I Chronicles 4:43 · Bible study
1 Chronicles 4:43 Commentary: Study: Amalek's Remnant Struck
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
How the Simeonites' victory over Amalek's remnant fulfills God's judgment. Historical context, meaning of 'to this day', and theological significance.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The Simeonites execute God’s judgment on the Amalekite remnant and settle in their land.
- Key words: remnant, smote, dwell to this day.
- Main debate: The timing of the event (Hezekiah’s reign or later) and the ethics of divine judgment.
- Theological theme: God’s faithfulness to fulfill His word, even in judgment.
- Best use: Teaching on God’s sovereignty in history and the fulfillment of prophecy.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
and struck down the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped. And they have lived there to this day.
WEB World English Bible 2000
They struck the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and have lived there to this day.
KJV King James Version 1769
And they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwelt there unto this day.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And they smote the remnant of the Amalekites that escaped, and have dwelt there unto this day.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
and they smite the remnant of those escaped of Amalek, and dwell there unto this day.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
and they smote the rest of the Amalekites that had escaped; and they dwelt there unto this day.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And they slew the remnant of the Amalecites, who had been able to escape, and they dwelt there in their stead unto this day.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
E hirieron á las reliquias que habían quedado de Amalec, y habitaron allí hasta hoy.
E mataram os que haviam restado dos amalequitas, e habitaram ali até hoje.
Ils battirent le reste des réchappés d’ Amalek, et ils s’ établirent là jusqu’ à ce jour.
und schlugen die übrigen Entronnenen der Amalekiter und wohnten daselbst bis auf diesen Tag.
En zij sloegen de overigen der ontkomenen onder de Amalekieten, en zij woonden aldaar tot op dezen dag.
distrussero gli avanzi degli Amalekiti che avean potuto salvarsi, e si stabiliron quivi, dove son rimasti fino al dì d’oggi.
I wymordowali ostatki, które były uszły z Amalekitów, a mieszkali tam aż po dziś dzień.
и побили уцелевший там остаток Амаликитян, и живут там до сего дня.
殺了 逃脫 剩下的 亞瑪力人，就住 在那裡 直到 今 日。
And they put to death the rest of the Amalekites who had got away safely, and made it their living-place to this day.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · I Chronicles 4:43
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this verse records the final stage of God's judgment against Amalek. Keil and Delitzsch identify the “escaped of Amalek” as those who survived the earlier victories of Saul (1 Samuel 15) and David (2 Samuel 8:12). The Simeonites, led by four chiefs from the family of Shimei, marched to Mount Seir and struck this remnant. Barnes and the Cambridge Bible observe that the phrase “to this day” likely comes from the source document the Chronicler used, marking the Simeonites’ continued occupation from the writer’s perspective. Gill adds that the settlement lasted into the post-exilic period, so the writer of Chronicles could still speak of it as ongoing. Matthew Henry views the event as a clear fulfillment of the divine curse pronounced against Amalek. The consensus, then, is that the verse presents God’s word (Deuteronomy 25:19) being carried out through the Simeonites, even if generations had passed since the original command.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The verse recounts a historical event where Simeonites struck the surviving Amalekites and settled in their territory, fulfilling God’s earlier judgment against Amalek.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Timing of the event | It occurred after the reigns of Saul and David, and likely during or after the time of Hezekiah. | Some commentators (Clarke, Keil) associate it with Hezekiah’s reign; others allow a later date, near the captivity of the ten tribes. |
| Meaning of 'to this day' | The phrase indicates continued Simeonite occupation from the event to the Chronicler’s own day. | Whether the Chronicler wrote before or after the Babylonian exile. Barnes and Cambridge see it as a quote from an earlier source that may not imply post-exilic occupation. |
| Ethics of the destruction of Amalek | The command came from God in response to Amalek’s attack on Israel (Exodus 17, Deuteronomy 25). | Some traditions view this as a unique historical judgment limited to a specific people; others struggle with the implications of divinely commanded genocide and seek interpretive frameworks (e.g., typological, salvation-historical). |
Historical & Cultural Context
The Amalekites first attacked Israel at Rephidim soon after the exodus (Exodus 17:8, 16). God swore to blot out their memory entirely and declared perpetual war against them. The command was restated in Deuteronomy 25:17, 19: when Israel settled in the land, they were to erase all trace of Amalek.
Yet Israel’s early kings did not complete the task fully. Saul defeated the Amalekites but spared King Agag and the best livestock, an act of disobedience that cost him the throne (1 Samuel 15). David also fought them (1 Samuel 27:8, 9; 2 Samuel 8:12), but a remnant evidently escaped into the mountainous region of Mount Seir, a synonym for Edom (Cambridge Bible). The Simeonite expedition described here took place “in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah” (1 Chronicles 4:41), centuries after the initial commands. Five hundred Simeonites, named leaders among them, marched against this Amalekite holdout. They struck the survivors and settled in their place. The narrative notes that they “have lived there to this day,” implying an enduring occupation from the event into the Chronicler’s own time.
This passage fits into tribal expansion accounts in 1 Chronicles 4, 5, showing how families from Simeon and Reuben found new territory when their numbers grew. The land was described earlier as “rich, good pasture… wide, and quiet, and peaceful” (4:40), and the Simeonites’ victory over the Amalekites secured it as their permanent inheritance.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for 1 Chronicles 4:43. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts compared.
Reception History
Early Christian writers such as Jerome read this verse as an example of God’s justice, emphasizing that divine decrees are never abandoned despite delay. Reformation commentators, among them John Calvin in his sermons on Deuteronomy, saw the Simeonites’ action as proof that God uses even obscure agents to enforce His judgments. In later centuries, the passage was often cited in discussions about the problem of evil, how can a good God command destruction? Some Christian traditions respond that the Amalekites embodied a persistent opposition to God’s people and thus serve as a type of final judgment on all that resists God. Others focus on the historical particularity of the command, pointing out that no nation today is under the same directive. The text has also been used liturgically in readings that trace God’s faithfulness across generations, reminding hearers that God’s word does not return empty.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God’s Word Endures. The command to blot out Amalek waited generations. Saul failed; David did much, but the final stroke came through obscure Simeonite families. God’s purpose did not expire.
- Ordinary People Carry Divine Plans. These Simeonites were not kings or prophets. They were clan leaders who sought pasture and ended up executing judgment. Faithfulness happens in daily decisions.
- Inheritance Follows Obedience. After striking the Amalekites, they “lived there to this day.” The land became theirs. Action and settlement go together.
Five-point outline
- Incomplete Obedience Leaves Loose Ends. Saul’s compromise left a remnant that caused trouble later.
- God’s Timing Is Not Ours, but God’s Word Is Certain. Centuries passed before the final blow fell, yet it fell.
- Judgment Is Often Carried Out by Unknown Faithful. The Simeonites had no spotlight; they just acted.
- Rest Comes When Enemies Are Removed. The quiet pasture was fully enjoyed only after the threat was gone.
- History Belongs to God. The Chronicler’s repeated “to this day” anchors past acts in a present reality.
Illustration hooks
- Think of a gardener who finds a hidden root in the soil years after pulling the visible weeds. A buried threat, finally dealt with.
- A court case that drags through appeals for decades. The plaintiff nearly gives up, then one day the verdict is served. Justice delayed is not justice denied.
Questions your congregation is asking
- “Does God still judge nations and peoples today, or was that only for ancient Israel?”
- “Why did God command the total destruction of a whole people group? That seems harsh.”
- “What does this passage teach about God’s faithfulness to His promises?”
Leading a Discussion
This short verse closes a chapter full of genealogies and brief historical notes. It records how a group of Simeonites finished what Saul and David had started: the removal of the Amalekite presence. For the Chronicler’s readers, living long after the exile, this was proof that God keeps His word even when fulfilment takes centuries.
Discussion questions
- What do we learn about the Amalekites from Exodus 17, Deuteronomy 25, and 1 Samuel 15? Summarise the conflict in your own words.
- Who carried out the action in this verse? Where did they go? What did they do?
- The phrase “to this day” appears twice in this chapter (verses 41 and 43). Why do you think the Chronicler includes it? What does it tell us about the writer’s time?
- In what ways does this event connect to God’s earlier commands? How does it show God’s faithfulness?
- The Simeonites were a smaller, less prominent tribe. What does that tell you about how God uses ordinary people to accomplish His purposes?
- How should Christians today understand Old Testament passages about divinely commanded warfare? What principles guide faithful interpretation?
- What does this verse teach us about trusting God to deal with evil, even when we don’t see immediate results?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 17:14 | Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.” |
| Exodus 17:16 | He said, “Yah has sworn: ‘Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’” |
| Deuteronomy 25:17 | Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came out of Egypt, |
| Deuteronomy 25:19 | Therefore it shall be, when Yahweh your God has given you rest from all your enemies all around, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky. You shall not forget. |
| Deuteronomy 34:6 | He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows where his tomb is to this day. |
| Judges 1:26 | The man went into the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day. |
| I Samuel 15:7 | Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is before Egypt. |
| I Samuel 15:8 | He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that the phrase "unto this day" in this verse does not mean the Simeonites held their conquests continuously until after the exile. Instead, he observes that the writer of Chronicles simply copied this wording from the older record he had before him, so it marks the source, not the duration.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
This commentator clarifies that "the rest of the Amalekites" refers to the surviving descendants of those who escaped King Saul's attack. These survivors had taken refuge in Edomite territory, since Mount Seir is another name for Edom.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note observes that the Simeonites struck down the surviving Amalekites who had fled and then settled in that territory permanently. The phrase "unto this day" confirms the lasting occupation of the land by these Israelite families.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that the Amalekites attacked here were survivors of earlier defeats by Saul and David. He interprets the phrase "unto this day" as pointing to the chronicler's own time, when descendants of Israelites who escaped the Assyrian exile still lived in the former Amalekite cities.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch clarifies that the Simeonite force came from Shimei's family, not the entire tribe, and that the "escaped of Amalek" were survivors of earlier defeats under Saul and David. The attack likely occurred during the second half of Hezekiah's reign.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange treats this chapter as a loose collection of old genealogical fragments that supplement the earlier records of Judah. He points out that the five men called "sons" of Judah in verse 1 belong to different generations, and suggests the name Carmi may be a corruption of Caleb, making the list a direct line of descendants.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that although Simeon’s tribe started small and never multiplied like Judah, God still granted them rich pasture and peaceful land. This shows divine care for even the less prominent families, who were not forgotten but received ample provision in their appointed place.