Amalekite king captured and killed by Samuel
Agag
Named in 10 verses across 2 books, first in 1 Samuel 15:8.
אֲגָגAgag
אֲגָגִיAgagite
ΒουγαίουBougeon
Also called Agagite, Bougeon.
The name means “roof; upper floor.” Hitchcock's Bible Names, 1869
- People
- Sinai
About Agag Written by AI
Agag was the king of the Amalekites during the reign of King Saul of Israel. God commanded Saul to attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything, including Agag. Saul defeated the Amalekites but spared Agag and the best of the livestock. The prophet Samuel rebuked Saul for his disobedience and told him that God had rejected him as king. Samuel then summoned Agag and "hewed him in pieces before the Lord." (1 Samuel 15:8) The book of Esther mentions that Haman, the enemy of the Jews, was an Agagite, which suggests he may have been a descendant of Agag the Amalekite. (Esther 3:1; 8.3,5; 9.24).
Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.
Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897
This entry is on the name Agag, and may cover more than one person or place by that name.
Flame, the usual title of the Amalekite kings, as “Pharaoh” was of the Egyptian. (1.) A king of the Amalekites referred to by Balaam (Num. 24:7). He lived at the time of the Exodus.
(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).
M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.
Where the Bible names him
- 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.
- Esther 3:1
After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him to a position above all the princes who were with him.
- Esther 3:10
So the king removed the signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
- Esther 8:3
And once again, Esther addressed the king. She fell at his feet weeping and begged him to revoke the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews.
- Esther 8:5
“If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if I have found favor in his sight, and the matter seems proper to the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, may an order be written to revoke the letters that the scheming Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces.
- Esther 9:24
For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them.
From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.