H0090 H0090
Agag; the Amalekite king spared by Saul and executed by Samuel, also invoked in Balaam's oracle as a symbol of royal power.
The proper name of the king of Amalek, central to one of the Old Testament's most dramatic confrontations. Balaam first invokes Agag in his oracle, prophesying that Israel's king will be 'higher than Agag' (Num 24:7), treating the name as shorthand for formidable royal power. The main narrative cluster occurs in 1 Samuel 15, where Saul captures Agag alive but spares him against God's command, provoking Samuel's devastating rebuke and the pronouncement that God has rejected Saul as king. Samuel then executes Agag personally (1 Sam 15:33). The name echoes later in Esther through 'Haman the Agagite,' suggesting a genealogical or typological link.
Senses
1. Agag (proper name) — Agag, the proper name of the Amalekite king whose capture and sparing by Saul triggered the rupture between Saul and God (1 Sam 15:8–9, 20, 32–33). The name first appears in Balaam's prophecy as a symbol of royal might that Israel's future king will surpass (Num 24:7). In the Samuel narrative, Saul's failure to destroy Agag becomes the occasion of his rejection as king, with Samuel pronouncing, 'To obey is better than sacrifice' (1 Sam 15:22). All translations uniformly transliterate the name—Spanish, French, German all render 'Agag'—indicating its status as a well-established biblical proper noun. The later designation of Haman as 'the Agagite' (Esth 3:1) may connect the Esther villain to this ancestral enemy. 8×
AR["أَجَاج","عَنْ-أَجَاجَ"]·ben["অগাগ","আগাগ-থেকে"]·DE["Agag","oberhalb-Agag"]·EN["Agag","above-Agag"]·FR["Agag","au-dessus-Agag"]·heb["אגג","מ-אגג"]·HI["अगग","अगग-ने","अगाग-से"]·ID["Agag","dari-Agag"]·IT["Agag","sopra-Agag"]·jav["Agag","tinimbang-Agag"]·KO["보다-아갩","아각을","아각이"]·PT["Agag","mais-que-Agag"]·RU["Агаг","Агага","над-Агагом"]·ES["Agag","que-Agag"]·SW["Agagi","kuliko-Agagi"]·TR["Agag","Agag'a","Agag'dan","Agag'ı"]·urd["اجاج-سے","اجج","اجج-نے"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† אֲגָג (אֲגַג Nu 24:7) n.pr.m. (violent? As.agâgu DlW) king of Amalek 1 S 15:8, 9, 20, 32(×3), 33, also Nu 24:7 (E), as symbol of might; (Is א׳ then title? v. Di).