Agabus Ἄγαβος
Prophet who predicted famine and Paul's arrest
Biography
Agabus was a prophet from Jerusalem mentioned twice in the book of Acts. In the first instance, he came to Antioch and predicted through the Spirit that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world, which happened during the reign of Claudius. The disciples then decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. (Act.11.28)
Later, when Paul was visiting Philip the evangelist in Caesarea, Agabus came down from Judea. He took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it, and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'" This prophetic act foretold Paul's arrest in Jerusalem. (Act.21.10,11).
In Scripture
1 biblical book ; 1 with study contentActs 2 verses
- Acts 11:28
"One of them named Agabus stood up, and indicated by the Spirit that there should be a great famine all over the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius."
Study Acts → - Acts 21:10
"As we stayed there some days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea."
Study Acts →
Names & Aliases
| Form | Language | Script | Strong's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Named | Greek | Ἄγαβος | G0013 |
Agabus
ch," adds the historian, "came to pass in the days of Claudius." This visit of Agabus to Antioch took place in the winter of 43-44 AD, and was the means of urging the Antiochian Christians to send relief to the brethren in Judea by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. Two points should be noted.
(a) The gift of prophet's here takes the form of prediction. The prophet's chief function was to reveal moral and spiritual truth, to "forth-tell" rather than to "foretell"; but the interpretation of God's message sometimes took the form of predicting events.
(b) The phrase "over all the world" (practically synonymous with the Roman Empire) must be regarded as a rhetorical exaggeration if strictly interpreted as pointing to a general and simultaneous famine. But there is ample evidence of severe periodical famines in various localities in the reign of Claudius (eg. Suet Claud. 18; Tac. Ann. xii.43), and of a great dearth in Judea under the procurators Cuspius Fadus and Tiberius Alexander, 44-48 AD (Ant., XX, ii, 6; v, 2), which probably reached its climax circa 46 AD.
(2) In Ac 21:10 f we find Agabus at Caesarea warning Paul, by a vivid symbolic action (after the manner of Old Testament prophets; compare Jer 13:1 ff; Eze 3; 4) of the imprisonment and suffering he would undergo if he proceeded to Jerusalem.
(3) In late tradition Agabus is included in lists of the seventy disciples of Christ.
D. Miall Edwards
ag'-a-de: Ancient name for Akkad (or ACCAD, which see), one of the chief cities of Babylonia (Ge 10:10), and the capital city of Sargon, who lived and