Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
1 Samuel 28:20-25
Saul's Response To What He Had Heard (1 Samuel 28:20).
Once Samuel had gone Saul's response to his words are illuminating. It is clear that he had no thought of repentance or of calling on YHWH. Rather he was terrified as he considered the implications of what he had heard. We note again in this an indication of Saul's surface religiosity. This is further emphasised by the fact that he had been fasting, no doubt in order to obtain some kind of divine help (compare 1 Samuel 14:24). He seemingly thought that thereby he could move the hand of YHWH. But the only actual ‘benefit' that he obtained from it was that he was in no physical condition to withstand the shock. As Isaiah would declare later, there was no point in fasting unless the heart was right towards God (Isaiah 58). Thus Saul gained nothing and was left distraught.
Note that Saul's growing fear is emphasised throughout the chapter. In 1 Samuel 28:5 he had been greatly afraid and his heart had trembled violently at the sight of the great host assembled against them. It was this naked terror that had driven him to do what he had done. Somehow as he had seen that host in front of his eyes he had probably known that it was the end. And now he was even more terrified, for his certain doom had been announced. And the result of that and the fasting was such that he physically collapsed.
And yet he still refused to eat. Perhaps it was because he clung tenaciously to the only exercise that he felt could bring him assistance in his hour of need, a desperate and superstitious attempt to manipulate YHWH, or perhaps it was because he knew that to accept the medium's hospitality (thus declaring friendship) was to put him beyond the pale. He would be aligning himself with her. But whichever it was in the end he was persuaded to eat, and did so, probably because he came to the recognition that he could not go on unless he did so. He had reached the end of his tether.
Analysis.
a Then straight away Saul fell his full length on the earth, and was terrified (sore afraid), because of the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night (1 Samuel 28:20).
b And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was very much troubled, and said to him, “Look, your handmaid has listened to your voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me. Now therefore, I pray you, you listen also to the voice of your handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before you, and eat, in order that you may have strength, when you go on your way” (1 Samuel 28:21).
c But he refused, and said, “I will not eat” (1 Samuel 28:23 a).
b But his servants, together with the woman, constrained him, and he listened to their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat on the bed, and the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she acted hurriedly, and killed it, and she took flour, and kneaded it, and baked from it unleavened bread (1 Samuel 28:23).
a And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants, and they ate. Then they rose up, and went away in/into that night (1 Samuel 28:25).
Note that in ‘a' Saul had not eaten and was terrified, and in the parallel he ate and went out into ‘that night'. In ‘b' the woman offers him food, and seeks to constrain him to eat, and in the parallel he is constrained and does eat. Central in ‘c' was his desire not to eat (and possibly break a vow).
‘ Then straight away Saul fell his full length on the earth, and was terrified (sore afraid), because of the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.'
This probably means that he fainted, and when he came to himself was filled with terror at the remembrance of what he had been told. We are then given the explanation for his fainting fit. It was because he had not been eating properly. He had eaten nothing since daybreak. From what we already know of Saul this was probably because he was hoping thereby to ensure victory (1 Samuel 14:28). He was one of those who were superstitious and never learned from experience.
‘ And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was very much troubled, and said to him, “Look, your handmaid has listened to your voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.”
Not surprisingly Saul was in great distress. The man whom he trusted more than any other had informed him ‘from the other side' that the cause was already lost, and that there was no hope, at least in the short term. The hope of Israel, the one who might have made a difference, was far away (as this was the night before the battle he was possibly by this time back in Ziklag or chasing the Amalekites (1 Samuel 29-30)).
The woman of Endor was very concerned for him. She pointed out to him that she had listened to his words, and had trusted him, even putting her life in his hands (note the threefold emphasis). Now she appealed for him to do the same for her, to listen to her and act accordingly.
“ Now therefore, I pray you, you listen also to the voice of your handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before you, and eat, in order that you may have strength, when you go on your way.”
Accordingly she begged him at least to listen to her and eat something to revive his failing strength. Soon he would be on his way, and if he was to make it back to his camp some miles away he must have something to eat. ‘Morsel of bread' was a slight under-exaggeration. She intended to give him a substantial meal.
‘ But he refused, and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants, together with the woman, constrained him, and he listened to their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat on the bed.'
But Saul refused. He was an obstinate man and his religious inclinations which were based on false premises, were overriding his common sense. So he declared, “I will not eat.” Perhaps he also felt that to accept the hospitality of such a woman would put him in the wrong (such is the self-contradictory nature of human beings).
However, in the end, still lying faint on the floor, he did listen to the combined appeals of his men and of the woman, and agreed to eat. Then he picked himself up and sank onto the cushion-covered bench along the wall.
‘ And the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she acted hurriedly, and killed it, and she took flour, and kneaded it, and baked from it unleavened bread.'
The woman then hurried out and fetched the fatted calf (a calf kept especially fattened up in case important guests came). Then she killed and cooked it, hurriedly made some unleavened bread (there was no time for leavening). It would be a hastily prepared meal but a substantial one, ‘fit for a king'. The later Bedouin in fact regularly cooked meat immediately after killing an animal, and prepared fresh bread for each meal. It was not therefore something unusual.
‘ And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants, and they ate. Then they rose up, and went away in/into that night.'
Then she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they all ate. Considerably strengthened they then went away ‘into that night'. They had come by night and they went out into the night. All was darkness. It was symbolic of their state of heart, and of what was to happen. It was the darkness before a dawn which would have such devastating consequences for Saul and for Israel. And it was symbolic of Saul's life. Having refused the bread of YHWH he partook of the bread of darkness. By this time he had nowhere else to turn.
This whole incident is given in some detail because in the writer's mind it summarised Saul's life and superficiality. He looked for quick fixes without commitment. He was religiously orthodox as regards the externals, until it suited him to be otherwise, but he lacked heart. And he used his religion as a tool in order to obtain favour. However, once his heart was put to the test he failed. He was spiritually shallow. Unlike David he had no real conception of ‘the fear of God'.