“And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.”
Then Balaam saw Amalek, and uttered his oracle, saying: 'Amalek was the first of the nations, but of him the latter end is destruction' — Balaam's gaze turns to Amalek, Israel's ancient enemy. Amalek 'was the first of the nations' (rishon hagoyim Amalek)—perhaps the first to attack Israel (Exodus 17:8) or the first among nations in some other sense. Yet his 'latter end is destruction' (ve-achrito ad ha-oved); Amalek's future is annihilation. The oracle is brief yet devastating; Amalek, once mighty, will be utterly destroyed.
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