And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;
The Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, х bªneey (H1121) qedem (H6924)] - Arab tribes, Ishmaelites, called "children of the east," from their occupying the territory east of the Red Sea, contiguous to Moab. Amalekites (see the note at Genesis 14:7; Exodus 17:8). These nomads were on this occasion joined in alliance with the Midianites. The destructive ravages they are described as at this time committing in the land of Israel are similar to those of the Bedouin Arabs, who harass the peaceful cultivators of the soil, and unless a composition is made with them, return annually at a certain season, when they carry off the grain, seize the cattle and other property, and even life itself is in jeopardy from the attacks of those prowling marauders. So unchanged are the habitudes and relations of Oriental nations, the description in this chapter of the wandering tribes who live by plunder applies accurately in the present day (see instances of Arab raids in Rogers' 'Domestic Life in Palestine,' pp. 177, 178). But the vast horde of Midianites that overran Canaan made them the greatest scourge which had ever afflicted the Israelites.