The New International Encyclopædia/Agagite

A′GAGITE. A name applied to Haman (Esther iii. 1, 10; viii. 3). It is a term of contempt, designating him as a worthy descendant of Agag, the Amalekite whom Samuel hewed to pieces as a sacrifice to Yahweh at Gilgal (I. Samuel xv. 33). This “Amalekite” is opposed to Mordecai, a descendant of Kish, the father of Saul (Esther ii. 5). The Greek translator understood that this was a mere fiction setting forth the struggle between Jew and Gentile, when he rendered the term “Macedonian.”