1 Samuel 28:21

21 The woman came to Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said to him, Behold, 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.

1 Samuel 28:21 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 28:21

And the woman came unto Saul
Having left him and the apparition in a room by themselves to converse together, and perhaps on hearing him fall to the ground came in:

and saw that he was sore troubled:
by his lying on the ground, and the agonies he seemed to be in, and the uneasiness that sat upon his countenance:

and said unto him, behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice;
in divining by her familiar spirit for him, and in bringing up Samuel to him, as he desired:

and I have put my life in my hand;
exposed it to the utmost danger, since a person of her profession, and token in the exercise of it, was punishable with death; and especially she was in the greater danger, as it was Saul himself, who had by an edict expelled all such persons from his dominions, who now employed her, as she perceived:

and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me:
to the oath he had taken, that no hurt should come to her, which she confided in, and relied upon, and to what he bid her do, according to her art of divination.

1 Samuel 28:21 In-Context

19 Moreover Yahweh will deliver Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines; and tomorrow shall you and your sons be with me: Yahweh will deliver the host of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.
20 Then Saul fell immediately his full length on the earth, and was 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.
21 The woman came to Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said to him, Behold, 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.
22 Now therefore, please listen also to the voice of your handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength, when you go on your way.
23 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.
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