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Texts -- 1 Samuel 28:4-25 (NET)

Context
28:4 The Philistines assembled ; they came and camped at Shunem . Saul mustered all Israel and camped at Gilboa . 28:5 When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines , he was absolutely terrified . 28:6 So Saul inquired of the Lord , but the Lord did not answer him– not by dreams nor by Urim nor by the prophets . 28:7 So Saul instructed his servants , “Find me a woman who is a medium , so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants replied to him, “There is a woman who is a medium in Endor .” 28:8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing and left , accompanied by two of his men . They came to the woman at night and said , “Use your ritual pit to conjure up for me the one I tell you.” 28:9 But the woman said to him, “Look , you are aware of what Saul has done ; he has removed the mediums and magicians from the land ! Why are you trapping me so you can put me to death ?” 28:10 But Saul swore an oath to her by the Lord , “As surely as the Lord lives , you will not incur guilt in this matter !” 28:11 The woman replied , “Who is it that I should bring up for you?” He said , “Bring up for me Samuel .” 28:12 When the woman saw Samuel , she cried out loudly . The woman said to Saul , “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul !” 28:13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid ! What have you seen ?” The woman replied to Saul , “I have seen one like a god coming up from the ground !” 28:14 He said to her, “What about his appearance ?” She said , “An old man is coming up ! He is wrapped in a robe !” Then Saul realized it was Samuel , and he bowed his face toward the ground and kneeled down . 28:15 Samuel said to Saul , “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up ?” Saul replied , “I am terribly troubled ! The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He does not answer me– not by the prophets nor by dreams . So I have called on you to tell me what I should do .” 28:16 Samuel said , “Why are you asking me, now that the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy ? 28:17 The Lord has done exactly as I prophesied ! The Lord has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor David ! 28:18 Since you did not obey the Lord and did not carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites , the Lord has done this thing to you today . 28:19 The Lord will hand you and Israel over to the Philistines ! Tomorrow both you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also hand the army of Israel over to the Philistines !” 28:20 Saul quickly fell full length on the ground and was very afraid because of Samuel’s words . He was completely drained of energy , not having eaten anything all that day and night . 28:21 When the woman came to Saul and saw how terrified he was, she said to him, “Your servant has done what you asked . I took my life into my own hands and did what you told me. 28:22 Now it’s your turn to listen to your servant ! Let me set before you a bit of bread so that you can eat . When you regain your strength , you can go on your way .” 28:23 But he refused , saying , “I won’t eat !” Both his servants and the woman urged him to eat, so he gave in . He got up from the ground and sat down on the bed . 28:24 Now the woman had a well-fed calf at her home that she quickly slaughtered . Taking some flour , she kneaded bread and baked it without leaven . 28:25 She brought it to Saul and his servants , and they ate . Then they arose and left that same night .

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Another preparation for entering Canaan involved appointing a new leader to take Moses' place.God foretold that Moses would die without entering the land (cf. 20:1-13). Graciously He allowed His servant to see the Promised La...
  • The context of this section is significant as usual. Verses 1-8 deal with people who ministered to Yahweh in various ways for the people, and verses 15-22 concern the delivery of God's revelations to His people. Verses 9-14 c...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • I. Eli and Samuel chs. 1-3A. The change from barrenness to fertility 1:1-2:101. Hannah's condition 1:1-82. Hannah's vow 1:9-183. Hannah's obedience 1:19-284. Hannah's song 2:1-10B. The contrast between Samuel and Eli's sons 2...
  • The Hebrew word used to describe Samuel in verse 1 (naar) elsewhere refers to a young teenager (cf. 17:33). Consequently we should probably think of a boy in his early teens as we read this section. At this time in Israel's h...
  • The basic theme in Samuel, that blessing, and in particular fertility of all kinds, follows from faithful commitment to God's revealed will, continues in this section. However another major motif now becomes more prominent. W...
  • In chapters 21-30 we see David's forces growing stronger and stronger while Saul's forces get weaker and weaker. This is a further demonstration of the fertility theme. However these chapters also develop the motif of the pro...
  • The writer's attention focused next on Saul's activities. He used the literary device of focusing on David, then on Saul, then on David, etc. He used the same technique in chapters 1-3 with Samuel and Eli's sons to contrast S...
  • Samuel's death and the mention of Saul's commendable removal of mediums and spiritists prepare for what follows (cf. Lev. 19:3; Deut. 18:11). Mediums are people who communicate with the dead, and spiritists are those who comm...
  • Evidently Saul knew the woman would not cooperate with him if she knew who he was, so he disguised himself (v. 8). He further hid his hypocrisy by visiting her under cover of darkness. Saul sank so low as to swear to the woma...
  • Samuel's soul had been at peace in the place of departed spirits, but now Saul had disturbed that rest. Saul described his reason for doing so. He wanted to obtain divine guidance concerning the Philistines from Samuel since ...
  • Why did the writer give us so much information about this woman's concern for Saul? For one thing, it is another instance of the reversal of fortune motif that is so common in 1 and 2 Samuel. Saul should have executing the wo...
  • As Saul reached the depth of his fortunes, David attained the height of his popularity thus far. This chapter seems to antedate the previous one slightly. The writer appears to have incorporated it in his narrative here to hi...
  • The lords or commanders of the Philistine city-states mustered their troops and marched north to the town of Aphek.280Aphek stood near Philistia's northern border with Israel. The Philistine lords were on their way to the Jez...
  • David obtained an answer through the Urim and Thummim, which the high priest carried in the breastpiece of his ephod (cf. 23:2, 4, 9). God no longer responded to Saul's prayers (28:15), but He did answer David's (v. 8). David...
  • The other Israelite soldiers retreated when they heard that Saul and his sons had died. This left towns in the region open for Philistine seizure. Instead of driving the native inhabitants out of the land Saul had made it pos...
  • Ackroyd, Peter R. The First Book of Samuel. Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible series. Cambridge, Eng.: University Press, 1971._____. "The Verb Love--'Aheb in the David-Jonathan Narratives--A Footnote."Vetus ...
  • Students of David's lament over Saul and Jonathan's deaths have called it the Song of the Bow (cf. v. 22).10Many people in Judah learned and sang it (v. 18). The Book of Jasher (v. 18) is no longer extant (cf. Josh. 10:13)."H...
  • Chapters 9-20 contrast with chapters 2-8 in that this later section is negative whereas the earlier one was positive. It records failure; the former records success. Compare the similar narrative of Saul's triumphs (1 Sam. 7-...
  • At first, David piously tried to salve Joab's conscience for his complicity in Uriah's death (11:25). The Hebrew word translated "displease"literally means "be evil in your sight."David was calling what was sin something othe...
  • As the book begins, the young woman and young man have already met and "fallen in love."In verses 2-4a the girl voices her desire for her boyfriend's physical affection."It is significant to this work that the girl speaks fir...
  • 8:11 Isaiah now passed along instruction that Yahweh had powerfully given him warning him against following the popular reliance on human strength.8:12-13 The Lord told him not to fear the armies of Judah's enemies, but God H...
  • 13:17 The Lord also directed Ezekiel to speak judgment to the female false prophets who were concocting their own messages and passing them off as divine revelations (cf. Isa. 3:16-4:1; 32:9-13; Amos 4:1-3).13:18 He was to an...
  • The few remaining Israelites would be silent as they disposed of the corpses of their fellows (v. 3), but God would also be silent in that day of judgment.8:11 As part of His judgment, God would withhold His words from His pe...
  • The first part of this oracle focused particularly on the true King who would come and exercise sovereignty over the nations (ch. 9). Now the emphasis changes to the people of the King, the Israelites, who will return to the ...
  • 3:17-18 If Peter's charges against his hearers were harsh (vv. 13-15), his concession that they acted out of ignorance was tender. Peter undoubtedly hoped that his gentle approach would win a reversal of his hearers' attitude...
  • 9:20 These three severe judgments (fire, smoke, and brimstone, vv. 17-18) will not move the remaining unbelievers as a whole to repent (cf. Exod. 7:13, 23; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 12, 35; 10:20; 11:10)."In all cases in the apocaly...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • 1 Samuel 28:15Among all the persons of Scripture who are represented as having fallen away from God and wrecked their lives, perhaps there is none so impressive as the giant form of the first king of Israel. Huge and black, s...
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