Agagite

Agagite is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to denote a member of the lineage or descendants of Agag, the king of the Amalekites, an ancient nation that opposed Israel in biblical narratives.

In the Book of Esther, Haman is described as “the Agagite,” a designation generally interpreted as indicating royal or noble descent from Agag. The exact meaning—whether it signifies direct genealogical descent or a dynastic association—has been debated by scholars. The Amalekites themselves were considered a perennial adversary of Israel; the story of Saul’s failure to fully destroy Amalek and Samuel’s execution of Agag in 1 Samuel 15 provides the backdrop for the later use of the label in Esther.

The identification of Haman as an Agagite in Esther serves to frame his adversarial stance toward the Jewish community within a long-standing historical enmity, situating the Persian-era narrative within a broader biblical memory of Amalekite hostility. The term is relatively uncommon outside Esther, and its primary function is literary and genealogical rather than ethnolinguistic in a modern sense.

In modern usage, Agagite chiefly appears in biblical and scholarly discussions as a reference to Haman’s claimed lineage and to the Amalekite royal line. It remains a historical designation rooted in the biblical account of Israel’s conflicts with Amalek and the Purim-era narrative.

See also: Amalek, Agag, Haman, Esther.