also Canaanites, Cana, Chna, Chanani, Chanana, Canaana, Kana, Kenaanah, Kena'ani, Kena'an, Kn'nw, Kyn'nw, Kinnahu, Kinahhi, Kinahni, Kinahna, Kinahne (Mongols, Chinese, Japanese, Asians, Malayasians, AmerIndians, Eskimos, Polynesians, Pacific Islanders, related groups);

Throughout the early history of Israel, we find references to the Ammonite people. Who were they, where did they come from, and what happened to them? The Ammonites were a Semitic people, closely related to the Israelites. Despite that relationship, they were more often counted enemies than friends. The term Amorites is used in the Bible to refer to certain highland mountaineers who inhabited the land of Canaan, described in Genesis as descendants of Canaan, son of Ham whom was the son of Noah.

Lot, Abraham's nephew, was the progenitor of the Ammonites. After Abraham and Lot separated (Genesis 13), Lot settled in the city of Sodom. When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness, Lot and his daughters fled to the hill country on the southern end of the Dead Sea. Probably thinking they were the only people left on the earth, Lot’s daughters got him drunk and had incestuous relations with him to produce children (Genesis 19:37-38). The older daughter had a son named Moab (“from father”), and the younger gave birth to Ben-Ammi (“son of my people”). The Ammonites, descendants of Ben-Ammi, were a nomadic people who lived in the territory of modern-day Jordan, and the name of the capital city, Amman, reflects the name of those ancient inhabitants.

In the time of Moses, the fertile plains of the Jordan River valley were occupied by the Amorites, Ammonites and Moabites. When Israel left Egypt, the Ammonites refused to assist them in any way, and God punished them for their lack of support (Deuteronomy 23:3-4). Later, however, as the Israelites entered the Promised Land, God instructed them, “When you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession” (Deuteronomy 2:19). The Israelite tribes of Gad, Reuben, and half of Manasseh claimed the Amorite territory bordering that of the Ammonites.

The Ammonites were a pagan people who worshiped the gods Milcom and Molech. God commanded the Israelites not to marry these pagans, because intermarriage would lead the Israelites to worship false gods. Solomon disobeyed and married Naamah the Ammonite (1 Kings 14:21), and, as God had warned, he was drawn into idolatry (1 Kings 11:1-8). Molech was a fire-god with the face of a calf; his images had arms outstretched to receive the babies who were sacrificed to him. Like their god, the Ammonites were cruel. When Nahash the Ammonite was asked for terms of a treaty (1 Samuel 11:2), he proposed gouging out the right eye of each Israelite man. Amos 1:13 says that the Ammonites would rip open pregnant women in the territories they conquered.

Under King Saul's leadership, Israel defeated the Ammonites and made them vassals. David continued that sovereignty over Ammon and later besieged the capital city to solidify his control. After the split of Israel and Judah, the Ammonites began to ally themselves with the enemies of Israel. Ammon regained some sovereignty in the seventh century B.C., until Nebuchadnezzar conquered them about a hundred years later. Tobiah the Ammonite (Nehemiah 2:19) was possibly a governor of the region under Persian rule, but the inhabitants were a mix of Ammonites, Arabs, and others. By New Testament times, Jews had settled in the area, and it was known as Perea. The last mention of Ammonites as a separate people was in the second century by Justin Martyr, who said they were very numerous. Sometime during the Roman period, the Ammonites seem to have been absorbed into Arab society.

A group of people called the Ammonites is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, but who are they? In the early history of Israel, the Ammonites were generally viewed as an enemy of Israel. A look at some of the verses that mention this group helps to explain why.

The origin of the Ammonites is found with Abraham's nephew Lot. Genesis 19:37-38 explains that one of Lot's sons named Ben-Ammi (meaning "son of my people") was the one through whom the Ammonites descended. Ben-Ammi's descendants were a nomadic people who lived in the territory of modern-day Jordan. Even the Jordanian capital of Amman reflects the name of these ancient inhabitants.

During the time of Moses, the Ammonites were one of the groups of people who refused to assist God's people when they were in the wilderness. God punished them for this action (Deuteronomy 23:3-4). However, unlike other people groups that the Israelites destroyed in the Promised Land, God instructed, "And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession" (Deuteronomy 2:19).

Later in the Old Testament the Ammonites are again mentioned as people who followed false gods. Israelites were not permitted to marry Ammonites as a result. King Solomon would later disobey this teaching (1 Kings 14:21). Further, many Ammonite war practices were extremely violent. At one point, an Ammonite leader planned to gouge out the right eye of every Israelite as part of a treaty (1 Samuel 11:2). Scripture states that the Ammonites would rip open pregnant women in lands they had conquered (Amos 1:13).

The end of the Ammonite people is not entirely clear. The first Jewish king, King Saul, defeated the Ammonites and made them his servants. They later regained power yet would be defeated along with many other nations under King Nebuchadnezzar in the seventh century BC. A man named Tobiah the Ammonite is mentioned in Nehemiah 2:19 at the end of the Old Testament period (400s BC).

The last mention of Ammonites outside of the Bible was by Justin Martyr. He wrote in the second century AD that the Ammonites were numerous. Yet after this time the Ammonites would disappear, likely becoming absorbed within Arab society within a few centuries.

What do we know about the Amorites?

Ham son of the Biblical Patriarch Noah

Also Kham. Literal meanings are hot, burnt or dark (father of the Mongoloid and Negroid races - Hamites). He was the progenitor of:

The Amorites were an ancient people group frequently listed among the enemies of Israel in the writings of the Old Testament. Genesis 10:15-16 first mentions the Amorites, referring to them as descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, the son of Noah (Genesis 10:6).

The Amorites are next found in Genesis 14. Verse 7 says, "Then they [Chedorlaomer and others mentioned in verse 5] turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar." Apparently many Amorites existed by the time of Abraham.

Prior to the time the Israelites entered the Promised Land, some of the southern Judean mountains were called the "hill country of the Amorites" (Deuteronomy 1:7). The Israelites sent 12 spies, including Joshua and Caleb, to explore this land before crossing into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 1:19-40). The spies (besides Joshua and Caleb) were afraid of the Amorites and the other nations, however, and when the Israelites refused to trust God and enter their Promised Land, God forced them to wander the desert for another forty years.

When Israel finally did approach the Promised Land, Moses led them in defeating two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og (Deuteronomy 31:4). Under Joshua's leadership, five additional Amorite kings were defeated (Joshua 10:6-10). Generations later, in the time of Samuel, the Amorites were said to be living in peace with the Israelites (1 Samuel 7:14).

During the reign of King Solomon, less than a century later, the remaining Amorites were placed into slavery—a kind of serfdom. First Kings 9:20-21 says, "All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel—their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction—these Solomon drafted to be slaves, and so they are to this day."

Overall, the Amorites were known as warriors. Some of their people may also have been known for being very tall. For example, Deuteronomy 3:11 says, "For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit." This length, approximately 13.5 feet long (more than 4 meters), indicates that the man was either very tall, very wealthy, or both.

The Amorites were Israel's enemy for two main reasons. First, they worshiped other gods rather than the one true God. Second, when Israel first requested to pass through Amorite land peaceably, the Amorites refused and attacked them instead (Judges 11:12-28). The Amorites' rejection of God and violence toward His chosen people ensured their judgment and downfall (Romans 2:5).