R. W. Moss. AGAG (3;k, Nu 24' 3:15 ' violent (?)' Assyr. ag&gu, ' displeasure '). — A king of the Amalekites, con- quered by Saul and, contrary to the divine command, saved alive, but put to death by Samuel (1 S 15). From the way in which the name is used by Balaam (Nu 24'), it seems not to have been the name of any one individual prince, but, like Pharaoh among the Egyptians, and (possibly) Abimelech amon" the Philistines, a designation or title borne by all the kings, — perhaps by the king of that nation which stood at the head of the confederacy. Kneucker and others, without any reasonable ground, insist upon taking it as a personal name, and make its use by the writer of Nu 24' a reminiscence of the story from Saul's time. J. Macphkrson.
AGAGITE ('JJK). — A term of reproach used to designate Haman, the enemy of the Jews at the Persian court of Abasuerus (Est S'-'" S"-' 9**). In Josephus' version of the story (Ant. XI. vi. 5), Haman is described as 'by birth an Amalekite.' In Est 3' instead of Agagite the LXX reads Bovyaiov, and in 9^ 4 lAaKiSihv, while in the other passages simply the name Haman occurs. Thus in the LXX the word Agagite does not occur. Some have argued (e.g. Bertheau in Comm.) that the designation was used to indicate to a Hebrew what 'Macedonian ' would to a Greek, and that it meant Amalekite in the sense of a contemptible, hateful person, but not as implying that Haman had any genealogical connexion with Amalek. The pro- motion of a foreigner to such a position in the empire as Haman occupied, even under the rerime of the most despotic monarchs, must have been quite an exceptional occurrence. Apart from anj other indication of Haman's foreign extraction, it is scarcely safe to base an assumption of such a kind on the possible meaning of a mere appellative. Others (e.g. v. Orelli in Herzog) think that the connexion of this adjective with the proper name Agag is extremely doubtful
J. Macphkrson.
AGAIN. — The proper meaning of again, 'a second time,' is well seen in Rev 19* 'And a. (Gr. SeiTtpoc, RV 'a second time') they said. Alleluia' ; Jn 9" 'Then a. called they (RV 'so they called a second time, Gr. ix Sevripov) the man that was blind '; Ac 11' 'But the voice answered me a. (Gr. (k Scvripov, RV ' a second time ') from heaven ' ; Ph 4" ' ye sent once and again ' (Gr. Sis, tivice, as in Lk 18" 'I fast tvrice in the week'). But the oldest meaning of a. is 'in the opposite direction' (now generally expressed by ' back '), and of this there are some interesting examples in the Bible : Jg 3" 'He himself turned a. (RV 'back') from the quarries'; Lk 10" 'when I come a. (RV 'back again') I will repay thee'; Pr2" 'None that go unto her return a. ; 2 S 22" '(I) tumcd not a. untU I ha<l consumed them ' ; Lk 6" ' lend, hoping for nothing a.' (RV 'never despairing'); Gn 24° ' Must I needs bring thy son a. unto the land from whence thou camcst? ; Mt 11* 'go and show John a. (=go back and show John) those things which ye do hear ' ; Ro 9^ A Vm ' who art thou that answerest again?' Cf. Ps 19' (Pr. Bk.) ' It (the sun) goeth fortli from the uttermost part of the heaven, and runneth almost unto the end of it a.' ; and
*Tum a^ain, WhlttlngtoD, thrioe Lord Mayor of London I'
J. ELastinqs.
AGAINST
AGK, AGED, OLD AGE
47
AGAINST. — 1. In its primitive meaning of 'oi'iiioite to' against is rarely found alone, usually 'over a.,' as Ul 1' 'in the plain over a. the Ked Sea'; but we lind Gn 15'" 'and laid each piece one a. another' (UV 'each half over a. the other); I Ch '25^ ' They cast lots, ward a. ward ' ; Kzk 3' ' I have made thy face strong a. their faces ' ; esp. .'Ju2o< 'Take all the heads (KV 'chiefs') of the people, and hang them up before the Lord a. the sun ' (KV ' unto the Lord before the sun ') ; and 1 S 2Sr" ' David and his men came do\vn a. her' (i.e. opposite her, so as to meet her).
2. Krom the meaning ' opposite to ' of place, easUy arises 'opposite to' of time, of which we have an example in Ro 2* ' treasurest up unto thyself wrath a. (Gr. iv, RV 'in') the day of wrath'; I Mac 5-''. Cf. Spenser, Prothnlamion —
* Against the Brj'dale day, which is not long.'
3. In this sense a. is found as a conjunction in three places, Gn 43^ ' they made ready the present a. Joseph came at noon ; Ex 7", 2 K 16".
J. Hastings. AGAR. — The sons of Agar are mentioned (Bar 3^) along with the merchants of Midian and Teman, as ignorant of the way that leads to the secret haunt of Wisdom. They are called Hagarenes (which see), I's 83« ; and Hagrites, 1 Ch S'"- " 27". Their country lay east of GiJead.
J. T. Marshall. AGATE. See Minerals and Precious Stones.