1 Samuel 28:6

6 He asked the LORD what he should do, but the LORD refused to answer him, either by dreams or by sacred lots or by the prophets.

1 Samuel 28:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 28:6

And when Saul inquired of the Lord
And this being not done truly and heartily, nor continued in, it was as if he had not inquired, and especially after he had inquired of one that had a familiar spirit, as Kimchi observes; for so it is said, ( 1 Chronicles 10:14 ) ;

the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams;
which he dreamed himself, from whence he could not conclude anything relating to the will of God; so the Targum,

``the Lord did not receive his prayer even by dreams;''

or by dreamers, diviners, who pretended to give answers by dreams:

nor by Urim;
there being no priest to consult in this way, Abiathar having fled with the ephod, in which were the Urim and Thummim, to David, ( 1 Samuel 23:9 ) ; though some think that he sent to Abiathar, who was with David, to inquire for him; and others that he made another ephod with Urim, and appointed another priest to consult by them; neither of which are probable:

nor by prophets;
of which there was a school not far from him, even at Naioth in Ramah, of which Samuel in his lifetime was president; but neither by the one nor the other could Saul get an answer from God, who for his sins had departed from him.

1 Samuel 28:6 In-Context

4 The Philistines set up their camp at Shunem, and Saul gathered all the army of Israel and camped at Gilboa.

5 When Saul saw the vast Philistine army, he became frantic with fear.

6 He asked the LORD what he should do, but the LORD refused to answer him, either by dreams or by sacred lots or by the prophets.

7 Saul then said to his advisers, “Find a woman who is a medium, so I can go and ask her what to do.” His advisers replied, “There is a medium at Endor.”

8 So Saul disguised himself by wearing ordinary clothing instead of his royal robes. Then he went to the woman’s home at night, accompanied by two of his men. “I have to talk to a man who has died,” he said. “Will you call up his spirit for me?”

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew by Urim.