Encyclopedia entry
Agag
Disambiguation
The source enumerates 2 distinct subjects under Agag. Jump to one below, or read in order.
Flame, the usual title of the Amalekite kings, as “Pharaoh” was of the Egyptian.
Agag (1)
#A king of the Amalekites referred to by Balaam (Num. 24:7). He lived at the time of the Exodus.
Agag (2)
#Another king of the Amalekites whom Saul spared unlawfully, but whom Samuel on his arrival in the camp of Saul ordered, in retributive justice (Judg. 1), to be brought out and cut in pieces (1 Sam. 15:8-33. Comp. Ex. 17:11; Num. 14:45).
Also from Smith's (1884) +−
(flame), possibly the title of the kings of Amalek, like Pharaoh of Egypt. One king of this name is mentioned in (Numbers 24:7) and another in 1Sam 15:8,9,20,32 The latter was the king of the Amalekites, whom Saul spared contrary to Jehovah’s well-known will. (Exodus 17:14; 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.) [Samuel]. Haman is called the Agagite in (Esther 3:1,10; 8:3,5) The Jews consider him a descendant of Agag the Amalekite.
In the Bible
6
Verses where Agag is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- 1 Samuel 15:8
He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword.
- 1 Samuel 15:9
Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to devote them to destruction, but they devoted to destruction all that was despised and worthless.
- 1 Samuel 15:20
“But I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went on the mission that the LORD gave me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and devoted the Amalekites to destruction.
- 1 Samuel 15:32
Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” Agag came to him cheerfully, for he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
- 1 Samuel 15:33
But Samuel declared: “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
- Numbers 24:7
Water will flow from his buckets, and his seed will have abundant water. His king will be greater than Agag, and his kingdom will be exalted.
Agag references
13
Sources · Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869) · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.
