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 against the Israelites, having barred 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 ban or hērem against the enemy, that is, he devoted to death both men and beasts; but then he transgressed the command, sparing Agag, who had been defeated and taken prisoner. Samuel, after rebuking Saul («melior est oboedientia quam victima», 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 Agag to pieces before the altar at Gilgal (1 Sam. 15).
The well-known phrase of Agag on the bitterness of death (ibid., V. 32) is found in the Septuagint and the Vulgate, but is missing from the Masoretic text. The name Agag was perhaps a dynastic title, since there was already an «Agag, king of Amalek» in the time of Moses (Num. 24:7).