Haman the Agagite

Rembrandt’s The Fall of Haman (ca. 1660-1666)

The story of Esther is set in the historical period of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Esth. 1:1–8:12; Ezra 4:6), known in secular sources as Xerxes I the Great, who ruled the Persian Empire ca. 486-465 BC.¹ One of the king’s leading officials—the main villain in the story of Esther—was “Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite” (Esth. 3:1)

What is an Agagite?

The term “Agagite” is believed to be a derivative of the name Agag, worn by the king of the Amalekites in the days of Israel’s king Saul (1 Sam. 15:8). Rather than a personal name, this was more likely a dynastic title (like “Pharaoh,” “Herod,” “Caesar”) for the rulers of the Amalekite people. Centuries earlier it was prophesied that Israel’s king would be higher than Agag (Num. 24:7), i.e., “higher than high.”

A Long History of Animosity

The Amalekites were descendants of Esau (Gen. 36:12) and the first heathen nation to attack the Israelites as they journeyed from Egypt to Canaan. They remained enemies of God’s people for generations (Ex. 17:8-16). When Saul was anointed king, he was commanded by God to utterly destroy the Amalekites, but he disobediently spared king Agag while destroying the rest of Agag’s people (1 Sam. 15:1-9); not the entire nation but the inhabitants of the nearby city (v. 5). Even though Agag was later killed by Samuel (1 Sam. 15:33), the Amalekites were not completely annihilated (1 Sam. 30:1-17).

Mordechai and his young cousin Hadassah (Esther) shared the same lineage as king Saul, the son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Sam. 9:1-2; Esth. 2:5-7).² If Haman the Agagite was indeed a descendant of king Agag, the historical conflict between the Amalekites and the Jewish people had in fact persisted for generations. Haman’s hatred for Mordechai and plot against the Jews was a natural continuance of this perpetual hostility, which actually predates even Agag and Saul, all the way back to their respective ancestors, Esau and Jacob (Gen. 25:23; 2 Sam. 8:14; 2 Kings 14:7; Mal. 1:1-4; Rom. 9:4-13).

Conclusion

The sordid history from Esau to Agag to Haman is characterized by defiance, rejection of God’s ways and consequent estrangement from God and utter ruin. But one’s family history does not predetermine one’s own decisions and destiny. Nor is it ever too late in one’s lifetime to break this vicious cycle, clearly demonstrated by Saul’s distant relatives, Esther and Mordechai. “The Lord resists the proud; but he gives grace to the humble” (Prov. 3:34, LXX).

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Xerxes I was the son and successor of Darius I. The Greek version Ξέρξης (Xerxes) is the Persian name Xšayāršā rendered in Babylonian Aḥšiyaršu and borrowed into Hebrew as Ăḥašwêrôš (spelled phonetically according to the unfamiliar sounds of a foreign name), transliterated in Latin Ahasuerus and English Ahasuerus (see W. S. McCullough, “Ahasuerus,” in Encyclopædia Iranica 1.6 [New York: Online Edition, 1996]: 634-35). The Ahasuerus of Daniel 9:1 (father of Darius the Mede), and the Ahasuerus of the apocryphal Tobit 14-15 (in league with Nebuchadnezzar), appear to be different persons.

     ² That Mordechai was “the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish” (Esth. 2:5-6) does not necessarily convey immediate and unbroken lines of descent but more likely remote ancestry with presumed gaps (cf. 1 Sam. 9:1-2; 2 Sam. 16:5). See K. L. Moore, “Alleged Discrepancies,” Moore Perspective (18 Jan. 2023), <Link>.

Related Posts: Chronology of the Post-Exilic Period, Timing of Ezra-Nehemiah 

 

Image credit: https://www.codart.nl/guide/agenda/the-fall-of-haman-rembrandts-picture-in-the-mirror-of-time/