1 Samuel 28:10

10 And Saul made an oath to her by the Lord, saying, By the living Lord, no punishment will come to you for this.

1 Samuel 28:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 28:10

And Saul sware to her by the Lord
By the Word of the Lord, as the Targum: it is much that Saul, being about such a work of darkness and wickedness, could take the name of the Lord into his mouth, and swear by him in such a solemn manner; which must surely put him in mind of his omniscience, from whom this wicked action could not be hid:

saying, [as] the Lord liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee
for this thing;
the tenor of the oath was, and so the woman understood it, that he would never make any discovery of what she did, and so she would be sat from punishment; though as he was the supreme governor, and a very arbitrary prince, had it been discovered, he could have screened her from justice, though contrary to the law of God; however, he could not secure her from eternal punishment.

1 Samuel 28:10 In-Context

8 So Saul, putting on other clothing, so that he might not be seen to be the king, took two men with him and went to the woman by night; and he said, Now, with the help of the spirit which you have, make the person whose name I will give you come up.

9 And the woman said to him, But you have knowledge of what Saul has done, how he has put away out of the land those who have control of spirits and the users of secret arts: why would you, by a trick, put me in danger of death?

10 And Saul made an oath to her by the Lord, saying, By the living Lord, no punishment will come to you for this.

11 Then the woman said, Who am I to let you see? And he said, Make Samuel come up for me.

12 And the woman saw that it was Saul, and she gave a loud cry, and said to Saul, Why have you made use of deceit? for you are Saul.