View source for Agabus

{{short description|One of the seventy early Christian disciples}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=[[Saint]]
|name=Agabus
|birth_date=1st century AD
|death_date=unknown
|feast_day=February 13 <small>(Catholic)</small><br>March 8 <small>(Eastern Orthodox)</small>
|venerated_in=[[Catholic Church]]<br>[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br>[[Church of England]]
|image=Augustins - Le Prophète Agabus - Marc Arcis RA 879 - Head.jpg
|imagesize=240px
|caption=''Agabus'' {{circa|1690}} by [[Marc Arcis]]
|birth_place= [[Antioch]], [[Roman Syria|Province of Syria]], [[Roman Empire]]
|death_place= Antioch
|titles=Prophet, Disciple, & Martyr
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
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|attributes=
|patronage=[[prophet]]s
|major_shrine=
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}}
{{Lead too short|date=September 2025}}
'''Agabus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|ɡ|ə|b|ə|s}}; {{langx|el|Ἄγαβος|translit=Hágabos}}; {{Langx|syr|ܚܓܒ|translit=Ḥagabo}}) was an early follower of [[Christianity]] from [[Syria]] mentioned in the [[Acts of the Apostles]] as a [[prophet]]. He is traditionally remembered as one of the [[Seventy Disciples]] described in [[Luke 10]]  ({{Bibleverse-nb||Luke|10:1-24}}).

== Name ==
The name Agabus derived from the [[Aramaic]] ''Ḥagab'', meaning "[[Grasshopper]]", which may have been a [[nickname]] or [[pseudonym]].

== Biblical and traditional accounts ==
According to extrabiblical tradition, Agabus appears to have been a resident of [[Jerusalem]]. He is said to have been one of the seventy two disciples, mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, commissioned to preach the gospel.<ref>[[David Miall Edwards]], in [[International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]] entry: Agabus http://biblehub.com/topical/a/agabus.htm accessed 24 September 2015</ref> It is said that Agabus was with the twelve apostles in the upper room on the day of [[Pentecost]].<ref name=cocn>[http://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/6_4.html "The Martyrdom of St. Agabus, One of the Seventy Disciples", Coptic Orthodox Church Network]</ref>

According to [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] {{Bibleverse-nb||Acts|11:27-28}}, he was one of a group of [[Prophets of Christianity|prophets]] who travelled from [[Jerusalem]] to [[Antioch]]. The author reports that Agabus had received the gift of prophecy and predicted a severe [[famine]], which occurred during the reign of the emperor [[Claudius]].<ref name=maas>Maas, A. in {{CathEncy|wstitle=Agabus|volume=1}}</ref>

Also, according to Acts {{Bibleverse-nb||Acts|21:10-12}}, 'a certain prophet', ({{langx|el|τις}}) named Agabus met [[Paul the Apostle]] at [[Caesarea Maritima]] in AD 58. He was, according to the [[Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary]], 'no doubt the same' Agabus as had been mentioned in {{Bibleverse||Acts|11:27-28}},<ref>[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb/acts/21.htm Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary] on Acts 21, accessed 15 October 2015</ref> and [[Heinrich Meyer]] states that 'there is no reason against the assumed identity of this person with the one mentioned in Acts 11:28.<ref>Meyer, H. A. W., [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/meyer/acts/21.htm Meyer's NT Commentary] on Acts 21, accessed 15 October 2015</ref> Agabus warned Paul of his coming capture; he bound his own hands and feet with Paul's belt to demonstrate what would happen if he continued his journey to Jerusalem, stating the message of the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]]:
<blockquote>So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.</blockquote>
Paul, however, would not be persuaded to stay away.<ref name=maas/>

Agabus' symbolic action has been compared<ref>[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/egt/acts/21.htm Expositor's Greek Testament] on Acts 21, accessed 15 October 2015</ref> with the Jewish prophet [[Jeremiah]]:

<blockquote>Thus the LORD said to me, "Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water." So I bought the waistband in accordance with the word of the LORD and put it around my waist ... For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,' declares the LORD, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor.<ref>{{bibleverse||Jeremiah|13:1-2;11|NIV}}</ref></blockquote>

Tradition says that Agabas went to many countries, teaching and converting many. This moved the Jews of Jerusalem to arrest him, and they tortured him by beating him severely, and putting a rope around his neck. He was dragged outside the city and stoned to death.<ref name=cocn/> [[Jesuit]] theologian [[Anthony Maas]] says he was martyred at Antioch.<ref name=maas/>

==Veneration==
The [[Catholic Church]]'s [[General Roman Calendar]] lists his [[feast day]] on February 13, while [[Eastern Christians]] celebrate it on March 8.<ref name=maas/>

== See also ==
* [[Paul the Apostle]]
* [[Barnabas]]
* [[Saint Stephen]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{New Testament people|prophets}}
{{Catholic saints}}
{{Subject bar |portal1= Saints |portal2= Biography |portal3= Catholicism |portal4= Bible |portal5= Turkey}}
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[[Category: Syrian Christian saints]]

[[Category:1st-century Christian martyrs]]
[[Category:People in Acts of the Apostles]]
[[Category:Prophets in Christianity]]
[[Category:Christian saints from the New Testament]]
[[Category:Seventy disciples]]
[[Category:Deaths by stoning]]