1Sa 28:3-25 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for 1Sam 28:3-14: 28:3-14 Saul consulted the dead, a practice forbidden by God’s law (see Lev 20:27 ; Deut 18:9-11 ). 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).

Summary for 1Sam 28:3-14: 28:3-14 ^a Saul consulted the dead, a practice forbidden by God’s law (see Lev 20:27 ^b; Deut 18:9-11 ^c). 28:3 ^d 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).
28:4 ^e Shunem, a border town in the territory of Issachar (Josh 19:18 ^f), 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.
28:6 ^g refused to answer: Earlier, Saul had consulted the Lord by sacred lots with mixed results (14:36-42 ^h). God’s refusal to speak was a sign of his judgment (14:37 ⁱ; Lam 2:9 ^j; Ezek 7:26 ^k; Amos 8:11-12 ^l; Mic 3:6-7 ^m).
28:7 ⁿ 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 ^o).

• Endor was on the boundary between Israel and Philistia; the area near Israel’s border was probably a safer location for a banned practice.
28:9 ^p outlawed: Literally cut off, suggesting that Saul might have had most of the mediums executed.
28:12 ^q It is not clear why seeing Samuel caused the woman to recognize Saul.
28:13 ^r 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.
28:15 ^s God has left me: The same Hebrew term is used in 16:14 ^t and Judg 16:20 ^u.

• won’t reply by prophets or dreams: Cp. 1 Sam 28:6 ^v.
28:16 ^w Saul’s enemy was not David but the Lord himself.
28:17 ^x torn the kingdom from you: See 15:28 ^y.
28:18 ^z you refused: Samuel’s message to Saul had not changed (cp. 15:19 ^aa).
28:19 ^ab here with me: In Sheol, the abode of the dead (cp. 2:6 ^ac, “the grave”; see also Num 16:30-33 ^ad; Job 17:1-16 ^ae; Ps 49:11 ^af; Rev 1:18 ^ag).
28:24 ^ah fattening a calf ... dough ... bread: This meal was a major undertaking, a model of hospitality (cp. Gen 18:5-7 ^ai). This meal the medium shared with Saul recalls the fine meal Samuel had shared with Saul (1 Sam 9:22-24 ^aj) 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.