Hebrew word · H91

אֲגָגִי

ha'agagi

Agagite

Gentilic (a term naming someone by people or origin): 'the Agagite', 'of Agag'. It is used only of Haman (3:1, 10; 8:3, 5; 9:24).

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Someone descended from Agag, a man living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Sa.15.8

Group of a.gag (אֲגָג "Agag" H0090H)

§ Agagite = "I will overtop"

said of Haman, Haman the Agagite

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Esther 8:5

Range of meaning

Gentilic (a term naming someone by people or origin): 'the Agagite', 'of Agag'. It is used only of Haman (3:1, 10; 8:3, 5; 9:24).

Against the English

All versions transliterate it as 'Agagite'. The word is accurate, but without background a modern reader misses what it signals.

Used elsewhere in the period

Agag was the Amalekite king whom Saul son of Kish, a Benjaminite, spared against God's command (1 Samuel 15). Mordecai is introduced as 'son of Kish, a Benjaminite' (2:5). Amalek is Israel's enemy 'from generation to generation' (Exodus 17:14–16; Deuteronomy 25:17–19). The Greek translation instead calls Haman a 'Bougaean' (3:1) and, in Addition E, a Macedonian. Josephus (Antiquities 11.209) calls him an Amalekite.

From the study of Esther 3:1

Range of meaning

A family or ethnic label, 'Agagite, of Agag'. In the Hebrew Bible, Agag is the name of the Amalekite king (1 Sam 15:8–33; cf. Num 24:7).

Against the English

All English versions keep 'Agagite'. Without background, modern readers do not see what it signals.

Used elsewhere in the period

Josephus calls Haman an Amalekite (Antiquities 11.209). The Aramaic Targums and rabbinic tradition trace his descent from Agag. The Latin Vulgate spells it out: 'qui erat de stirpe Agag' ('who was of the stock of Agag'). The Greek Septuagint instead has 'Bougaios' and later calls him a Macedonian (9:24; Addition E).

Where it appears

Esther · 5

  1. Esther 3:1 הָאֲגָגִ֖י the Agagite

    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.

    Here: 'The Agagite'. For Israelite hearers this recalls Agag, king of Amalek, whom Saul spared (1 Sam 15). It sets Haman against Mordecai, who comes from Saul's family (2:5).

  2. Esther 3:10 הָאֲגָגִ֖י the Agagite

    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.

  3. Esther 8:3 הָֽאֲגָגִ֔י the Agagite

    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.

  4. Esther 8:5 הָאֲגָגִ֔י the Agagite

    “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.

    Here: Links Haman to Agag, king of Amalek (1 Samuel 15). For a Jewish audience this frames the conflict as the old feud between Amalek and Israel.

  5. Esther 9:24 הָֽאֲגָגִ֗י the Agagite

    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.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.