Exodus 17:11

17:11 Whenever Moses would raise his hands, ¹  then Israel prevailed, but whenever he would rest ²  his hands, then Amalek prevailed.

Exodus 17:13

17:13 So Joshua destroyed ³  Amalek and his army ⁴  with the sword. ⁵ 

[17:11]  ¹ tn The two verbs in the temporal clauses are by וְהָיָה כַּאֲשֶׁר (vÿhaya ka’asher, “as long as” or, “and it was that whenever”). This indicates that the two imperfect tenses should be given a frequentative translation, probably a customary imperfect.

[17:11]  ² tn Or “lower.”

[17:13]  ³ tn The verb means “disabled, weakened, prostrated.” It is used a couple of times in the Bible to describe how man dies and is powerless (see Job 14:10; Isa 14:12).

[17:13]  ⁴ tn Or “people.”

[17:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “mouth of the sword.” It means as the sword devours – without quarter (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 159).