King Agrippas-Flattery

There is a story told about King Agripas from מסכת סוטה. It is told that when he read the section in the Torah about the requirements for a king, he began to cry.

He had reached the Pasuk that read, מקרב אחיך תשים עליך מלך, that a king shall come from among your brethren. The Jews that witnessed this told Agrippas not to feel sad because he was one of their brothers. The Gemara explains that the behavior of these Jews was inappropriate because they were guilty of חניפה, flattery.

The feeling was that their comforting the king was insincere. This story was used to warn against חניפה. One must be careful with his words that they be completely sincere.

Such flattery was insincere because although Agrippas was considered a good king, Halachically, he was not fit to be king, because only his mother was Jewish but not his father. This is why it was considered insincere flattery.