1 Samuel 28 — Tyndale Study Notes
1Sam.28.1
another war: Hostilities between Israel and the Philistines were now routine. In exchange for providing refuge, Achish expected David’s military involvement and cooperation.
1Sam.28.3-14
Saul consulted the dead, a practice forbidden by God’s law (see Lev 20:27; Deut 18:9-11).
1Sam.28.3
banned from the land: Saul had either expelled or killed most mediums, or he had merely outlawed the practice of necromancy (see study note on 28:9).
1Sam.28.4
Shunem, a border town in the territory of Issachar (Josh 19:18), overlooked the valley of Jezreel.
Mount Gilboa is at the east end of the valley of Jezreel. The mountain took its name from a nearby village.
1Sam.28.6
refused to answer: Earlier, Saul had consulted the Lord by sacred lots with mixed results (14:36-42). God’s refusal to speak was a sign of his judgment (14:37; Lam 2:9; Ezek 7:26; Amos 8:11-12; Mic 3:6-7).
1Sam.28.7
Excluded from God’s counsel, Saul resorted to illegitimate methods for finding God’s will. Saul had earlier prohibited the occult practice that he now engaged in himself (28:3).
Endor was on the boundary between Israel and Philistia; the area near Israel’s border was probably a safer location for a banned practice.
1Sam.28.9
outlawed: Literally cut off, suggesting that Saul might have had most of the mediums executed.
1Sam.28.12
It is not clear why seeing Samuel caused the woman to recognize Saul.
1Sam.28.13
Saul asked the medium to describe what she saw that caused her to scream. She described a divine being, a god (Hebrew ’elohim) coming up. Perhaps she observed a human figure with a godlike or angelic appearance, or her use of the term god might reflect a pagan belief that a person becomes a god—a spirit possessing supernatural abilities—after death.
1Sam.28.15
God has left me: The same Hebrew term is used in 16:14 and Judg 16:20.
won’t reply by prophets or dreams: Cp. 1 Sam 28:6.
1Sam.28.16
Saul’s enemy was not David but the Lord himself.
1Sam.28.17
torn the kingdom from you: See 15:28.
1Sam.28.18
you refused: Samuel’s message to Saul had not changed (cp. 15:19).
1Sam.28.19
here with me: In Sheol, the abode of the dead (cp. 2:6, “the grave”; see also Num 16:30-33; Job 17:1-16; Ps 49:11; Rev 1:18).
1Sam.28.24
fattening a calf . . . dough . . . bread: This meal was a major undertaking, a model of hospitality (cp. Gen 18:5-7). This meal the medium shared with Saul recalls the fine meal Samuel had shared with Saul (1 Sam 9:22-24) before he anointed Saul as king. That meal with God’s prophet marked the beginning of Saul’s kingship. This meal with a condemned spiritist came shortly before his death.