1 Samuele 28:9

9 La donna gli rispose: "Ecco, tu sai quel che Saul ha fatto, com’egli ha sterminato dal paese gli evocatori di spiriti e gl’indovini; perché dunque tendi un’insidia alla mia vita per farmi morire?"

1 Samuele 28:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 28:9

And the woman said unto him
Not knowing who he was:

behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done;
for by his speech and habit she perceived he was an Israelite, and so must be acquainted with what had passed in the nation, especially of a public nature, and which made a great noise, as doubtless this, lid:

how he both cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards,
out of the land;
as many of them as he had knowledge of, or information about; and by this it appears that he did not merely expel them his dominions, but he put them to death, according to the law of God, ( Exodus 22:18 ) ( Leviticus 20:27 ) ; so the putting them out of the land, ( 1 Samuel 28:3 ) , was putting them to death, and the woman's after reasoning confirms this: one should think for Saul to be told this to his face must fill him with shame and confusion, and his conscience must accuse him of sin and folly to make this attempt; and he must stand self-convicted and self-condemned; and it was enough to have deterred him from pursuing his scheme, had not his heart been strangely hardened:

wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
she suspected that Saul and his men were persons that came to entrap her; that when they had prevailed upon her to exercise her art, would turn informers against her, to the taking away of her life, it being death to practise it.

1 Samuele 28:9 In-Context

7 Allora Saul disse ai suoi servi: "Cercatemi una donna che sappia evocar gli spiriti ed io andrò da lei a consultarla". I servi gli dissero: "Ecco, a En-Dor v’è una donna che evoca gli spiriti".

8 E Saul si contraffece, si mise altri abiti, e partì accompagnato da due uomini. Giunsero di notte presso la donna, e Saul le disse: "Dimmi l’avvenire, ti prego, evocando uno spirito e fammi salire colui che ti dirò".

9 La donna gli rispose: "Ecco, tu sai quel che Saul ha fatto, com’egli ha sterminato dal paese gli evocatori di spiriti e gl’indovini; perché dunque tendi un’insidia alla mia vita per farmi morire?"

10 E Saul le giurò per l’Eterno, dicendo: "Com’è vero che l’Eterno vive, nessuna punizione ti toccherà per questo!"

11 Allora la donna gli disse: "Chi debbo farti salire?" Ed egli: "Fammi salire Samuele".