Agag

This seems to have been a common name of the princes of Amalek, one of whom was very powerful as early as the time of Moses, Num 24:7. On account of the cruelties exercised by this king and his army against the Israelites, as they returned from Egypt a bloody and long contested battle took place between Joshua and the Amalekites, in which the former was victorious, Exo 17:8-13. At the same time, God protested with an oath to destroy Amalek, Exo 17:14-16; Deu 25:17-19, A.M. 2513. About four hundred years after this, the Lord remembered the cruel treatment of his people, and his own oath; and he commanded Saul, by the mouth of Samuel, to destroy the Amalekites. Saul mustered his army, and found it two hundred thousand strong, 1Sa 15:1, &c. Having entered into their country, he cut in pieces all he could meet with from Havilah to Shur. Agag their king, and the best of their cattle, were however spared, an act of disobedience on the part of Saul, probably dictated by covetousness. But Agag did not long, enjoy this reprieve; for Samuel no sooner heard that he was alive, than he sent for him; and notwithstanding his insinuating address, and the vain hopes with which he flattered himself that the bitterness of death was past, he caused him to be hewed to pieces in Gilgal before the Lord, saying, “As

באשר , in the same identical mode as, thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women.” This savage chieftain had hewed many prisoners to death; and, therefore, by command of the Judge of the whole earth, he was visited with the same punishment which he had inflicted upon others.

A´gag, the name of two kings of the Amalekites, and perhaps a common name of all their kings, like Pharaoh in Egypt (comp. Num 24:7; 1Sa 15:8-9; 1Sa 15:20; 1Sa 15:32). The first of these passages would imply that the king of the Amalekites was, then at least, a greater monarch, and his people a greater people, than is commonly imagined [AMALEKITES]. The latter references are to that king of the Amalekites who was spared by Saul, contrary to that solemn vow of devotement to destruction, whereby the nation, as such, had of old precluded itself from giving any quarter to that people (Exo 17:14; Deu 25:17-19). Hence, when Samuel arrived in the camp of Saul, he ordered Agag to be brought forth. He came ’pleasantly,’ deeming secure the life which the king had spared. But the prophet ordered him to be cut in pieces; and the expression which he employed—’As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women’—indicates that, apart from the obligations of the vow, some such example of retributive justice was intended as had been exercised in the case of Adonibezek; or, in other words, that Agag had made himself infamous by the same treatment of some prisoners of distinction (probably Israelites) as he now received from Samuel. The unusual mode in which his death was inflicted strongly supports this conclusion.

1. A general name of the kings of the Amalekites; apparently like Pharaoh for the Egyptian kings, Num 1:1-36:13 24:7 1Sa 15:8 . The last one mentioned in Scripture was "hewed in pieces" by Samuel, before the Lord, because Saul had sinfully spared him and the flocks and herds, when ordered utterly to exterminate them. He seems to have incurred an uncommon punishment by infamous cruelties, 1Sa 15:33 \par 2. Agagite, in Gen 3:1,10 8:3,5 is used to mark the nation whence Haman sprung. Josephus explains the word by Amalekite.\par

A’gag. (flame). Possibly the title of the kings of Amalek, like Pharaoh of Egypt. One king of this name is mentioned in Num 24:7, and another in 1Sa 15:8-9; 1Sa 15:20; 1Sa 15:32. The latter was the king of the Amalekites, whom Saul spared contrary to Jehovah’s well-known will. Exo 17:14; Exo 25:17.

For this act of disobedience, Samuel was commissioned to declare to Saul, his rejection, and he himself sent for Agag and cut him in pieces. (B.C. about 1070). See Samuel. Haman is called the Agagite in Est 3:1; Est 3:10; Est 8:3; Est 8:5. The Jews consider him a descendant of Agag, the Amalekite.

("fiery one"; compare Arabic "burn".) A common title of the Amalekite kings; as Pharaoh of the Egyptian. Num 24:7 implies their greatness at that time. Saul’s sparing the Agag of his time (1Sa 15:32) contrary to God’s command, both then and from the first (Exo 17:14; Deu 25:17-19), because of Amalek’s having intercepted Israel in the desert, so as to defeat the purpose of God Himself concerning His people, entailed on Saul loss of his throne and life. Agag came to Samuel "delicately" (rather contentedly, pleasantly), confident of his life being spared. But Samuel executed retributive justice (as in the case of Adonibezek, Judges 1), hewing him to pieces, and so making his mother childless, as he had made other women childless by hewing their sons to pieces (in consonance with his fiery character, as Agag means). This retribution in kind explains the unusual mode of execution. Haman the Agagite (Est 3:1-10; Est 8:3-5) was thought by the Jews his descendant, whence sprung his hatred to their race.

(Heb. Agag’, אֲגִג, perh. flame, from an Arab. root, in 1 Samuel always written אֲגָג; Sept. Α᾿γάγ, but Γώγ in Numbers.), the name of two kings of the Amalekites, and probably a common name of all their kings (Hengstenberg, Pentat. 2, 307), like Pharaoh in Egypt, and Achish or Abimelech among the Philistines. SEE AGAGITE.

1. The king apparently of one of the hostile neighboring nations, at the time of the Exode (B.C. 1618), referred to by Balaam (Num 24:7) in a manner implying that the king of the Amalekites was, then at least, a greater monarch, and his people a greater people, than is commonly imagined. SEE AMALEKITE.

2. A king of the Amalekites, who was spared by Saul, contrary to the solemn vow of devotement to destruction, SEE ANATHEMA, whereby the nation, as such, had of old precluded itself from giving any quarter to that people (Exo 17:14; Num 14:45). Hence when Samuel arrived in the camp of Saul he ordered Agag to be brought forth. He came “pleasantly,” deeming secure the life which the king had spared. But the prophet ordered him to be cut in pieces; and the expression which he employed — “As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women” — indicates that apart from the obligations of the vow, some such example of retributive justice was intended as had been exercised in the case of Adonibezek; or, in other words, that Agag had made himself infamous by the same treatment of some prisoners of distinction (probably Israelites) as he now received from Samuel (see Diedrichs, Hinrichtung Agag’s, Gott. 1776). The unusual mode in which his death was inflicted strongly supports this conclusion (1Sa 15:8-33). B.C. cir. 1070. SEE SAMUEL.

Agag (â’găg), flame. 1. The name or title of a powerful king of the Amalekites, who was contemporary with Moses. Num 24:7. 2. An Amalekite king, who was conquered by Saul, and put to death by Samuel for his cruelty. 1Sa 15:8-33. The term "Agagite" signifies an Amalekite. Est 3:1; Est 3:10; Est 8:3; Est 8:5.

[A’gag]

King of the Amalekites whom Saul should have killed, but whom he spared. Samuel slew him, declaring that as Agag’s sword had made women childless so his mother should now be childless. 1Sa 15:8-33. The name also occurs in Num 24:7, where Balaam said of Israel "his king shall be higher than Agag." It is supposed that ’Agag’ was the common title of the kings of the Amalekites, as Pharaoh was that of the Egyptians.

By: J. Frederic McCurdy, Louis Ginzberg

—Biblical Data:

King of the Amalekites, taken by King Saul after a successful expedition against him (I Sam. xv.). His life was spared by Saul; but the prophet Samuel, who regarded this clemency as a defiance of the will of YHWH, put him to death at Gilgal as a sacrifice similar to that sometimes performed by the early Arabs after a successful combat (W. Robertson Smith, "Religion of the Semites," 2d ed., p. 491). In Num. xxiv. 7 Balaam refers to Agag in a way that gives probability to the conjecture that the name was a standing title of the kings of Amalek.

—In Rabbinical Literature:

The rabbis taught that the Jews took vengeance on Agag for the cruelties they had undergone at the hands of the Amalekites, who, to mock at the Jews, their God, and the rite of circumcision, mutilated every Jew that fell into their power (see Amalek); Samuel, they say, treated Agag in the same way. According to some authorities, the death of Agag, described in the Bible by the unusual word wa-yeshassef ("hewed in pieces," I Sam. xv. 33), was brought about in a much more cruel way than the word denotes. Others think that the only unusual thing in the execution of Agag consisted in the fact that it was not carried out strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Jewish law, requiring witnesses to prove the crime; nor had he been specifically "warned" as the law required. But, Agag being a heathen, Samuel convicted him according to the heathen law, which demanded only evidence of the crime for condemnation (Pesiḳ. iii. 25b, Pesiḳ. R. xii. xiii. and the parallel passages quoted by Buber in Pesiḳ.). The execution of Agag, however, occurred in one respect too late, for had he been killed one day sooner—that is, immediately upon his capture by Saul—the great peril which the Jews had to undergo at the hands of Haman would have been averted, for Agag thereby became a progenitor of Haman (Meg. 13a, Targ. Sheni to Esth. iv. 13).

AGAG.—1. Num 24:7, probably a copyist’s error: LXX [Note: Septuagint.] has Gog. 2. 1Sa 15:1-35, the king of Amalek, whom Saul defeated and spared; some Gr. MSS name his father Aser (1Sa 15:33). Whether he met his fate bravely or timidly cannot be determined from the extant text (1Sa 15:32). Samuel considered him to be under the ban of extermination, and therefore killed him as a religious act (1Sa 15:33).

J. Taylor.

King of the Amalecites. For disobedience in sparing Agag after defeating the Amalecites, Saul was rejected in the name of God by Samuel, who hewed down Agag in his presence.

ā´gag (אגג, ’ăghāgh, or אגג, ’ăghagh, meaning unknown, possibly “violent,” BDB): A name, or title, applied to the king of the Amalekites, like Abimelech in Philistia and Pharaoh in Egypt. It is used of two of these kings: (1) A king of Amalek, mentioned by Balaam (Num 24:7) in his blessing of Israel; (2) A later king, in the days of King Saul (1 Sam 15). Saul was sent with his army to destroy the Amalekites, who had so violently opposed Israel in the Wilderness. He disregarded the Divine command, sparing the best of the spoil, and saving Agag the king alive (1Sa 15:8, 1Sa 15:9). After rebuking Saul, Samuel had Agag put to death for all the atrocities committed by himself and his nation (1Sa 15:32, 1Sa 15:33).

1Sa 15:9 (c) This King of Amalek is a type of some wicked habit or evil way which is promoted and cultivated in the life of one who knows better. Haman was a descendant of the Agag family, and caused Israel great trouble in the time of Queen Esther. Saul should have killed Agag. In that he spared his life, he is a picture of the believer who spares things in his life that are hurtful to his own soul. We should never permit any Agag to remain in our lives.