Chapter Twenty-Eight

The hostile designs of the Philistines against the Hebrews. Saul’s visit to the sorceress of Endor.

1 Samuel 28:1. In those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “Know that you and your men will march out with me in the army. David’s presence in the Philistine camp and his apparent service to Philistine interests (1 Sam 27:1) gave the enemies of the Hebrews hope for success in their undertaking.

1 Samuel 28:2. David said to Achish, “Very well, you will know what your servant can do.” Achish said to David, “I will make you my bodyguard for life. “Now you will know what your servant can do.” David’s cautious answer was interpreted by Achish in a favorable sense.

1 Samuel 28:3. Samuel had died, and all Israel mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his city. Saul had expelled the mediums and the wizards from the land. In reply to the question why the sacred writer, having written above (1 Sam 25:1) of the death of the prophet Samuel, mentions it again, blessed Theodoret answers: “Intending to narrate about the sorceress (who summoned Samuel’s shade), he was forced to mention Samuel’s death” (Blessed Theodoret, commentary on 1 Samuel, question 62).

1 Samuel 28:4. The Philistines gathered and came and encamped at Shunem; Saul gathered all Israel and encamped on Gilboa. This time the Philistines did not invade the Hebrew land by the direct route into its southern part, where they might have immediately met Saul’s army, but made a detour northward and penetrated into the Jezreel Valley, the most favorable terrain for their cavalry operations. Shunem is a city in the Jezreel Valley. Gilboa is a mountain to the south of Shunem.

1 Samuel 28:5. When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. “His heart trembled greatly.” “This was no longer the Saul who knew no fear in war and did not count the number of his enemies. Years, life’s troubles, illness, and the consciousness of hidden discontent and mistrust of his subjects had broken his spirit and undermined his faith in himself” (Ya. Bogorodsky, ‘The Hebrew Kings’, p. 118).

1 Samuel 28:7. Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, and I will go to her and inquire of her.” His servants said to him, “Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at Endor. “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium.” See the end of 1 Sam 28:3. Evidently, witchcraft was pursued by Saul before not with complete conviction in its futility, and perhaps not so much from religious motives as from fear of its power against himself. Endor is to the north of Gilboa, between Gilboa and Tabor.

1 Samuel 28:9. But the woman said to him, “You know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the wizards from the land; why then are you laying a snare for my life to bring about my death? See the end of 1 Sam 28:3.

1 Samuel 28:12. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul. The grim, accusing appearance of Samuel revealed to the woman that before her stood none other than the irreconcilable enemy of the prophet—the Hebrew king Saul.

1 Samuel 28:13. The king said to her, “Do not be afraid; what do you see?” The woman said to Saul, “I see a god-like being coming up out of the earth. 1 Samuel 28:14. He said to her, “What is his form?” She said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and made obeisance. Contrary to the expectations of the sorceress herself, what happened was not a phantom but an actual miracle: God clothed the disembodied soul of Samuel with a likeness of the body, so that once more He might express His unalterable will concerning the apostate and his house (see blessed Theodoret, commentary on 1 Samuel, question 63).

1 Samuel 28:16. Samuel said, “Why do you ask me, since the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy? “Become your enemy,” that is, no longer be favorably inclined toward you.

1 Samuel 28:17. The Lord has done to you as He spoke by me; the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. See 1 Sam 13:8-14.

1 Samuel 28:18. Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out His fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. See 1 Sam 15:1.