Saul and the Witch of Endor: What Really Happened in 1 Samuel 28?
Confronting the Supernatural: The Story of Saul and the Witch
Samuel was dead
3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.
— 1 Samuel 28:3 NKJV
Samuel did not just die. We first find out that Samuel died back in 1 Samuel 25. It is not clear how long Samuel had been dead, except that long enough to have been lamented and buried. This statement seems out of place, but it is a crucial piece of historical context for the story that is about to unfold. The following statement seems just as random, stating that Saul had put the mediums and spiritists out of the land. Saul did not do this out of personal conviction or special insight; he was simply doing what God commanded. God had been very clear and consistent regarding mediums and spiritists.
“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
— Exodus 22:18 NKJV‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
— Leviticus 19:31 NKJV‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’ ”
Leviticus 20:27 NKJV10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
— Deuteronomy 18:10-11 NKJV
Deeper dive:
Unger mentions a number of other types of divination, among which are hepatoscopy (looking in the liver), belomancy (watching arrows fall various ways), teraphim (consulting ancestral images) (ef. Ezek. 21 :21 for all three), astrology (consulting the heavenly bodies, d. Isa. 47:13), hydromancy (watching how an object floats to which side of a cup) (d. Gen. 44:5 where this may be Joseph's way of hiding his real identity), and rhabdomancy (using a diving rod, cf. Has. 4:12).
(Merrill F. Unger, Biblical Demonology (Wheaton: Van Kampen Press, Inc., 1952), pp. 130-133.)
Fear and Trembling
4 Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.
— 1 Samuel 28:4-5 NKJV
Now we arrive at the conflict in the story. The problem is not that Samuel was dead or that Saul had gotten rid of all the mediums and spiritists. The problem is that the Philistines gathered for war, and there were a lot of them. Saul also gathered all of Israel, but he felt like he was no match for the Philistine army. He was terrified!
At the beginning of I Samuel 28, three things indicate that this was "a war upon a much larger scale than any that had been carried on since the defeat of the Philistines in the valley of Elah.” (Robert P. Smith in the Pulpit Commentary, I Samuel (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, n. d.), p. 520.) First, it is said that "the Philistines gathered together all their hosts" (28:1). This included "lords" by the hundreds and thousands, plus David and his small band who were still with them. Second, the place where they assembled their armies was Shunem, from the Hebrew word sunayim which means "two resting places," according to Gesenius. (William Gesenius, Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1964), p. 811.) Thus, The two armies were therefore encamped on the two groups of mountains that enclosed the broad pIain of Jezreel toward the east, or, more precisely, the southeast, between which stretched a valley-plain. From an elevation of about twelve hundred feet Saul could see the Philistine camp, which was only four miles distant:. (David Erdmann, in Lange's Commentary, Vol. 5, The Books of Samuel, ed. by Philip Schaff (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1960), p. 330.)(https://biblicalstudies.gospelstudies.org.uk/pdf/grace-journal/11-1_13.pdf)
No answer
Like a good Israelite, Saul inquired of God, but God did not answer him. Sometimes we behave similarly, as a good Christian, we pray to God. But do we truly seek God, or are we simply going through the motions and doing what is expected of us?
6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.
— 1 Samuel 28:6 NKJV
Previously in his life, Saul cut himself off from God through personal disobedience, as well as his abuse of both the priestly and prophetic institutions in Israel. Now he turns to God for answers and receives silence.
Quite properly, Saul first “inquired of the Lord” (v. 6), seeking guidance in dealing with the Philistines. However, the Lord “did not answer him by dreams,” that is, through a personal revelation given directly to him. Nor did the Lord respond by means of the “Urim,” that is, with the revelatory device that could only be used with the assistance of an Aaronic priest (cf. Exod 28:30; Num 27:21). This is not surprising since Saul had slain many of the Aaronic priests, and the only named surviving priest from Nob—one who possessed an ephod—had fled to David (cf. 22:18–20). Furthermore, the Lord did not answer by means of “prophets.” Saul did not receive a prophetic word for two reasons: first, because Samuel was dead, and second, he had lost the support of the prophets when Samuel, the leading prophet of Israel in his generation and the leader of a group of prophets (cf. 19:20), had declared Saul’s kingship had ended (cf. 15:24, 28–29).
— Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 265–266.
But did Saul really inquire of God?
Was Saul really interested in God’s will for his life?
Doesn’t the Bible say that if we seek God, we will find Him?
Yes, let’s read some of those verses.
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
—Jeremiah 29:13 NKJVBut from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
— Deuteronomy 4:29 NKJV“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.
—1 Chronicles 28:9 NKJV
Based on these verses, some argue that Saul was not truly seeking God’s will.
As the event proved, Saul did not really enquire of the Lord, in the sense of seeking directions from Him, and of being willing to be guided by it. Rather did he, if we may so express it, wish to use the Lord as the means by which to obtain his object. But that was essentially the heathen view, and differed only in detail, not in principle from the enquiry of a familiar spirit, to which he afterwards resorted. (Alfred Edersheim, Bible History, Vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1959), p. 140.)
I do not want anyone to become discouraged or give up on prayer, for fear that they have rebelled against God and that God will no longer answer their prayers. The way I see it, the problem was not Saul’s sins but rather his attitude. He was not seeking a relationship with God; he was seeking God’s help in his time of trouble. Also, this is not just a random person; this is the King of Israel, and a man who had previously been filled with the Spirit of God (1 Samuel 10:6-11).
The Lord never turned away a soul that came to Him in sincerity and humility. Why did he turn Saul away unanswered? The king had by his own act forfeited the benefits of all the methods of inquiring of God. He had rejected the counsel of Samuel the prophet; he had exiled David, the chosen of God; he had slain the priests of the Lord. Could he expect to be answered by God when he had cut off the channels of communication that Heaven had ordained? He had sinned away the Spirit of grace, and could he be answered by dreams and revelations from the Lord? Saul did not turn to God with humility and repentance. It was not pardon for sin and reconciliation with God, that he sought, but deliverance from his foes. By his own stubbornness and rebellion he had cut himself off from God. There could be no return but by the way of penitence and contrition; but the proud monarch, in his anguish and despair, determined to seek help from another source.
— Patriarchs and Prophets p675
Saul was not seeking forgiveness for his past sins; Saul had not repented. And we see evidence of this in his subsequent actions.
Saul had deliberately refused to wait for God’s counsel at Gilgal (ch. 13:8–14), or to accept any messages contrary to his kingly ideas. He had had access to the tabernacle at Nob, but had murdered the priests. Inasmuch as Saul had voluntarily chosen to follow his own counsel, God permitted him to reap the fruit of such sowing. Had he been repentant and submissive, God could have turned his mistakes into steppingstones to success. Saul’s experience illustrates the truth, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7; cf. 5T 119).
—Francis D. Nichol, ed., The Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 2 (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1976), 584–586.
Plan B
Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.”
And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.”
— 1 Samuel 28:7 NKJV
Since God didn’t answer him, Saul turned to the occult. The fact that Saul had previously gotten rid of all the mediums and spiritists indicates that he was familiar with God’s will in this regard. (1 Samuel 28:3b)
6 ‘And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.
— Leviticus 20:6 NKJV19 And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?
—Isaiah 8:19 NKJV
When Saul sought the medium, he was fully aware that he was doing so against God’s will. This supports the view that Saul was neither repentant nor seeking God’s will for his life. He was merely seeking resources for the coming battle. Saul was interested in God’s power and abilities, but not in a personal relationship with God. Saul wanted God on his side; he wanted God’s help, and he was interested in God, so long as God could be useful in achieving his goals.
Excursus: Where is En Dor?
Endor is an ancient Canaanite city, four miles south of Mt Tabor, assigned to the tribe of Manasseh though never fully taken by them (Jos 17:11). The city witnessed the defeat of Jabin and Sisera by Barak (Ps 83:9, 10). Endor is not actually mentioned in Judges; despite this omission, it is not necessary to alter “Endor” (Ps 83:10) to “En-harrod” (cf. Jgs 7:1). Endor is best known as the dwelling place of the famous witch who was called upon by King Saul (1 Sm 28:7). On that occasion Saul disguised himself because his journey to Endor took him near the Philistine army encamped at Shunen.
—Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Endor,” in Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 701.
Undercover King
8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.”
9 Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?”
—1 Samuel 28:8-9 NKJV
Why was Saul disguised? Several reasons. En Dor was six miles away and two miles northeast of the Philistine camp. This meant that Saul had to sneak past the Philistine camp in order to make it to En Dor. (Bergen, p.266.) The woman is hesitant to conduct a seance; she knows it is illegal and could cost her life. This is likely another reason Saul disguised himself. There is no way anyone would conduct a seance in the presence of the person responsible for getting rid of all the mediums and spiritists of the land.
As the Lord lives
And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”
— 1 Samuel 28:10 NKJV
In case you were still wondering about why God did not answer Saul’s prayer, here is further evidence of the condition of Saul’s heart and his faith. Not only did Saul risk his life and the life of two of his men as they snuck past their enemies in order to do something God forbade, but now Saul swears by God that the woman disobeying God will not be punished, since it is at Saul’s request that she is about to conduct a seance.
To calm the woman’s fears, “Saul swore to her by the Lord” that she would not be punished for her activities. Yet for the informed reader, Saul’s words to the medium are just one more manifestation of his lifelong spiritual incongruities (literally)—“By the life of Yahweh, there will not occur for you a transgression in this matter.” In fact, Saul’s oath invoked the Lord to grant immunity to one who broke the Lord’s command—it turned God against himself. Such an oath was not only foolish but actually blasphemous.
—Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 266.I wish to speak to Samuel please
Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”
And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”
— 1 Samuel 28:10-11 NKJV
Why is Saul asking for Samuel? Saul had many opportunities to listen to Samuel while Samuel was alive, but he refused to listen. Now that Samuel is dead, he wants to talk to him? It seems like Saul intends to force a reply from God. Like a spoiled child irritated because of heaven’s silence, Saul is now trying to force a reply from God.
If Saul was truly seeking God with all his heart and had repented from his previous rebellion, I am sure God would reveal His will to Saul. I know that God longs to save and not destroy. God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4; see also Jeremiah 30:11; 2 Peter 3:9; Isaiah 45:22)
Saul’s behavior is further evidence of his desire to manipulate God rather than serve him.
A ghost?
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”
13 And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?”
And the woman said to Saul, “I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth.”
— 1 Samuel 28:12-13 NKJV
The gig is up! The woman knows Saul’s true identity! But Saul assures her that she is not in trouble; he is curious about what she saw. What caused her to cry out with a loud voice? Who or what revealed to her that she was in the presence of the King of Israel?
The woman answers Saul, telling him she saw a spirit ascending from the earth. However, this part is tricky to translate. I say this because of the variation that exists in the different English translations. You can see many of them at once on sites like BibleHub.com. But here are a few English translations of 1 Samuel 28:13.
New International Version
The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?” The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth.”
English Standard Version
The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.”King James Bible
And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.New American Standard Bible
But the king said to her, “Do not be afraid; but what do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a divine being coming up from the earth.”
I point this out to clarify that the translators are not in agreement that the woman saw a spirit, ghost, or soul. But the original Hebrew word used is אֱלֹהִים ('ĕlōhîm), which can mean rulers, judges, divine ones, angels, or gods, and it all depends on context and grammatical structure. I won’t bore you with details, but suffice it to say that scholars who have spent their lives studying ancient languages disagree on the best translation of this word in this instance.
What does he look like?
So he said to her, “What is his form?”
And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down.
— 1 Samuel 28:14 NKJV
Saul’s question is significant because it indicates that the woman has not recognized what she saw as Samuel. After hearing the description, Saul knows that it is Samuel, but the text does not indicate that Saul saw Samuel. According to the biblical text, Saul knew it was Samuel based on the description the woman gave him of an old man coming up covered with a mantle.
(If I had been there, I would have asked the woman if the mantle was white and whether it had eye holes cut out, but that’s besides the point.)
Samuel?
Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”
And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.”
— 1 Samuel 28:15 NKJV
There are so many questions I want to ask, but let’s begin with paying careful attention to the dialogue. What does “Samuel” say?
“Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”
Samuel’s words are in line with the notion of the dead being unaware of what is happening here on earth.
His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;
They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.
—Job 14:21 NKJVHis spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish.
—Psalm. 146:4 NKJV5 For the living know that they will die;
But the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.
—Ecclesiastes. 9:5-6 NKJV
Samuel is not aware of the battle; he does not know why Saul is bothering him. Also, “Samuel” accuses Saul of bringing him up. Up from where? I see this language as evidence that the belief was that Samuel was asleep in the grave.
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
—Daniel 12:2 NKJVBut I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
—1 Thessalonians 4:13 NKJVAnd the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.
—Deuteronomy 31:16 NKJV (see also 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; 2:10; 11:21; 11:43; 14:20; 14:31… there many)Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
—Psalm 13:3 NKJV
For more New Testament references to death as sleep, see Matthew 9:24; 27:52; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11; Acts 13:36; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.
I counted about 54 references to death as sleep in the Bible, but I might have missed a few. My point is that the way “Samuel” talks, it seems like he was asleep and unaware. There is no description of him being above in heaven, or on Abraham’s bosom, or in God’s presence. There is also no description of him being tormented by flames, though he came up from the earth. I understand that these are arguments from silence and therefore not strong, but I believe they are worth pondering.
But the more important question for us to ask of the text is whether or not this is Samuel speaking. On the one hand, the biblical text clearly refers to this entity that the woman saw as Samuel. But does this mean it literally is Samuel or simply that this is what Saul identifies the being as? Saul identifies the being as Samuel. Saul addresses the being as Samuel, and the being replies without correcting Saul, but does that mean that it really was Samuel?
It is worth noting that the being does not object to Saul bowing down with his face to the ground (1 Samuel 28:14), but when John bows down to worship an angel, the angel stops him and tells him to worship only God (Revelation 19:10; 22:8-9).
God had shown His abhorrence of the practice of necromancy by ordering the death of all who engaged in it (Lev. 20:27). Even those who consulted spiritualistic mediums were to be cut off (Lev. 20:6). Hence the communication must have come from some other source. There are those who hold that the spirits of the dead return to commune with the living. These would maintain that the spirit of Samuel responded to the summons of the medium. But a communication from Samuel, speaking as a prophet, would indirectly be a communication from God, and it is expressly stated that the Lord refused to communicate with Saul (1 Sam. 28:6). Saul was slain, “for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; and enquired not of the Lord” (1 Chron. 10:13, 14).
—Francis D. Nichol, ed., The Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 2 (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1976), 586–587.
If this really was Samuel, there are some troubling implications. One of them is, can a medium conjure up the soul or ghost of those who followed God?
If so, who gives her (the medium) this power?
If God is clearly against necromancy, why would He allow someone to conjure the soul of a faithful prophet?
Does this woman have this power on her own?
How did she acquire the power to summon souls if she is not with God, and God is clearly against this practice?
What other source of power is there?
Does Satan have power over souls that belong to God?
The other option would be that this was God’s doing. God sent Samuel to talk to Saul. This is very odd, at least after Saul sought God and God did not answer him. Why would God prefer to use a method that He repeatedly outlawed?
You could argue that there is some evidence that this was truly Samuel who communicated with Saul, but I believe that this view raises more questions than it answers.
My interpretation of these events is that in rebelling against God’s will and by seeking out a medium to conduct a seance, Saul sought out the occult, exposing himself to deception from Satan and his demons (other fallen angels, Revelation 12:7-9). If Satan can show up as a serpent in Eden (Revelation 12:9) and as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), I do not think it is a stretch for him to show up as an old man covered with a mantle.
Back to the story.
Saul gives “Samuel” a summary of recent events. “And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.”
“Samuel’s Prophecy”
16 Then Samuel said: “So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? 17 And the Lord has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”
— 1 Samuel 28:16-19 NKJV
For those who believe that this truly was Samuel, can Samuel prophecy on his own? Doesn’t a prophet merely deliver a message from God? If God is not answering Saul through prophets (1 Samuel 28:6), why would He do it through the ghost of a prophet?
Notice the message from this supposed Samuel, “The Lord has departed from you and become your enemy.” Have you ever heard a similar whisper in your ear? Does this sound like a message from God or from Satan?
Some argue that the “prophecy” came true, and that is factual. Let me ask you this: if someone rebels against God and seeks out a medium to conduct a seance to speak to the dead, is it possible for Satan to say what he is about to do and then to do it? When you walk away from God, who will protect you from Satan’s schemes? This is not about Satan knowing the future; it is about him knowing what he will do and then doing it.
Conclusion
You can finish reading 1 Samuel 28; it is all downhill from here. But I do want to highlight the lesson I take away from this story, and the summary of Saul’s death recorded in 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 is incredibly helpful.
13 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. 14 But he did not inquire of the Lord; therefore, He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David, the son of Jesse.
—1 Chronicles 10:13–14 NKJV
According to the Bible interpreting itself, Saul consulted and medium for guidance and not the Lord. I take this to be clear evidence that God did not communicate with Saul through the medium or the ghost of Samuel.
So what is my takeaway from this story?
We should approach God with humility and a true desire to do His will, and not simply a desire to manipulate God to accomplish our will. We connect with God by humbly seeking Him and submitting to His will, not by trying to force His hand and especially not by going against His will.
If you call yourself a follower of God but use unbiblical, ungodly, and unchristlike tactics to accomplish your goal, you are not really following God. Beware of those who use religion, who call on the name of Jesus, who claim to follow God but live lives that disregard God’s clear guidelines.
Saul was king; he was called to be king by God himself (see my series on 1 Samuel “Of Kings and Men”), yet he departed from God’s will. May this serve as a warning for all of us. Are we seeking God and His will for our lives, or are we seeking God as a source of power to accomplish our own will?
