Agag

Agag (

In the Torah, the expression "Its king higher than Agag, and its kingdom exalted" was uttered by Balaam in Numbers 24:7, in his third prophetic utterance, to describe a king of Israel who would be higher than the king of Amalek. This is understood to mean that Israel's king would take a higher position than even Amalek himself, and would exercise a wider authority. The writer uses an allusion to the literal significance of the word "Agag", meaning "high", to convey that the king of Israel would be "higher than High". A characteristic trait of biblical poetry is to use puns.^[4]

Agag also refers to the Amalekite king who survived

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The

Haman

would have been averted, for Agag thereby became a progenitor of Haman (Megillah 13a, Targ. Sheni to Esth. iv. 13).

According to another Midrash, Doeg the Edomite tried to extend the life of Agag, the king of the Amalekites-Edomites, by interpreting Lev. 22:28 into a prohibition against the destruction of both the old and the young in war (Midr. Teh. lii. 4). Doeg is among those who have forfeited their portion in the future world by their wickedness (Sanh. x. 1; compare ib. 109b). Doeg is an instance of the evil consequences of calumny, because by calumniating the priests of Nob he lost his own life, and caused the death of Saul, Abimelech, and Abner (Yer. Peah i. 16a; Midr. Teh. cxx. 9 [ed. Buber, p. 504]).E. C. L. G.

When he received the command to smite Amalek (I Sam. 15:3), Saul said: "For one found slain the Torah requires a sin offering [Deut. 21:1-9]; and here so many shall be slain. If the old have sinned, why should the young suffer; and if men have been guilty, why should the cattle be destroyed?" It was this mildness that cost him his crown (Yoma 22b; Num. R. i. 10)—the fact that he was merciful even to his enemies, being indulgent to rebels themselves, and frequently waiving the homage due to him. If his mercy toward a foe was a sin, it was his misfortune that it was reckoned against him. David, although he had committed much iniquity, was so favored that it was not remembered to his injury (Yoma 22b; M. Ḳ 16b, and Rashi ad loc.).

Harsh as it seems the command to blot out

Footnotes

References

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• Cox, Samuel (1884). Balaam: An Exposition and a Study. London: K. Paul, Trench, & Company. p. 110. amalek balaam.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Agag". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.