Shabbos Zachor

In this weeks Haftorah we read the story of King Shaul and his failings in the war against Amalek. When the king of Amalek, Agog- who Shaul failed to kill was brought before Shmuel to be killed the posuk says he was brought “madanos” (Shmuel1 15;32) translated by most, as chained. There is another meaning to the word “madanos” that comes from the word ‘edan’- pleasure or cheerful. Why is that that the Navi used such a word that can be interpreted in two diverse ways?
The philosophy of Amalek is that there was a creator to the universe but all he did was create the world and program it for eternity. His outlook of G-d is that great that he left no room for humans to change or make a difference in this world. The flip side of this is that he wasn’t responsible for any of his deeds and being so was totally free to do as he pleased. While the Torah way is that we all have bechira- free will. Every action we do, can and does effect the universe on a whole. We believe that we can change Hashem and his interaction in this world, by every mitzvah we do we bring Hashem closer and more welcome in his world. Thus we are responsible for all our actions.
When Agog came before Shmuel he showed that he was, at the same time ‘chained’ by a higher force that all his actions were preordained. At the same time his life was all ‘cheerful’ for he was free to do what he pleased.
Taken from Pachad Yitzchok.