1 Samuel 28:7-14

Saul Seeks the Witch of En-dor. 1 Samuel 28:7-14

7 Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor.

8 And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.

9 And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
10 And Saul sware to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

11 Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
14 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.

7.

Why did Saul go to the witch of En-dor? 1 Samuel 28:7

The Philistines had collected their forces in the plain near Shunem. Saul's army was encamped on the slopes of Mt. Gilboa, some two miles away but plainly within sight of the enemy. The very sight of the enemy had thrown Saul into dread terror. He was greatly anxious about the outcome of the battle and inquired of the Lord what might be the results of the coming conflict. The Lord had left Saul as He had withdrawn His spirit from Samson during the time of the Judges; and He did not answer Saul, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Instead of repenting and humbling himself before Jehovah, Saul plunged stubbornly forward in an attempt of his own invention to find the verdict of the future. When living prophets gave no answer, he thought that a dead one might be called up, as if a dead one were less dependent upon God than the living, or that, even in opposition to the will of God, he might reply through the arts of a conjuring woman. Truly, if he perceived that God was hostile to him, he ought to have been all the more afraid, lest his enmity should be increased by his breach of His laws. But fear and superstition never reason.

8.

Where is En-dor? 1 Samuel 28:7 b

En-dor still exists in a village under the ancient name on the Shoulder of Duhy or Little Hermon about two miles from Saul's camp. Saul must have made a pitiable sight as he disguised himself and left the security of his camp to go down into the valley to find the home of the outlawed witch. Perhaps he had to slip along through the night past the Philistine outposts in order to reach this eerie home. His ill-fated journey is a sad commentary on the lot of a man who disobeys God.

9.

Why did Saul disguise himself? 1 Samuel 28:8

Saul would not want to be recognized by any Philistine scout whom he might meet. Most of all he knew that the woman would not practice her illegal art if she recognized him as king. He must have been ashamed to wear his kingly robes and make such a pitiable request of a spiritualist. His disguise would not be able to hide his stature, however; and this outstanding feature of Saul's person may have helped the witch to unmask Saul when Samuel did come back from the grave.

10.

Why had witches been banned? 1 Samuel 28:9

When Israel came into the promised land, they were not to learn to do like the abominations of these nations. There was not to be found in the land any who caused his son or his daughter to pass through the fire (in other words, a worshipper of Moloch). Neither were there to be any who practiced sooth-saying, or a wizard, or a snake-charmer, or a conjurer, or one who pronounced a ban, a necromancer and wise man, or one who asked the dead to be brought up. Moses was given this in the Law, and he grouped all the words which the language contained for the different modes of exploring the future and discovering the will of God, for the purpose of forbidding every description of soothsaying. At the head of the list was placed the prohibition of Moloch-worship, to show the connection between soothsaying and idolatry. Saul had acted in accordance with God's law when he banned all these from the kingdom (See Numbers 23:23 and Deuteronomy 18:9 ff.).

11.

Why was the woman suspicious? 1 Samuel 28:9

The witch of En-dor was afraid that her visitor was laying a snare for her. She was afraid that she would be reported to the king and eventually be killed. She knew that the Law said, thou shalt not suffer a witch to live (Exodus 22:18). She knew that God had ordained that there should not be found among the Israelites any that use divination or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or an necromancer (Deuteronomy 18:10-11). She had to be cautious in order to practice her illicit profession. When Saul gave her his word that she would not be punished, she was willing to go ahead.

12.

Did Samuel appear to the witch? 1 Samuel 28:12

The early Christian writers, the Protestant reformers, and many later Christian theologians assumed that there was no real appearance of Samuel, but only an imaginary one. More lately the opinion has been expressed that the apparition of Samuel was merely a delusion produced by the witch without any background at all. More recently orthodox commentators have been almost unanimous in the opinion that the departed prophet did really appear and announce the destruction; not, however, in consequence of the magical arts of the witch, but through a miracle wrought by the omnipotence of God. This is favored by the narrator who speaks throughout of the appearance not of a ghost, but of Samuel himself. It is also sustained by the circumstance, that not only do the words of Samuel to Saul create the impression that it is Samuel himself who is speaking, but his announcement contains so distinct a prophecy of the death of Saul and his sons, that it is impossible to imagine it can have proceeded from the mouth of an imposter, or have come from Satan.

13.

How did the witch recognize Saul? 1 Samuel 28:12

The woman must have concluded that she was in the presence of Saul because he had asked to have a seance with Samuel. Samuel and Saul had been rather closely associated in the political and religious activities of the kingdom of Israel. The woman must have known about Samuel's death and Saul's desperate effort to find out the will of God. The very fact that Saul had asked for Samuel to be brought back from the dead probably raised a question in the woman's mind from the very beginning of the interview. As Samuel was raised from the dead by the power of God and the woman was frightened by this miraculous event, she undoubtedly was then not afraid to express her conviction. Saul's stature would have been a feature that he could not disguise. There was none other in Israel as tall as he. He stood head and shoulders above all the others. This imposing stature coupled with the strange request for Samuel's being brought back from the dead would have convinced the woman of the identity of her strange visitor.

14.

In what form did Samuel appear? 1 Samuel 28:14

Samuel's appearance is not to be regarded as the appearance of one who had risen in a glorified body; but though somewhat spirit-like in its external manifestation, so that it was only to the witch that he was visible, and not to Saul. It was merely an appearance of the soul of Samuel, which had been at rest, in the clothing of the earthly body and dress of the prophet, which were assumed for the purpose of rendering it visible. In this respect, the appearance of Samuel, rather resembled the appearances of the angels in human form and dress, such as the three angels who came to Abraham in the grove at Mamre, and the angel who appeared to Manoah, with this exception, however, that these angels manifested themselves in a human form, which was visible to the ordinary bodily eye, whereas Samuel appeared in a spirit-like form. In all these cases the bodily form and clothing were only a dress assumed for the soul or spirit, and intended to facilitate perception, so that such appearances furnish no proof that the souls of departed men possess material corporeality.

15.

How did Saul know that it was Samuel? 1 Samuel 28:14

The apparition was clothed in the prophet's mantle such as Samuel was accustomed to wearing. Saul asked the woman to describe the apparition and she said that it was an old man. Samuel had died after several years of work among the people of Israel. Since Saul had asked for Samuel in the first place, he must have realized that God had granted his request.