The deeds of our Joshua are of two kinds. For some of them preceded the death of Moses, [and] others followed [it]. And these latter [are] indeed nearly all in the book of Joshua; but those former ones will have to be excerpted from various places — of Exodus, of Numbers, and of Deuteronomy. The first of them is the first war of the Israelites, against the first [enemies] who met them — [the Israelites] having gone out from Egypt, and wandering through the wildernesses [that lay] between it and the promised land — namely the Amalekites; concerning whom Moses [speaks] thus, Exodus 17, v. 8[–16]:
“And Amalec came, and fought against Israel in Raphidim. And Moses said to Joshua: Choose out men; and go out and fight against Amalec: to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill, having the rod of God in my hand. Joshua did as Moses had spoken, and he fought against Amalec. But Moses, and Aaron, and Hur went up upon the top of the hill. And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel overcame; but if he let them down a little, Amalec overcame. And Moses’s hands were heavy: so they took a stone, and put under him, and he sat on it: and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands on both sides. And it came to pass that his hands were not weary until sunset. And Joshua put Amalec and his people to flight, by the edge of the sword. And the Lord said to Moses: Write this for a memorial in a book, and deliver it to the ears of Joshua; for I will destroy the memory of Amalec from under heaven. And Moses built an altar; and called the name thereof, The Lord my exaltation, saying: Because the hand of the throne [lit. the hand of the Lord alone], and the war of the Lord, shall be against Amalec, from generation to generation.”