AGAG. - King of Amalek. To punish the raids and killings he had committed against Israel, God ordered the extermination of the Amalekites (v.), who for centuries had fought the Israelites, after having blocked their way to Canaan (Ex. 17:8-16). By order of Samuel, who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, Saul decreed the anathema or hērem against the enemies, that is, he devoted men and beasts to death; but then he transgressed the divine command, leaving A. alive, defeated and a prisoner. Samuel, after reproaching Saul ("melior est oboedientia quam victimae," Hos. 6:6; Mt. 9:13; 12:7), applying the norms of holy war (Lev. 27:29) and the law of retaliation (Ex. 21:23-25), cut A. to pieces before the altar at Gilgal (1 Sam. 15).
A.'s famous phrase about the bitter separation of death (ibid., v. 32) is in the Septuagint and the Vulgate, but is missing from the Masoretic text. The name A. was perhaps a dynastic title, since there was already an "A. king of Amalek" in the time of Moses (Num. 24:7).
Spadafora, Francesco. “Agag.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I, col. 419. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1948. https://azioneromana.com/article/agag.
MLA
Spadafora, Francesco. “Agag.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1948, col. 419. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/agag.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec1_agag,
author = {Spadafora, Francesco},
title = {Agag},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {I},
pages = {419},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1948},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/agag}
}
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