Numbers 24 · a question people ask
"His king shall be higher than Agag." Is this the Agag Saul fought?
The saying says, "His king shall be higher than Agag. His kingdom shall be exalted" (24:7), and doesn't say more about Agag. The only other Agag the Bible names is "Agag the king of the Amalekites" in Saul's day (1 Samuel 15:8). Readers take 24:7 in two main ways. Both agree that Agag is a king's name, and that the saying puts Israel's king above him.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
The Agag of Saul's day
Some read 24:7 as naming ahead of time the Agag whom Saul, anointed king over Israel, would take alive. Samuel told Saul, "The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel" (1 Samuel 15:1), and Saul "took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive" (1 Samuel 15:8). Then "Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal" (1 Samuel 15:33).
1 Samuel 15:1 · 1 Samuel 15:8 · 1 Samuel 15:33
A name in Amalek's royal line
Others read Agag as a name Amalek's kings carried, so that 24:7 means Israel's king will be higher than Amalek's. Amalek was already Israel's enemy: "Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim" (Exodus 17:8), and Balaam "looked at Amalek" in this same chapter (24:20). And in Esther, Haman is called "the Agagite" (Esther 3:1).
Exodus 17:8 · Numbers 24:20 · Esther 3:1
The verses
“Water shall flow from his buckets. His seed shall be in many waters. His king shall be higher than Agag. His kingdom shall be exalted.”
“He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.”