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Rashi on Devarim 1:8 says that if it weren't for the sin with the spies, we would have never needed armaments.

Bamidbar 14:25 tells us that Amalek lived in the valleys, and Devarim 25:29 states that we must rid of the memory of Amalek, implying our own actions.

Judging from Rash"i's comments on Devarim 1:8, would there have been no mitzvah to rid Amalaek if we didn't have the sin of the spies? Would God have eradicated them for us?

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The Rambam (Malachim U'Milchamos 1:2) says that the Mitzvah of destroying Amalek only applies once a King is appointed, and a King is only appointed after they have conquered the land.

So the need for armaments would not have been then, but rather only later.

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  • OK. But, the main focus of my question is if Amalek would have already been driven out of the land prior to B'nai Yisra'el entering it?
    – DanF
    Jul 29, 2014 at 15:39
  • @DanF, Amalek wasn't one of the seven nations that needed to be conquered to inhabit the land.
    – Yishai
    Jul 29, 2014 at 16:18
  • I know that. So, essentially, Rashi's comment in Devarim 1:5 refers only to the 7 nations? Difficult to understand that, b/c he says there would be no need for armaments - seems to mean "at all". It's different than saying, "You wouldn't need to fight so and so", which would be more specific.
    – DanF
    Jul 29, 2014 at 16:35
  • @DanF, the context of Rashi is the land that they would inherit (referenced in verses 7 and 8 there). Rashi's point is that they would have inherited it straight up without conquest if not for ...
    – Yishai
    Jul 29, 2014 at 16:37
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I found this drasha on the Daf Yomi Notes for Megillah 16:

The Gemora relates that Achashverosh ordered Haman to get Mordechai, dress him in the royal garments and lead him through the city on the king’s horse proclaiming, “Thus shall be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.” Haman located Mordechai teaching his students the laws of kemitzah (scooping the flour for the mincha offering). Rashi states that this occurred on the sixteenth of Nissan, the day the korban omer is offered in the Beis Hamikdosh.

The Maharal explains the connection between the omer offering and the story of Purim. The Omer offering reveals the miracles that are hidden inside of nature. By bringing the first grain to the Beis Hamikdosh, we are demonstrating that even the nature of the world is governed by Hashem. This was the method used to overcome Haman. The miracles were concealed from the human eye. The means to conquer Haman and Amalek is by exposing the concealed miracles, thus confirming that all which appears natural is controlled by Hashem.

In summary, based on Maharal's explanation, G-d could not have gotten rid of Amalek for us.

See the "Daily Mashal" near the end of the linked article for further explanation and other views on this. I could only excerpt a section!

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