A discrepancy has been supposed to exist between Deut. i, 44, and Num. xiv, 45, since in the former the Amorites are said to have attacked the Israelites, and in the latter the Amalekites ; the obvious explanation is, that both terms are used synonymously for the "Canaanites" named in the same connection. Thus the Gibeonites in Josh, ix, 7, are called Hivites, yet in 2 Sam. xxi, 2, they are said to be " of the remnant of the yl worses," probably because they were descended from a common stock, and were in subjection to an Amoritish prince, as we do not read of any king of the Hivites. The Amorites, on account of their prominence among the Canaanitish tribes, sometimes stand (Josh, xxiv, 18 ; Amos ii, 9 ; 1 Kings xxi, 26) as the representa- ! tives of the Canaanites in general (Hamelsweld, iii, 56 sq. ; Kurtz, on the primitive inhabitants of Pales- : tine, in the Luther. Zeitschr. 18-15, iii, 48 sq. ; Jour, of
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Sac. Lit. Oct. 1851, p. 166 ; Apr. 1852, p. 76 ; Jan. 1853, p. 306; Rosenmiiller, Bibl. Geogr. II, i, 255; Reland, Palast. p. 138). But although the name generally de- notes the mountain tribes of the centre of the country, yet this definition is not always strictly maintained, varying probably with the author of the particular part of the history, and the time at which it was written. Nor ought we to expect that the Israelites could have possessed very accurate knowledge of a set of small tribes whom they were called upon to exterminate — with whom they were forbidden to hold any inter- course— and, moreover, of whose general similarity to each other we have convincing proof in the confusion in question. Thus, Hebron is "Amorite' in Gen. xiii, 18; xiv, 13, though "Hittite" in xxiii, and "Canaanite" in Judg. i, 10. The " Hivites" of Gen. xxxiv, 2, are " Amorites" in xlviii, 22; and so also in Josh, ix, 7; xi, 19, as compared with 2 Sam. xxi, 12. Jerusalem is "Amorite" in Josh, x, 5, 6, but in xvii, 63; xviii, 28; Judg. i, 21 ; xix, 11 ; 2 Sam. v, 6, etc., it is "Jebusite." The "Canaanites" of Num. xiv, 45 (comp. Judg. i, 17), are "Amorites" in Deut. i, 44. Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglcn were in the low country of the Shfela (Josh. xv. 35, 39), but in Josh, x, 5, 6, the)' are "Amorites that dwelt in the mountains;" and it would appear as if the "Amorites" who forced the Danites into the mountain (Judg. i, 34, 35) must have themselves remained on the plain. Notwith- standing these few differences, however, from a com- parison of the passages previously quoted, it appears plain that "Amorite" was in general a local term and not the name of a distinct tribe. This is con- firmed by the following facts : 1. The wide area over which the name was spread. 2. The want of connec- tion between those on the east and those on the west of Jordan — which is only once hinted at (Josh, ii, 10). 3. The existence of kings like Sihon and Og, whose territories were separate and independent, but who are j-et called "the two kings of the Amorites," a state of things quite at variance with the habits of Semitic tribes. 4. Beyond the three confederates of Abram and these two kings, no individual Amorites appear in history (unless Araunah or Oman the Jebusite be one) 5. There are no traces of any peculiar govern ment, worship, or customs, different from those of the other "nations of Canaan." See Canaanite.
All mountaineers are warlike ; and, from the three confederate brothers who at a moment's notice accom- panied "Abram the Hebrew" in his pursuit of the five kings, down to those who, not depressed by the slaughter inflicted by Joshua and the terror of the name of Israel, persisted in driving the children of Dan into the mountain, the Amorites full}' maintain- ed this character. From the language of Amos (ii 9) it has been inferred that the Amorites in general were men of extraordinary stature, but perhaps the allusion is to an individual, Og, king of Bashan, who is described by Moses as being the last "of the rem- nant of the giants." His bedstead was of iron, " nine cubits in length and four cubits in breadth" (Deut iii, 21). One word of the "Amorite" language ha: survived — the name Senir (not " Shenir") for Mount Hermon (Deut. iii, 9); but may not this be the Ca- naanitish name as opposed to the Phoenician (Sirion) on the one side and the Hebrew on the other ?— Kit- tu, s. v. ; Smith, s. v. See HeEMON.
Amort, Eusebius, a Roman Catholic theologian of Germany, was born at the Bibermiihlo (beaver mill) near Toelz, Bavaria, Nov. 15, 1692. He entered the order of the Augustines as Pollingen, when he subse- quently became professor of philosophy, theology, and ecclesiastical law. ile followed Cardinal Cervari to Borne, where he gained the favor of Pope Clement XIT. He returned to Bavaria in 17:;."), and died Feb. 5, 1775. He wrote two works to vindicate the authorship of Thomas a Kempis to the book llDe Imitaiione Christ!'" (Scutum Kempense, Cologne, 1728, 4to; and Deductio