Biblical Nations - Hagrites

Hagrites

Key Scripture: 1 Chronicles 5:20

Figures: Jaziz

Another milestone for the website this week - we just crossed the 175,000 mark!  It was less than a year ago that I celebrated reaching six figures for the very first time, a goal that was five years in the making.  The fact that we're progressing towards doubling that number in the coming months is amazing to me, and (as it always does) fills me with gratitude for every person who takes the time to click on the links and read what I'm learning.  Thank you all!  This week, we're going to learn about another one of the more obscure people groups that are found in the Old Testament.  During the time when various empires were being forged, defeated, and recreated, several of these small nations seemed to exist.  Like some of the others that we've analyzed, this one has a possible family relationship to the people of Israel, but that didn't stop the Hagrites from opposing God's chosen people.

Before the birth of his promised son, Isaac, Abraham made a fateful decision alongside his wife to try building a family through Sarah's handmaiden, Hagar.  The son they bore, Ishmael, not only created a complicated situation for them but also triggered a chain reaction that has repercussions even now in the 21st century.  When a certain people group appeared on the Biblical scene during the reign of King Saul with a name that approximated that of the Egyptian mother of many Arabian tribes, perhaps it meant that there was another wrinkle to the story.  Whether these Hagrites (or Hagarites, as the KJV translation of Scripture calls them) were related to Hagar and Ishmael, however, is never specifically stated and could be considered to be little more than an educated guess.  We do know, however, that their homeland was east of the land that Israel called home, beyond the territory of Gad, and they are listed alongside the descendants of Ishmael through his sons Jetur and Naphish, as well as a third individual named Nodab.

King Saul reigned over the unified nation of Israel for some 40 years, approximately 1,000 BC.  He was a warrior who battled numerous armies, and in 1 Chronicles 5 there is a record of his defeat of the Hagrites which allowed Israel to expand their territory into the cities of their enemies.  Later in the same chapter there is additional detail of a confederation from east of Gilead who assembled their forces to attack the two and half tribes of Israel that had settled across the Jordan River from the rest of their brethren: Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh.  Despite boasting a fighting force of 44,760 soldiers, this group of Israelites was only victorious over their attackers when they called out to God during the battle.  The defeated Hagrites retreated, allowing the inhabitants of Gilead to control their territory until the Assyrian exile in 722 BC.

Several years later, after the death of Saul, King David had successfully claimed the unified throne of Israel after a conflict with Saul's surviving heir, Ish-bosheth.  When he organized leaders of the military and government, it is notable that a significant number of foreigners are named.  Among the many who hailed from nations that had been defeated by Israel's armies was the keeper of David's flocks, Jaziz the Hagrite.  It's at least somewhat interesting that someone from this nation was assigned to steward the sheep of King David, who had served as a shepherd himself during his youth.  Although the Hagrites do not appear frequently in Scripture, they are known to history from other sources.  The king of the Assyrians, Tiglath-Pileser III, who reigned some 250 years after Saul and was responsible for taking the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity also had royal inscriptions detailing his defeat of the Hagrites as one of his numerous conquests.

The final Biblical mention of the Hagrites appears in Psalm 83, an imprecatory writing that begs God not to keep His peace against numerous foes of Israel.  Written by Asaph, one of the Levites that David had assigned to sing in the house of God, this chapter outlines several enemies that have conspired to destroy the children of Israel.  Some scholars have labeled this Psalm a prophetic word about some future battle where all of the people groups come together in war, but the text itself merely asks God to totally defeat those that plot evil (not necessarily stating that God WILL destroy them).  It should be noted that several of the other nations that appear in Psalm 83 are doomed to destruction in other prophetic writings, but the Hagrites are not specifically called out to suffer that fate.  No modern nation or people group claim to descend from the Hagrites, indicating that over time they were either wiped out or absorbed by other groups throughout the region.