1 Samuel 28:7-17

7 And Saul said to his servants, Seek ye to me a woman having a fiend speaking in the womb; and I shall go to her, and I shall inquire by her. And his servants said to him, A woman having a fiend speaking in the womb is in Endor. (And Saul said to his servants, Seek ye out for me a woman who hath a familiar spirit; and I shall go to her, and I shall inquire through her. And his servants said to him, There is a woman who hath a familiar spirit in Endor.)
8 Therefore Saul changed his clothing, and he was clothed with other clothes; and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman in the night. And he said, Divine thou to me in a fiend speaking in the womb, and raise thou up to me whom I shall say to thee (And he said, Call thou for me thy familiar spirit, and raise thou up for me whom I shall name to thee).
9 And the woman said to him, Lo! thou knowest how great things Saul hath done, and how he hath done away from the land witches, and false diviners (and how he hath done away with witches, and false diviners, from the land); why therefore settest thou treason to my life, that I be slain?
10 And Saul swore to her in the Lord, and said, The Lord liveth; for nothing of evil shall come to thee for this thing. (And Saul swore to her by the Lord, and said, As the Lord liveth; nothing of evil shall come to thee for this thing.)
11 And the woman said to him, Whom shall I raise up to thee? And he said, Raise thou Samuel up to me. (And the woman said to him, Whom shall I raise up for thee? And he said, Raise thou up Samuel for me.)
12 Soothly when the woman had seen Samuel, she cried with [a] great voice, and said to Saul, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.
13 And the king said to her, Do not thou dread (Fear not); what hast thou seen? And the woman said to Saul, I saw gods ascending from [the] earth.
14 And Saul said to her, What manner form is of him? [What manner is the form of him?] And she said, An eld man goeth up, and he is clothed with a mantle. And Saul understood that it was Samuel; and Saul bowed himself on his face to the earth, and worshipped. (And Saul said to her, What is his form? And she said, An old man goeth up, and he is clothed with a mantle. And Saul understood that it was Samuel; and Saul bowed himself low to the ground, and honoured him.)
15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou dis-eased me, that I should be raised? And Saul said, I am constrained greatly; for the Philistines fight against me, and God hath gone away from me, and he would not hear me, neither by the hand of prophets, nor by dreams; therefore I called thee, that thou shouldest show to me what I shall do. (And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disturbed me, so that I am raised up? And Saul said, I am in great trouble; for the Philistines fight against me, and God hath gone away from me, and he will not answer me, not by prophets, nor by dreams; and so I called thee, so that thou couldest tell me what I should do.)
16 And Samuel said, What askest thou me, when God hath gone away from thee, and hath passed to thine enemy? (And Samuel said, Why askest thou me, when God hath gone away from thee, and hath become thy enemy?)
17 For the Lord shall do to thee as he spake in mine hand (For the Lord shall do to thee as he spoke through me), and he shall cut away thy realm from thine hand, and he shall give it to David, thy neighbour;

1 Samuel 28:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 28

The Philistines gathering together, to fight with Israel, Saul trembled at it, not being able to get any answer from the Lord about it in any way whatever, 1Sa 28:1-6; upon which he applies to a woman that had a familiar spirit to bring him up Samuel, which she did, 1Sa 28:7-14; and what passed between Saul and Samuel, or at least the apparition in his form, is recorded, 1Sa 28:15-19; which so struck him, as to make him strengthless, and so melancholy, that he refused to eat until persuaded, or rather compelled, by the woman and his servants, 1Sa 28:20-25.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.