1 Samuel · Chapter 28

Verse 1. The Philistines gathered their armies together] Sir Isaac Newton conjectures that the Philistines had got a great increase to their armies by vast numbers of men which Amasis had driven out of Egypt. This, with Samuel’s death, and David’s disgrace, were no inconsiderable motives to a new war, front which the Philistines had now every thing to hope.

Thou shalt go out with me to battle] This he said, being deceived by what David had told him.

Verse 1. The Philistines gathered their armies together — Sir Isaac Newton judges that they were recruited about this time by vast numbers of men driven out of Egypt by Amasis. This probably was one reason why they resolved on a new war with Israel, to which, however, Samuel’s death and David’s disgrace were doubtless additional motives. Achish said to David, Thou shalt go out with me to battle — Achish formed this resolution in consequence of his knowledge of David’s merit, and the thorough confidence he had in his fidelity.

THE PHILISTINES PREPARE TO FIGHT WITH ISRAEL, 1, 2.

1. The Philistines gathered their armies — These inveterate enemies of Israel had hitherto been unable to regain the dominion which they lost in the time of Samuel’s rule, (see note on 1 Samuel 7:13,) though they made repeated efforts to do so all the days of Saul. Now, however, they are about to enjoy a momentary triumph. Thou shall go out with me to battle — This demand was placing David and his men in a difficult position, for how could they take up arms against their own nation and kindred?

V. 2. Can do-He speaks ambiguously, as he did before.

Verse 2. Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do] This was another equivocal answer; and could only be understood by his succeeding conduct. It might imply what he could do in favour of the Philistines against Israel; or in favour of Israel against the Philistines. Achish understood it in the former sense; and therefore he said to David, I will make thee keeper of my head for ever; i.e., Thou shalt be captain of my life-guards.

Verse 2. David said, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do — He answered ambiguously, as he did before. Achish said, Therefore will I make thee keeper of my head — That is, he promised to make him captain of his life-guard, which, we find by the sequel, he accordingly did. Achish evidently understood David as promising that he would do his best to serve him. Delaney thinks that David gave Achish a doubtful answer, because he would not resolve upon so extraordinary a step without consulting God, either by his priest or his prophet. And that, as he proceeded so far as to attend Achish to Aphek, the place appointed for the assembling of the Philistine forces, there is no reason to doubt that he went thither with honest intentions toward his protector, and that he did it by the divine permission.

2. Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do — This was an ambiguous reply, and capable of being construed for or against Achish. The king, however, understood it in a favourable sense. Keeper of mine head — Guard of my person; chief of my life-guards. How David was providentially delivered from his difficult position we learn in chap. 29.

Verse 3. Samuel was dead] And there was no longer a public accredited prophet to consult.

Those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards] See Clarke’s note on “Leviticus 19:31”, and “Exodus 22:18”.

Verse 3. Now Samuel was dead, &c. — This was observed before, 1 Samuel 25:1, but is repeated here again to show that Saul was now sensible of his loss, wanting his advice in a time of great distress. Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits — According to the divine command, Leviticus 20:27, which perhaps he had executed in the beginning of his reign, when he was directed by Samuel.

SAUL’S DISTRESS, AND INTERVIEW WITH THE WITCH OF ENDOR, 3-25. Saul’s interview with the witch of Endor has ever been regarded as a subject beset with peculiar difficulties, and variously has it been explained. Justin Martyr and Origen held that by the incantations of the witch the spirit of Samuel actually appeared and conversed with Saul. Modern spiritism also affirms that the witch was a medium through whom the king of Israel received communications from the spirit of Samuel. But the majority of the older expositors, and some few moderns, believing it absurd for a holy prophet to be raised from the dead by the arts of witchcraft, regard the supposed apparition of Samuel as Satan personating that prophet. This opinion, however, has not been generally received by later commentators; and the present prevailing opinion seems to be, that not by the arts of the witch, but contrary to her expectations, and by the express permission and command of God, the deceased Samuel actually appeared and spoke to Saul.

It is usually assumed that the expressions, “The woman saw Samuel,” verse 12; “Saul perceived that it was Samuel,” verse 14; “Samuel said to Saul,” verses 15, 16; “the words of Samuel,” verse 20 — necessarily imply the actual presence of the deceased prophet. And this conclusion cannot well be avoided if we take this narrative of Saul’s interview with the witch to be an actual communication of the Holy Spirit to the writer of the books of Samuel. But was it thus divinely communicated to the sacred writer? or is it the report of the two men (verse 8) who accompanied Saul to Endor? Inasmuch as the greater portion of these books is a compilation from pre-existing documents — often the reports of eye-witnesses of the events recorded, (see Introduction,) — we are perfectly safe in taking the ground that this narrative originated with those who were eye and ear witnesses of the interview, and who reported the matter just as it appeared to them. Perhaps one of them was the king’s scribe. See note on 2 Samuel 8:17. It is, therefore, a most natural supposition that Saul and his two attendants believed that the witch had really brought up Samuel from the dead, and, so believing, they would naturally report the matter just as it is here recorded. Hence such expressions as “Samuel said to Saul,” may be legitimately explained in this case as the manner in which the witnesses understood and reported what they heard. See, further, the notes on verses 14 and 15.

We are driven to this view of the subject by the insuperable difficulties that attend the belief that Samuel actually appeared. Admitting this belief, we are forced to admit, also, not only that he was at least apparently brought up by the instrumentality of the witch, but also, according to ver. 15, that he was disturbed, and forced up against his will. For, assuming the real appearance of the prophet, it is idle to say, as some do, that the witch did not bring Samuel up, but that he appeared, to her great surprise and terror, before she had yet resorted to her incantations. Verses 11 and 12 most clearly imply that she was instrumental in causing Samuel to appear, and the alarm of the witch, as her own words show, (verse 12,) was not at suddenly seeing the prophet, but at recognising Saul. Here, then, appears an insuperable difficulty — we might well say, an utter absurdity — to suppose that after Jehovah had refused to answer Saul by urim, by prophets, and by dreams, and had also, in his law, denounced the heaviest punishments against all forms of witchcraft, and had forbidden all resort to such as had familiar spirits, he would yet send Samuel from heaven to communicate with Saul through the agency of a miserable witch! Another difficulty is the character of the communication which is pretended to come from Samuel. It contains nothing worth sending a sainted prophet from heaven to tell; nothing which the witch might not, under the circumstances, have naturally and easily devised to awe and terrify the king. Its language, too, savours more of the spirit of witchcraft than of the spirit of divine revelation. See notes on vers. 15 to 19. The manner of Samuel’s appearance is also of a strange and suspicious character. He comes up out of the earth, not as one from heaven; he bears the marks of decrepitude and age, and apparently wears the cast-off garments of his earthly life. All this agrees well enough with the superstitions of ancient necromancy, but is hardly in keeping with that lofty conception of the glorious appearing of a sainted spirit which other parts of the Scriptures suggest. How different from Moses and Elijah, who appeared “in glory!” Luke 9:31. This is the more noticeable when we observe that the witch is the only one who sees Samuel. She alone sees the gods ascending; she alone sees the old man with the mantle; and it is not until after she tells her pretended vision that Saul understands and is convinced that it is Samuel. See note on verse 14. So, then, Saul did not see Samuel; he only heard, as he supposed, the words of the angry prophet. In view of all these difficulties we feel obliged to reject that interpretation which assumes an actual appearance of Samuel.

There are two other methods of explaining this subject, either of which is beset with fewer difficulties. According to one theory the witch of Endor had known Samuel in life, had often seen him, and had heard some of his oracles. His venerable form and mantle were familiar to all Israel. His last words to Saul, predicting the ruin of his house and the transfer of the kingdom to David, were also known throughout the land, and would be particularly remembered by one who was devoted to the arts of divination. The witch, also, knew Saul, and had reason to believe that the hour of his ruin was at hand, for the field of his last battle was near her home, and she may have known the position, plans, and prospects of both armies. She not only recognised the king as soon as he came into her presence, but at a glance discerned the anxiety of his soul, and the real object of his coming; and all her words and actions on the occasion were in perfect keeping with the arts of witchcraft, and designed to awe and overwhelm him. It is impossible successfully to controvert the above suppositions, for they are not only possible but probable; and if any one has doubts of the ability of a professional witch to apprehend a person’s thoughts and feelings, and utter some surprising oracles, he will do well to ponder the following observations of a distinguished medical writer:

“A person of close observation and great shrewdness can acquire a degree of skill in furnishing communications purporting to be spiritual, which can hardly be appreciated by one who has not given much thought to the subject. This is a kind of acquirement not sought for, except by those who mean to use it for deception, and therefore by most persons is but little understood. Let an individual of proper capacity make it a business to study the significance of every slight movement, intonation of voice, and expression of countenance, as criteria of concealed thoughts, and let this pursuit be prosecuted for years, under the incentives afforded by the love of gain or applause, or the fear of detection, and the tact thus acquired will be likely to develop results that appear almost incredible.” — Dr. Austin Flint, (in Quart. Jour. of Psychological Medicine, July, 1869.)

There is another, and, to our mind, more complete exposition of this subject, which we present in these notes. It assumes that the woman of Endor was a superior clairvoyant. All the parts of the narrative are so happily explained on this hypothesis as to evidence its probable correctness and worth. Careful and continued investigations in clairvoyance have, within the last century, shed much light on the mysteries of magic. We know that men have charmed serpents and serpents have charmed men. Man, too, can charm man; and it has been shown beyond successful contradiction that, in accordance with certain occult laws of our being, one person can so fascinate another, and place himself in such sympathetic rapport with his soul, as to become sensible of what he feels or imagines. This power, however, exists in different persons in different degrees. Some persons it seems impossible to mesmerize at all, while others are highly susceptible to mesmeric operations, and are easily thrown into a clairvoyant state. Others, again, have the unusual power of spontaneously inducing upon themselves the clairvoyant state, and, by coming into contact or association with the soul of another, the superior clairvoyant becomes cognizant of the feelings and emotions of that soul. By the power of an inner vision he appears to see in that soul the thoughts and impressions that are deeply fixed in the imagination or the memory. We assume, then, that the witch of Endor was a clairvoyant who could spontaneously place herself in mesmeric intercourse with the souls of those who came to inquire of her; and that with this power she united the practice of lying and deceit as she found occasion to serve her own dark purposes. We hope to show, by fair and worthy criticism, that upon this hypothesis the narrative before us is capable of a happy and consistent interpretation, and is relieved of the difficulties which attend the assumption of the actual appearance of Samuel.

3. Samuel was dead — This fact had been already recorded, (1 Samuel 25:1,) but is repeated here for the purpose of introducing the narrative that follows. Saul had put away — Of this act of Saul’s reign we have no record elsewhere, but it was probably done soon after he received the kingdom, and by the advice of Samuel. It was required by the law. Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20:27. Familiar spirits — The primary sense of the Hebrew word bwa is a skin bottle. Compare Job 32:19. Furst defines the word as “the hollow belly of conjurers, in which the conjuring spirit resides, and speaks hollow, as if out of the earth.” Persons of this craft were supposed to possess a divinity or spirit within them by which they were enabled to hold intercourse with the realm of the dead. The Septuagint renders the word by eggastrimuqov, a ventriloquist; in reference, probably, to the manner in which some of these conjurers uttered their responses. Wizards — See on Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

Verse 4. Shunem, in the tribe of Issachar, not far from mount Hermon.

4. Shunem — The modern Solam, on the southwestern declivity of Jebel Duhy, (Little Hermon,) and on the eastern border of the great Plain of Esdraelon. Joshua 19:18. Gilboa — On the mountains of this name, which lie just south of Shunem. From these heights Saul could have seen the assembling hosts of the Philistines. Here Gideon and his host once encamped. Judges 7:1.

V. 5. He trembled-Had he kept close to God, he needed not fear all the armies of the Philistines.

Verse 5. When Saul saw] He saw from the superiority of his enemies, from the state of his army, and especially from his own state towards God, that he had every thing to fear.

Verse 5. His heart greatly trembled — When he saw their numbers, their orders, and their appointments, he judged himself to be greatly overpowered, and fell into great terror upon the prospect. Had he kept close to God he needed not to have feared all the armies of the Philistines.

5. He was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled — He was a skilful and far-sighted general, and he felt that the Philistines had every probability of victory. He was also probably deeply affected with the feeling that Jehovah had forsaken him. Jehovah’s Spirit came not now mightily upon him as in former years; no cunning player on the harp was with him to charm away the evil spirit.

Verse 6. The Lord answered him not] He used the three methods by which supernatural intelligence was ordinarily given:—

1. Dreams.-The person prayed for instruction; and begged that God would answer by a significant dream.

2. Urim.-This was a kind of oracular answer given to the high priest when clothed with the ephod, on which were the Urim and Thummim. How these communicated the answer, is not well known.

3. Prophets.-Who were requested by the party concerned to consult the Lord on the subject in question, and to report his answer. The prophets at that time could only be those in the schools of the prophets, which Samuel had established at Naioth and Gibeah. These were the only successors of Samuel that we know of.

Verse 6. When Saul inquired of the Lord — This seems to contradict what is affirmed 1 Chronicles 10:14, that he did not inquire of the Lord, which is assigned as the reason why the Lord slew him. But Rabbi Kimchi, and others, thus reconcile these two places. That since he did not continue to inquire of him, but went to a diviner, it was all one as if he had not inquired at all; for he did it faintly, coldly, and indifferently. A learned Jew, Samuel Laniado, remarks here: “He whose heart is perfect with God, lifts up his eyes unto him, and fixes them on him; hoping in him, though he doth not presently hear him; and perseveres in his expectation and confidence, firmly setting a resolution to wait upon him. But so did not Saul, who was remiss and negligent, saying in his heart, If God will not hear me, I will go and consult a familiar spirit.” The Lord answered him not — Nor is it to be wondered that he should not answer a man of such a disposition. Neither by dreams — By which perhaps he prayed that God would inform him. Nor by Urim — It appears by this, that, Abiathar having fled to David and taken the ephod with him, Saul had set up another high-priest, and made an ephod in imitation of the sacred one, not considering the peculiar sanctity of that which God had appointed, and by which alone he had promised to manifest himself. Nor by prophets — A school of whom, no doubt, was still remaining at Ramah, over which Samuel had presided.

6. The Lord answered him not — Which showed that the divine anger was against him. By dreams — This may mean that he had prayed God to give him some significant dream, but no such dream had been granted him; or it may refer to the prophets, who neither by vision nor by dream (Numbers 12:6) had recently received any communication for Saul. By urim — On the breastplate of the high priest. See Exodus 28:30. But what high priest did Saul resort to after the murder of Ahimelech? Most probably another had been immediately appointed by Saul, and a new ephod had been made for him. It is in no way likely that Saul sent away to David’s camp to inquire by the priest Abiathar. By prophets — Some of the most distinguished of Samuel’s school, whom Saul had with him in the camp.

V. 7. That hath, &c.-One that converseth with the devil, or dead men’s ghosts, and by them can discover future things. See Isaiah 8:19.

Verse 7. Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit] Literally, Seek me a woman, אוב בעלת baalath ob, the mistress of the Obadiah or Pythonic spirit-one who had a familiar spirit, whom she could invoke when she pleased, and receive answers from him relative to futurity. Strange that a man, who had banished all such from the land, as dangerous to the state, as impostors and deceivers, should now have recourse to them as the only persons in whom he could safely put his confidence in the time in which Jehovah had refused to help him!

At En-dor.] This was a city in the valley of Jezreel, at the foot of Mount Gilboa, where the army of Saul had now encamped.

Verse 7. Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit — That converses with evil spirits, or hath power to call up, or make to appear, the spirits of dead persons, in order to answer questions, or give information of what may be inquired of them: see on Deuteronomy 18:10, 11. Saul mentions a woman rather than a man, because the weaker sex were most addicted to these practices. In this he acted like a distracted man, who now approved what he had before condemned. He had partly cut off, and partly frighted away wizards, sorcerers, and such as had, or professed to have, these familiar spirits, and now he seeks unto them! What will not fear and folly force men to! How such a practice as this came to be used at first, and on what pretence, we cannot now say; but it appears to have been very ancient, because we find express laws against it in the books of Moses. It is probable it had its rise in Egypt, where an over-strained search after, and pretence to knowledge, made many fall into the strangest absurdities and impieties that ever entered into the human heart. And in all likelihood, not only the Israelites, but the heathen, who, we find, in general used this practice, were first infected with it from thence. In all probability, those who pretended to this power were generally impostors, who only deceived those who consulted them by delusive tricks; yet we may draw this important conclusion from it, that it has always been a prevailing notion among all people, that the soul of man still subsists in another state after the body is dead; for this practice evidently supposes, and indeed was built on this belief.

Ver. 7. A woman that hath a familiar spirit: a mistress of OB. See Deuteronomy 18:11. The LXX read pythoness, a word often used by Herodotus for the Sybils or priestesses of heathen temples. It was understood that she was familiar with an evil genius, but an evil genius that certainly had no power over Samuel. The African negroes in the West Indies still preserve the Hebrew word, and affect to practise obi, by incantation to demons who cannot help them.

7. Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit — He finds that God has utterly forsaken him, and with full purpose and that impulsive rashness which was ever his easily besetting sin, he rushes into still greater evil. Swept down by the raging cataract of accumulating woes, he still, like a drowning man, grasps at a straw. What wonder that God allowed him to be imposed upon by the arts of necromancy! Endor — This place lay about three miles south of mount Tabor, and about seven northeast of Shunem, so that to reach it from the heights of Gilboa, Saul and his two men must have partly compassed the Philistine encampment. They probably passed down the northeastern slope of Gilboa to the valley of the modern Jalud, and thence northward, along the eastern slope of the Little Hermon. See note on verse 25. The village is overhung by a mountain declivity which is full of caverns, and it is probable that in one of these the witch concealed herself.

V. 8. Disguised-Both because he was ashamed to be known, or thought guilty of this practice; and because he suspected, the woman, had she known him, would not practice her art before him.

Verse 8. Saul disguised himself] That he might not be known by the woman, lest she, being terrified, should refuse to use her art.

Verse 8. Saul disguised himself — Both because he was ashamed to be known, or thought guilty of this practice, and because he suspected the woman, if she knew him, would not practise her art before him. And he went — In all haste that very night, stripped of his regal apparel, and attended only by two companions. How nearly allied are infidelity and impiety to superstition; and what will not they do who will not confide in and obey God! But a few hours before he was too haughty to profess himself the servant of the living God, and to observe his laws, and now he is the slave of his fears and follies! “The most infidel man,” says Delaney, “that I ever conversed with, was, by the accounts of those who best knew him, the most superstitious.”

Ver. 8. Saul disguised himself, that the woman might not know him; that the army might not suspect his absence, and that he might conceal the shame of his oracle from his country.

8. Disguised himself — So as not to be recognised by the woman. By night — The only time when it would be at all safe for him to venture so far in the rear of his enemy, and perhaps the only time when he could go at all, for the morrow might require his presence with his army, and the battle might drive him far from Endor. Divine unto me — Saul made known his errand in language such as any one who inquired of a necromancer would naturally use.

9. Wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life — We have seen (note introductory to verse 3) that according to some interpreters the witch knew Saul as soon as he came into her presence, and her words to him are but a device to deceive him and secure herself. The possibility of this cannot be denied. She might have recognised his stately form though in disguise, or possibly some secret sympathizer with her craft might have advised her of the king’s approach. But it is more in harmony with the narrative to understand that she knew him not until she entered the clairvoyant state. Her words in this verse virtually charge Saul with a purpose of convicting her of sorcery that he might bring her to capital punishment.

SAUL’S DISTRESS, AND INTERVIEW WITH THE WITCH OF ENDOR, 3-25. Saul’s interview with the witch of Endor has ever been regarded as a subject beset with peculiar difficulties, and variously has it been explained. Justin Martyr and Origen held that by the incantations of the witch the spirit of Samuel actually appeared and conversed with Saul. Modern spiritism also affirms that the witch was a medium through whom the king of Israel received communications from the spirit of Samuel. But the majority of the older expositors, and some few moderns, believing it absurd for a holy prophet to be raised from the dead by the arts of witchcraft, regard the supposed apparition of Samuel as Satan personating that prophet. This opinion, however, has not been generally received by later commentators; and the present prevailing opinion seems to be, that not by the arts of the witch, but contrary to her expectations, and by the express permission and command of God, the deceased Samuel actually appeared and spoke to Saul.

It is usually assumed that the expressions, “The woman saw Samuel,” verse 12; “Saul perceived that it was Samuel,” verse 14; “Samuel said to Saul,” verses 15, 16; “the words of Samuel,” verse 20 — necessarily imply the actual presence of the deceased prophet. And this conclusion cannot well be avoided if we take this narrative of Saul’s interview with the witch to be an actual communication of the Holy Spirit to the writer of the books of Samuel. But was it thus divinely communicated to the sacred writer? or is it the report of the two men (verse 8) who accompanied Saul to Endor? Inasmuch as the greater portion of these books is a compilation from pre-existing documents — often the reports of eye-witnesses of the events recorded, (see Introduction,) — we are perfectly safe in taking the ground that this narrative originated with those who were eye and ear witnesses of the interview, and who reported the matter just as it appeared to them. Perhaps one of them was the king’s scribe. See note on 2 Samuel 8:17. It is, therefore, a most natural supposition that Saul and his two attendants believed that the witch had really brought up Samuel from the dead, and, so believing, they would naturally report the matter just as it is here recorded. Hence such expressions as “Samuel said to Saul,” may be legitimately explained in this case as the manner in which the witnesses understood and reported what they heard. See, further, the notes on verses 14 and 15.

We are driven to this view of the subject by the insuperable difficulties that attend the belief that Samuel actually appeared. Admitting this belief, we are forced to admit, also, not only that he was at least apparently brought up by the instrumentality of the witch, but also, according to ver. 15, that he was disturbed, and forced up against his will. For, assuming the real appearance of the prophet, it is idle to say, as some do, that the witch did not bring Samuel up, but that he appeared, to her great surprise and terror, before she had yet resorted to her incantations. Verses 11 and 12 most clearly imply that she was instrumental in causing Samuel to appear, and the alarm of the witch, as her own words show, (verse 12,) was not at suddenly seeing the prophet, but at recognising Saul. Here, then, appears an insuperable difficulty — we might well say, an utter absurdity — to suppose that after Jehovah had refused to answer Saul by urim, by prophets, and by dreams, and had also, in his law, denounced the heaviest punishments against all forms of witchcraft, and had forbidden all resort to such as had familiar spirits, he would yet send Samuel from heaven to communicate with Saul through the agency of a miserable witch! Another difficulty is the character of the communication which is pretended to come from Samuel. It contains nothing worth sending a sainted prophet from heaven to tell; nothing which the witch might not, under the circumstances, have naturally and easily devised to awe and terrify the king. Its language, too, savours more of the spirit of witchcraft than of the spirit of divine revelation. See notes on vers. 15 to 19. The manner of Samuel’s appearance is also of a strange and suspicious character. He comes up out of the earth, not as one from heaven; he bears the marks of decrepitude and age, and apparently wears the cast-off garments of his earthly life. All this agrees well enough with the superstitions of ancient necromancy, but is hardly in keeping with that lofty conception of the glorious appearing of a sainted spirit which other parts of the Scriptures suggest. How different from Moses and Elijah, who appeared “in glory!” Luke 9:31. This is the more noticeable when we observe that the witch is the only one who sees Samuel. She alone sees the gods ascending; she alone sees the old man with the mantle; and it is not until after she tells her pretended vision that Saul understands and is convinced that it is Samuel. See note on verse 14. So, then, Saul did not see Samuel; he only heard, as he supposed, the words of the angry prophet. In view of all these difficulties we feel obliged to reject that interpretation which assumes an actual appearance of Samuel.

There are two other methods of explaining this subject, either of which is beset with fewer difficulties. According to one theory the witch of Endor had known Samuel in life, had often seen him, and had heard some of his oracles. His venerable form and mantle were familiar to all Israel. His last words to Saul, predicting the ruin of his house and the transfer of the kingdom to David, were also known throughout the land, and would be particularly remembered by one who was devoted to the arts of divination. The witch, also, knew Saul, and had reason to believe that the hour of his ruin was at hand, for the field of his last battle was near her home, and she may have known the position, plans, and prospects of both armies. She not only recognised the king as soon as he came into her presence, but at a glance discerned the anxiety of his soul, and the real object of his coming; and all her words and actions on the occasion were in perfect keeping with the arts of witchcraft, and designed to awe and overwhelm him. It is impossible successfully to controvert the above suppositions, for they are not only possible but probable; and if any one has doubts of the ability of a professional witch to apprehend a person’s thoughts and feelings, and utter some surprising oracles, he will do well to ponder the following observations of a distinguished medical writer:

“A person of close observation and great shrewdness can acquire a degree of skill in furnishing communications purporting to be spiritual, which can hardly be appreciated by one who has not given much thought to the subject. This is a kind of acquirement not sought for, except by those who mean to use it for deception, and therefore by most persons is but little understood. Let an individual of proper capacity make it a business to study the significance of every slight movement, intonation of voice, and expression of countenance, as criteria of concealed thoughts, and let this pursuit be prosecuted for years, under the incentives afforded by the love of gain or applause, or the fear of detection, and the tact thus acquired will be likely to develop results that appear almost incredible.” — Dr. Austin Flint, (in Quart. Jour. of Psychological Medicine, July, 1869.)

There is another, and, to our mind, more complete exposition of this subject, which we present in these notes. It assumes that the woman of Endor was a superior clairvoyant. All the parts of the narrative are so happily explained on this hypothesis as to evidence its probable correctness and worth. Careful and continued investigations in clairvoyance have, within the last century, shed much light on the mysteries of magic. We know that men have charmed serpents and serpents have charmed men. Man, too, can charm man; and it has been shown beyond successful contradiction that, in accordance with certain occult laws of our being, one person can so fascinate another, and place himself in such sympathetic rapport with his soul, as to become sensible of what he feels or imagines. This power, however, exists in different persons in different degrees. Some persons it seems impossible to mesmerize at all, while others are highly susceptible to mesmeric operations, and are easily thrown into a clairvoyant state. Others, again, have the unusual power of spontaneously inducing upon themselves the clairvoyant state, and, by coming into contact or association with the soul of another, the superior clairvoyant becomes cognizant of the feelings and emotions of that soul. By the power of an inner vision he appears to see in that soul the thoughts and impressions that are deeply fixed in the imagination or the memory. We assume, then, that the witch of Endor was a clairvoyant who could spontaneously place herself in mesmeric intercourse with the souls of those who came to inquire of her; and that with this power she united the practice of lying and deceit as she found occasion to serve her own dark purposes. We hope to show, by fair and worthy criticism, that upon this hypothesis the narrative before us is capable of a happy and consistent interpretation, and is relieved of the difficulties which attend the assumption of the actual appearance of Samuel.

3. Samuel was dead — This fact had been already recorded, (1 Samuel 25:1,) but is repeated here for the purpose of introducing the narrative that follows. Saul had put away — Of this act of Saul’s reign we have no record elsewhere, but it was probably done soon after he received the kingdom, and by the advice of Samuel. It was required by the law. Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20:27. Familiar spirits — The primary sense of the Hebrew word bwa is a skin bottle. Compare Job 32:19. Furst defines the word as “the hollow belly of conjurers, in which the conjuring spirit resides, and speaks hollow, as if out of the earth.” Persons of this craft were supposed to possess a divinity or spirit within them by which they were enabled to hold intercourse with the realm of the dead. The Septuagint renders the word by eggastrimuqov, a ventriloquist; in reference, probably, to the manner in which some of these conjurers uttered their responses. Wizards — See on Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

V. 11. Samuel-Whose kindness and compassion as he had formerly experienced, so now he expected it in his deep distress. This practice of divination by the dead, or the souls of dead persons, was very usual among all nations.

Verse 11. Whom shall I bring up] The woman certainly meant no more than making her familiar personify whomsoever the querist should wish. In the evocation of spirits this is all that, according to the professed rules of their art, such persons pretend to; for over human souls in paradise or in the infernal regions they have no power. If we allow that there is such an art founded on true principles, all it can pretend to is, to bring up the familiar; cause him when necessary to assume the form and character of some particular person, and to give such notices relative to futurity as he is able to collect. And this even in the cases to which authenticity is generally allowed, is often scanty, vague, and uncertain, for fallen spirits do not abound in knowledge: this is an attribute of God, and rays of this perfection are imparted to pure and holy intelligences; and even Satan himself, as may be seen from most of his temptations, is far from excelling in knowledge. He may be cunning and insidious, but he certainly is not wise and prudent; we in general give this fallen spirit credit for much more wisdom than he possesses.

Verse 11. He said, Bring me up Samuel — As he had formerly experienced Samuel’s kindness and compassion, so now he expected it in his deep distress.

Ver. 11. Bring me up Samuel. Augustine, knowing that Satan is often transformed into an angel of light, says it was the devil personating Samuel. This has deceived many. Matthew Henry has adopted Augustine’s opinion. The woman was terrified. She saw a presence with whom she was not familiar, who, according to Josephus, informed her who her guest really was.

11. Whom shall I bring up — She assumes to be, and the whole narrative implies that she was, the instrument and medium of all the spiritual phenomena and communications of the occasion.

V. 12. Saw Samuel-The words are express, the woman saw Samuel, instead of the spirit whom she expected to see, God ordering it so for his own glory. She cried with a loud voice-Terrified and astonished, and thence easily conjectured, whom she had been talking with.

Verse 12. When the woman saw Samuel] That Samuel did appear on this occasion, is most evident from the text; nor can this be denied from any legitimate mode of interpretation: and it is as evident that he was neither raised by the power of the devil nor the incantations of the witch, for the appearances which took place at this time were such as she was wholly unacquainted with. Her familiar did not appear; and from the confused description she gives, it is fully evident that she was both surprised and alarmed at what she saw, being so widely different from what she expected to see.

Verse 12. And when the woman saw Samuel — The particle when, which our translators have inserted here, and which is not in the original text, embarrasses the sense, and is calculated to give the reader a wrong idea of this transaction, leading him to think that some space of time intervened between Saul’s request and Samuel’s appearance, during which the woman was employed in practising her art. Whereas the Hebrew implies no such thing. It is literally, And he (Saul) said, Bring me up Samuel; and the woman saw Samuel, and cried with a loud voice, &c. — The true state of this affair seems to have been, that as soon as Saul had signified whom he wished to have brought up, the woman was about to proceed to her charms and incantations, “designing,” says Dr. Dodd, “either to put some trick upon Saul, by producing an accomplice to represent Samuel; or, may we not believe that evil spirits, really assisting on such occasions, might, and did come in to the aid of execrable wretches, sold to their service like this woman!” Be this, however, as it may, contrary to all her expectation, the moment Saul had mentioned the name of Samuel, the woman saw a venerable figure before her, which made her shriek out with astonishment, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul — She knew this appearance was not owing to any contrivance of her own, or her associates. It was what she in no wise expected; and she immediately concluded, that it could be no less a person than the king of Israel that this venerable person was really sent to. From all the circumstances of the relation, it appears that the woman herself was convinced, as the Egyptian magicians were upon another occasion, that this was the finger of God. To suppose that the woman herself, by her familiar spirit or spells, raised Samuel, or any evil spirit that personated him; or that she put a trick upon Saul, by causing one of her associates to appear as Samuel, is so contrary to reason, and the circumstances of the story, that no unprejudiced mind can well, upon an attentive perusal, take it in any such light. Indeed, the credit of the historian is implicated in this relation. He expressly says the woman saw Samuel, and if we believe that she did not see Samuel, but only an evil spirit personating him, we must call in question either the ability or integrity of the sacred writer: we must conceive either that he did not know what he wrote about, or that he designed to deceive his readers. Supposing then that both the woman and Saul might be deceived by an impostor in Samuel’s guise; yet we ask, Was this author deceived? Or did he mean to deceive us, when he gives us to understand, that the woman saw Samuel, and was frighted at the sight!

Ver. 12. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: for besides Samuel who was clad in his mantle, she saw gods; that is princes and governors ascending out of the earth; and she was told by one present, that the disguised person was Saul himself. Moses in his strong injunctions to destroy both witches and wizards, founded the divine law on the fact, that some of the humankind are so depraved as to maintain intercourse with wicked spirits. And how revolting soever this may be to the believer, or the unbeliever, we must never be ashamed of the doctrines of revelation. The whole system of revealed religion is founded on an intercourse with the invisible world. The text is also very explicit, that Samuel himself on this great occasion, actually appeared; for when Saul saw him, he stooped with his face to the ground. The terrors of the woman contribute not a little towards identifying the person of Samuel; she knew he was a sacred character over whom her accursed arts had no power. Hence God was pleased, on this occasion, to send Samuel, as he sent Moses and Elijah to talk with Jesus on the mount. Matthew 17. So the author of Ecclesiasticus asserts: he not only identifies the person, but enumerates the objects of Samuel’s appearing: chap. 46:20. He told Saul that the battle should be fought the next day—that the Philistines should conquer—that the host or spoil should fall into their hand—that Saul should be slain—that his three sons should likewise be slain—and that David should succeed him in the throne, because he had disobeyed the Lord in the affair of Amalek. Now all these circumstances were too many and too distinguished for a cunning wicked woman to invent. Besides, a woman of that character would have been more inclined to flatter than to add to the king’s affliction, by an abrupt disclosure of all those terrific predictions. Hence the sneers of infidels, who pretend that this was a mere juggling trick of the woman, fall to the ground. Saul, attended by two of his valiant friends, would never have prostrated before any being less venerable than Samuel. And it would have been almost impossible to have deceived him, having so long known and revered the holy prophet.

12. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice — As soon as he said whom he wished to consult, she proceeded, by her peculiar arts, to place herself in a clairvoyant state, and as soon as she came in sensational rapport with Saul’s soul, she saw imaged there the venerable form of the mantled Samuel. She saw him just as he appeared to Saul the last time, and just as his stern and threatening form had haunted that monarch’s soul for years. But Saul and his two men supposed and reported that she saw Samuel actually arise. She discerned, also, the many harrowing fears of defeat that took shape and form in Saul’s imagination, and thus became aware that her consulter was no less a person than the king of Israel. Excessively alarmed at her discovery, she came suddenly out of her clairvoyant state, and said to Saul, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. Observe that her alarm is not at the sight of Samuel, but at finding that the very monarch of Israel who had put away all wizards out of the land (see verse 3) had himself detected her in her sorceries. Those interpreters who affirm that Samuel really appeared, and frightened the witch by his unexpected coming, are at a loss to tell how she learned so soon that her guest was Saul. Some say she inferred it from the venerable appearance of Samuel; but how this should be when Saul had asked her to bring up Samuel, does not appear. Others say she learned it from something that Samuel said; but as yet Samuel had not spoken. Keil well says, though he teaches that Samuel actually appeared: “Her recognition of Saul may be easily explained if we assume that the woman had fallen into a clairvoyant state, in which she recognised persons who, like Saul in his disguise, were unknown to her by face.”

V. 13. Gods-That is, a god, and divine person, glorious, and full of majesty and splendor, exceeding not only mortal men, but common ghosts. She used the plural number, gods, either after the manner of the Hebrew language, which commonly uses that word of one person: or, after the language and custom of the heathens.

Verse 13. I saw gods ascending out of the earth.] The word אלהום elohim, which we translate gods, is the word which is used for the Supreme Being throughout the Bible; but all the versions, the Chaldee excepted, translate it in the plural number, as we do. The Chaldee has, I see yyd akalm malacha dayeya, an angel of the Lord, ascending from the earth. This sight alarmed the woman; it was what she did not expect; in this she could not recognise her familiar, and she was terrified at the appearance.

Verse 13. The woman said, I saw gods ascending — The original word here used is elohim; and is with equal propriety rendered God, a god, or gods; when spoken of Jehovah it is translated God in the Scriptures; but when meant of the false gods of the heathen, of angels or of magistrates, which it sometimes is, it is generally rendered in the plural number. As it is plain the woman saw and spoke only of one person, it should evidently be translated a god here, that is, a divine or glorious person, full of majesty and splendour, exceeding not only mortal men, but common ghosts. Dr. Waterland renders it, a venerable person, and Mr. Locke says, it here signifies an angel or a judge, and that in the singular number. The same word certainly means magistrates, Psalm 82:1-6.

13. Be not afraid: for what sawest thou — She probably, at first, after returning from her clairvoyant state, refused, in her fear, to hold any more intercourse with the king; but after he had allayed her fears, perhaps by further oaths, (compare verse 10,) she answered: I saw gods ascending out of the earth — Neither the sacred historian nor his interpreter is responsible for the truth or falsehood of these words of the witch. But whatsoever of truth they may contain, we regard them as a part of those devices by which she sought to awe, and impose upon, both Saul and his servants. She probably alluded to the ghostly pictures which she saw passing, like so many shadows, over his excited imagination. What she saw in that one vision of Saul’s soul was a sufficient basis for her to devise and utter the responses that follow.

V. 14. A mantle-The usual habit of prophets, and particularly of Samuel, 1 Samuel 15:27. If it was not Samuel, but an other spirit in his shape, it is not true, that Saul perceived it was Samuel. It seems Saul did not see him, so soon as the woman, which occasioned his asking those questions.

Verse 14. An old man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle.] This seems to have been a second apparition; she cannot mean that she had seen gods ascending out of the earth, and these gods were like an old man with a mantle. The angelic appearance first mentioned prepared the way for Samuel; and the whole was done so as to show to the woman that her art had not prevailed in the present instance, and that what was now taking place was wholly independent of her incantations.

Saul perceived that it was Samuel] The description was suitable to his person and clothing.

Verse 14. An old man coming up — Although this appearance of Samuel is represented by the woman as coming up out of the earth, there is no reason to think that it did so in fact. Rather, the woman spoke according to the prevailing notion of both Jews and heathen of those days, that the place of abode of separate souls was under the earth. This opinion was the foundation of necromancy, or divining by the dead; and from a foolish supposition that they could call the dead from their sepulchres to consult them, it is that the Jews in the time of Isaiah are accused of having sacrificed in the gardens, and of remaining among the graves, for their sepulchres were in gardens, Isaiah 65:3, 4; and 29:4. Covered with a mantle — The usual habit of prophets, and particularly of Samuel, 1 Samuel 15:27. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel — But if it was not he, but another person, this declaration of the sacred writer is not true. It may be observed further, that the word [dy jedang, here rendered perceived, properly signifies to know, and sometimes to see. And the pronoun awh hu, himself, which our translators have left out, is also added after the name Samuel. So that the words, literally translated, are, Saul knew that it was Samuel himself.

14. What form is he of — He uses the singular, wrat, his form, though the witch had spoken in the plural of gods. But having seen the image of the mantled prophet in his soul, she proceeds to describe it just as it was pictured there. An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle — Saul vividly remembered Samuel in connexion with that mantle the skirt of which he had laid hold of and rent at Gilgal, when the prophet uttered against him the last bitter oracle of judgment, (1 Samuel 15:27;) and a clairvoyant might see his mantled form just as it was imaged in the soul of Saul. Saul perceived that it was Samuel — Observe, it is not said that he saw Samuel. He formed his opinion from the woman’s words. She described the form of Samuel just as he appeared in the memory of Saul — an old man wearing a mantle; and from this description, not from actual sight, he knew or understood ([dy; Septuagint, egnw; Vulgate, intellexit) that it was Samuel. There is no evidence in the whole passage that Samuel was seen by any one except the witch. He stooped — Made obeisance, for he believed that Samuel was there.

V. 15. Called Samuel-Happy had it been, if he had called Samuel sooner, or rather the God of Samuel! It was now too late: destruction was at hand and God had determined, it should not be stayed.

Verse 15. Why hast thou disquieted me] The complaint is not directed against the woman but against Saul. Indeed, her incantations had no influence in the business, and it does not appear that she had commenced her operations before the angels had prepared the way of the prophet, and before the prophet himself had made his appearance.

That thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.] In his former difficulties, and when pressed by his enemies, he was in the habit of consulting Samuel; and now he applies to him as his former preceptor. God, he knew, might answer by such a man as Samuel, when he would answer by no other means.

Verse 15. Why hast thou disquieted me? — “Houbigant observes very justly, that Samuel complains not of the woman, but of Saul, for disquieting him; from whence it follows that Samuel was not raised up by her magic arts, but by the will of God. Samuel’s disquiet plainly arose from Saul’s hardened impenitence. It was this that grieved and provoked him; and so it should be translated; Why hast thou provoked me, to make me rise up? Why dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee? But is it probable, say some, that God, who had refused to answer Saul by all the accustomed methods, would, as it were, submit himself to the superstition of this prince, and, to satisfy him, raise up Samuel to apprize him of his destiny? We answer, 1st, That Saul had not consulted God either by Urim or by prophets; for the Urim was with David; and there was probably no prophet then alive to whom God communicated himself either by vision or in any other way; and that in the methods he had employed he had conducted himself hypocritically and without any right impression of religion. 2d, We answer, that Saul, in danger, and anxious about the event of it, applies to a pythoness to assist him by her incantations, and to call up the spirit of Samuel; but before she begins one word of her spells or charms the prophet interposes, frightens her, and pronounces Saul’s doom; and she herself witnesses the truth of his appearance. If the thing is singular, if the event is extraordinary, it does not follow that it is false, much less that it is impossible. God is not so tied down to his own institutions that he cannot at any time depart from them. That God should manifest himself by his prophets, to encourage or countenance what he himself had forbidden, is indeed very unlikely, or, to speak more justly, very absurd to suppose. But that he should interpose to reprove that practice, which was the case at present, is doubtless no way incredible or improbable.” — Delaney and Dodd.

Saul answered and said, I am sore distressed, &c. — Finding that God would give no answer to him, and being almost in despair, he seems to have foolishly flattered himself that he might be able to obtain some answer to his petitions by means of that holy prophet, whom he knew to have had a sincere regard for him in his life-time. But the prophet, in his answer in the next verse, gives him to know how incapable he was of doing him any service, seeing that the Lord was departed from him and become his enemy. From hence we may see the vanity and absurdity of invoking saints, &c., as their intercession can no way avail us, when by our wickedness we have made God our enemy. One would think this reply of Samuel would be sufficient to convince any Christian of the folly of any such application. Therefore I have called thee, &c. — Happy had it been for him if he had called Samuel sooner, or, rather, the God of Samuel. It was now too late; destruction was at hand, and God had determined it should not be stayed.

15. Samuel said to Saul — Did, then, Samuel actually speak? We understand that as the witch did all the seeing for Saul, so also she did all the speaking to him. She was the medium both of sight and sound. The Septuagint version calls her a ventriloquist; and she may have caused her voice to sound from some dark corner, so that Saul and his attendants believed it to be the voice of Samuel. But it is not necessary to suppose this. Any one who sought unto the dead in this way, even though he saw and heard the necromancer utter the words with her own lips, if he believed that the communication came from the person sought, would naturally speak of it in this way. So when Saul’s servants afterwards reported this affair, they would naturally say, “Samuel said to Saul,” not “the woman said;” for though they may have known that the woman was the medium of the sound, they doubtless believed that the communication itself came from Samuel.

It should here be observed how perfectly noncommittal the sacred historian is in recording this mysterious transaction. He records the whole matter precisely as it was reported by the two eye-witnesses, and these witnesses reported it precisely as it appeared to them. They believed that Samuel had spoken to their king; but the sacred historian expresses no opinion in the case. He may have believed their report, as they did, but he does not say so. And it is noticeable that none of the sacred writers commit themselves to any explanation of the mysteries which they record. The magicians of Egypt are represented as working actual miracles in opposition to Moses; but no attempt is made to explain the nature of those miracles. So here the sacred writer records a mysterious event just as it was currently reported and believed, but attempts no explanation.

Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up — This utterance is unworthy of a holy prophet sent on a mission of God from heaven. He charges Saul with forcing him up from the grave against his will. The common interpretation affirms that Samuel rose from the dead by special permission and express command of God; but how absurd, in the light of Christian truth, to imagine the sainted Samuel coming thus from the world of spirits, and angrily complaining to Saul that he had disturbed him! Can it be aught but a pleasure for any of the saints in light to obey Jehovah’s orders? Or, if the order involve a painful duty, would it not be rebellion for the servant to complain? The words are rationally explicable only when regarded as a device of the witch to awe and terrify the soul of the king. They strongly savour of witchcraft.

Verse 16. Wherefore then dost thou ask of me] Was ever I wont to give answers that were not dictated by the Lord? It is his counsel alone that I communicate.

Ver. 16. Wherefore then dost thou ask of me? It would have been far better for Saul to have been ignorant of the future, till the God of futurity had made known his pleasure. He and his friends might then have fought with courage and hope: now he went to battle with a dead soul in a living body. Samuel had said in plain words. “to-morrow, thou and thy sons shall be with me.” The LXX, thou and thy sons with thee shall fall.

16. Wherefore then dost thou ask of me — It required no prophet from heaven to suggest this question to the God-forsaken king, and if we regard it as any thing more than another device of the woman to increase Saul’s terror and impose upon him, we involve ourselves in the absurdity of supposing that after Jehovah had in his law condemned all seeking unto necromancers, and after he had refused to answer the king by urim and by prophets, he nevertheless disturbed a holy prophet from his rest in heaven, and suffered him to rise from the dead, apparently as if forced up against his will by the arts of witchcraft!

V. 17. To him-To David.

Verse 17. The Lord hath done to him] I believe these words are spoken of Saul; and as they are spoken to him, it seems evident that him should be thee. The Vulgate has tibi, the Septuagint soi, to THEE: and this is the reading of five of Kennicott’s and Deuteronomy Rossi’s MSS., as well as of both the Bibles printed at Venice in 1518, where we read Ël lecha, to THEE, instead of wl lo, to HIM.

As he spake by me] Here was no illusion; none but Samuel could say this.

Verses 17, 18. The Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thy hand, &c. — Here the prophet foretels that Saul should that day be stripped of the kingdom, and that it should be given to David. Then follows what nothing but infinite, unerring prescience could predict; an exact, minute, precise account of all the circumstances of the then depending event! Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord — Saul’s sin in killing the Lord’s priests, and in seeking to kill David, is not here mentioned, because the decree of taking the kingdom from him was passed before those sins were committed. Delaney asks here, “Would an impostor” (for such this apparition must have been, if it were not Samuel) “have been so very zealous for a strict observance of the law and commands of God; and so rigid in pronouncing divine vengeance upon the violation of them; and in the depth of his cunning have limited that vengeance to time, place, and person; and all this at no greater distance than the next day? These suppositions are too wild to be seriously confuted; they are the very reverse of what should and would have been done on such an occasion, had imposture interfered in it. Every one knows the business of impostors is to flatter, to delude, to deceive, to answer doubtfully; to promise good and put off the evil; it was this woman’s business in a particular manner to act thus. Had she promised Saul victory, and the success had answered, she was sure of considerable advantage. He, who could have no benefit from priests or from prophets, would, doubtless, have had her in high honour, and with good reason. If he died in the battle, all was safe; and even if he escaped and was worsted, what she said would at least have been taken for an indication of good wishes to the king and to his people; and so would be more likely to escape any after inquiry. Whereas, if she prognosticated evil to the royal race, she was sure of destruction, if the event did not at once justify and save her.”

17. The Lord hath done to him — Rather, for himself, as in the margin; that is, for the accomplishment of his own purposes. The Septuagint and Vulgate have thought to correct the text by reading to thee, instead of to him. As he spake by me — See 1 Samuel 15:18, 26, 28. These words, let it be noticed, were the last oracles Samuel uttered in Saul’s hearing, (compare 1 Samuel 15:35,) and they seem to have been ringing in his ears ever since that last solemn meeting with the prophet. What sufficient reason can be given for Samuel’s coming from the bosom of Abraham to repeat these words to Saul, who already had them deeply imprinted on his memory? If Lazarus could not revisit the world to warn the living of their danger because they had Moses and the prophets, (Luke 16:31,) still less can we suppose that a sainted prophet would be permitted to return and repeat to an incorrigible transgressor the very words of his earthly ministry.

Verse 18. Nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek] See 1 Samuel 15:1-9 and the notes there.

Verses 17, 18. The Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thy hand, &c. — Here the prophet foretels that Saul should that day be stripped of the kingdom, and that it should be given to David. Then follows what nothing but infinite, unerring prescience could predict; an exact, minute, precise account of all the circumstances of the then depending event! Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord — Saul’s sin in killing the Lord’s priests, and in seeking to kill David, is not here mentioned, because the decree of taking the kingdom from him was passed before those sins were committed. Delaney asks here, “Would an impostor” (for such this apparition must have been, if it were not Samuel) “have been so very zealous for a strict observance of the law and commands of God; and so rigid in pronouncing divine vengeance upon the violation of them; and in the depth of his cunning have limited that vengeance to time, place, and person; and all this at no greater distance than the next day? These suppositions are too wild to be seriously confuted; they are the very reverse of what should and would have been done on such an occasion, had imposture interfered in it. Every one knows the business of impostors is to flatter, to delude, to deceive, to answer doubtfully; to promise good and put off the evil; it was this woman’s business in a particular manner to act thus. Had she promised Saul victory, and the success had answered, she was sure of considerable advantage. He, who could have no benefit from priests or from prophets, would, doubtless, have had her in high honour, and with good reason. If he died in the battle, all was safe; and even if he escaped and was worsted, what she said would at least have been taken for an indication of good wishes to the king and to his people; and so would be more likely to escape any after inquiry. Whereas, if she prognosticated evil to the royal race, she was sure of destruction, if the event did not at once justify and save her.”

SAUL’S DISTRESS, AND INTERVIEW WITH THE WITCH OF ENDOR, 3-25. Saul’s interview with the witch of Endor has ever been regarded as a subject beset with peculiar difficulties, and variously has it been explained. Justin Martyr and Origen held that by the incantations of the witch the spirit of Samuel actually appeared and conversed with Saul. Modern spiritism also affirms that the witch was a medium through whom the king of Israel received communications from the spirit of Samuel. But the majority of the older expositors, and some few moderns, believing it absurd for a holy prophet to be raised from the dead by the arts of witchcraft, regard the supposed apparition of Samuel as Satan personating that prophet. This opinion, however, has not been generally received by later commentators; and the present prevailing opinion seems to be, that not by the arts of the witch, but contrary to her expectations, and by the express permission and command of God, the deceased Samuel actually appeared and spoke to Saul.

It is usually assumed that the expressions, “The woman saw Samuel,” verse 12; “Saul perceived that it was Samuel,” verse 14; “Samuel said to Saul,” verses 15, 16; “the words of Samuel,” verse 20 — necessarily imply the actual presence of the deceased prophet. And this conclusion cannot well be avoided if we take this narrative of Saul’s interview with the witch to be an actual communication of the Holy Spirit to the writer of the books of Samuel. But was it thus divinely communicated to the sacred writer? or is it the report of the two men (verse 8) who accompanied Saul to Endor? Inasmuch as the greater portion of these books is a compilation from pre-existing documents — often the reports of eye-witnesses of the events recorded, (see Introduction,) — we are perfectly safe in taking the ground that this narrative originated with those who were eye and ear witnesses of the interview, and who reported the matter just as it appeared to them. Perhaps one of them was the king’s scribe. See note on 2 Samuel 8:17. It is, therefore, a most natural supposition that Saul and his two attendants believed that the witch had really brought up Samuel from the dead, and, so believing, they would naturally report the matter just as it is here recorded. Hence such expressions as “Samuel said to Saul,” may be legitimately explained in this case as the manner in which the witnesses understood and reported what they heard. See, further, the notes on verses 14 and 15.

We are driven to this view of the subject by the insuperable difficulties that attend the belief that Samuel actually appeared. Admitting this belief, we are forced to admit, also, not only that he was at least apparently brought up by the instrumentality of the witch, but also, according to ver. 15, that he was disturbed, and forced up against his will. For, assuming the real appearance of the prophet, it is idle to say, as some do, that the witch did not bring Samuel up, but that he appeared, to her great surprise and terror, before she had yet resorted to her incantations. Verses 11 and 12 most clearly imply that she was instrumental in causing Samuel to appear, and the alarm of the witch, as her own words show, (verse 12,) was not at suddenly seeing the prophet, but at recognising Saul. Here, then, appears an insuperable difficulty — we might well say, an utter absurdity — to suppose that after Jehovah had refused to answer Saul by urim, by prophets, and by dreams, and had also, in his law, denounced the heaviest punishments against all forms of witchcraft, and had forbidden all resort to such as had familiar spirits, he would yet send Samuel from heaven to communicate with Saul through the agency of a miserable witch! Another difficulty is the character of the communication which is pretended to come from Samuel. It contains nothing worth sending a sainted prophet from heaven to tell; nothing which the witch might not, under the circumstances, have naturally and easily devised to awe and terrify the king. Its language, too, savours more of the spirit of witchcraft than of the spirit of divine revelation. See notes on vers. 15 to 19. The manner of Samuel’s appearance is also of a strange and suspicious character. He comes up out of the earth, not as one from heaven; he bears the marks of decrepitude and age, and apparently wears the cast-off garments of his earthly life. All this agrees well enough with the superstitions of ancient necromancy, but is hardly in keeping with that lofty conception of the glorious appearing of a sainted spirit which other parts of the Scriptures suggest. How different from Moses and Elijah, who appeared “in glory!” Luke 9:31. This is the more noticeable when we observe that the witch is the only one who sees Samuel. She alone sees the gods ascending; she alone sees the old man with the mantle; and it is not until after she tells her pretended vision that Saul understands and is convinced that it is Samuel. See note on verse 14. So, then, Saul did not see Samuel; he only heard, as he supposed, the words of the angry prophet. In view of all these difficulties we feel obliged to reject that interpretation which assumes an actual appearance of Samuel.

There are two other methods of explaining this subject, either of which is beset with fewer difficulties. According to one theory the witch of Endor had known Samuel in life, had often seen him, and had heard some of his oracles. His venerable form and mantle were familiar to all Israel. His last words to Saul, predicting the ruin of his house and the transfer of the kingdom to David, were also known throughout the land, and would be particularly remembered by one who was devoted to the arts of divination. The witch, also, knew Saul, and had reason to believe that the hour of his ruin was at hand, for the field of his last battle was near her home, and she may have known the position, plans, and prospects of both armies. She not only recognised the king as soon as he came into her presence, but at a glance discerned the anxiety of his soul, and the real object of his coming; and all her words and actions on the occasion were in perfect keeping with the arts of witchcraft, and designed to awe and overwhelm him. It is impossible successfully to controvert the above suppositions, for they are not only possible but probable; and if any one has doubts of the ability of a professional witch to apprehend a person’s thoughts and feelings, and utter some surprising oracles, he will do well to ponder the following observations of a distinguished medical writer:

“A person of close observation and great shrewdness can acquire a degree of skill in furnishing communications purporting to be spiritual, which can hardly be appreciated by one who has not given much thought to the subject. This is a kind of acquirement not sought for, except by those who mean to use it for deception, and therefore by most persons is but little understood. Let an individual of proper capacity make it a business to study the significance of every slight movement, intonation of voice, and expression of countenance, as criteria of concealed thoughts, and let this pursuit be prosecuted for years, under the incentives afforded by the love of gain or applause, or the fear of detection, and the tact thus acquired will be likely to develop results that appear almost incredible.” — Dr. Austin Flint, (in Quart. Jour. of Psychological Medicine, July, 1869.)

There is another, and, to our mind, more complete exposition of this subject, which we present in these notes. It assumes that the woman of Endor was a superior clairvoyant. All the parts of the narrative are so happily explained on this hypothesis as to evidence its probable correctness and worth. Careful and continued investigations in clairvoyance have, within the last century, shed much light on the mysteries of magic. We know that men have charmed serpents and serpents have charmed men. Man, too, can charm man; and it has been shown beyond successful contradiction that, in accordance with certain occult laws of our being, one person can so fascinate another, and place himself in such sympathetic rapport with his soul, as to become sensible of what he feels or imagines. This power, however, exists in different persons in different degrees. Some persons it seems impossible to mesmerize at all, while others are highly susceptible to mesmeric operations, and are easily thrown into a clairvoyant state. Others, again, have the unusual power of spontaneously inducing upon themselves the clairvoyant state, and, by coming into contact or association with the soul of another, the superior clairvoyant becomes cognizant of the feelings and emotions of that soul. By the power of an inner vision he appears to see in that soul the thoughts and impressions that are deeply fixed in the imagination or the memory. We assume, then, that the witch of Endor was a clairvoyant who could spontaneously place herself in mesmeric intercourse with the souls of those who came to inquire of her; and that with this power she united the practice of lying and deceit as she found occasion to serve her own dark purposes. We hope to show, by fair and worthy criticism, that upon this hypothesis the narrative before us is capable of a happy and consistent interpretation, and is relieved of the difficulties which attend the assumption of the actual appearance of Samuel.

3. Samuel was dead — This fact had been already recorded, (1 Samuel 25:1,) but is repeated here for the purpose of introducing the narrative that follows. Saul had put away — Of this act of Saul’s reign we have no record elsewhere, but it was probably done soon after he received the kingdom, and by the advice of Samuel. It was required by the law. Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20:27. Familiar spirits — The primary sense of the Hebrew word bwa is a skin bottle. Compare Job 32:19. Furst defines the word as “the hollow belly of conjurers, in which the conjuring spirit resides, and speaks hollow, as if out of the earth.” Persons of this craft were supposed to possess a divinity or spirit within them by which they were enabled to hold intercourse with the realm of the dead. The Septuagint renders the word by eggastrimuqov, a ventriloquist; in reference, probably, to the manner in which some of these conjurers uttered their responses. Wizards — See on Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

V. 19. Tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me:

“What do these solemn words portend?

A gleam of hope when life shall end.

Thou and thy sons, tho’ slain shall be

To-morrow in repose with me.

Not in a state of health or pain

If Saul with Samuel doth remain;

Not in a state of damn’d despair,

If loving Jonathan is there.”

Tho’ these words may only mean, ye shall surely die, without any reference to the state of their souls after death. See note on “1 Samuel 31:8”

Verse 19. To-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me] What an awful message! In the course of the ensuing day thou shalt be slain, thy three sons shall be slain, and the armies of Israel shall be delivered into the hands of the Philistines! Can any person read this, properly considering the situation of this unfortunate monarch, the triumph of the enemies of God, and the speedy ruin in which the godlike Jonathan is about to be involved, without feeling the keenest anguish of heart?

But Samuel says, “He and his sons should be with him.” Does not this mean that they were to go to paradise? I suppose it means no more than that they should all die. Yet the paraphrase of the Rev. C. Wesley is beautiful:—

“What do these solemn words portend?

A ray of hope when life shall end.

Thou and thy sons, though slain, shall be

To-morrow in repose with me.

Not in a state of hellish pain,

If Saul with Samuel do remain:

Not in a state of damn’d despair,

If loving Jonathan be there.”

Saul had committed the sin unto death-the sin to be visited with a violent death, while the mercy of God was extended to the soul. Thus say my faith, my hope, and my charity; and doth not the mercy of God say the same?

Verse 19. Moreover, the Lord will also deliver, &c. — Samuel here predicts three things: 1st, That the Lord would deliver Israel, with Saul, into the hand of the Philistines. 2d, That Saul and his sons (namely, the three that were with him in the camp) should be with him, that is, should, like him, be in the state of the dead, or another world. 3d, That this should take place on the morrow. Now as no evil spirit or impostor of any kind could possibly know these particulars, which were all exactly accomplished next day, nor even Samuel himself, unless he had been divinely inspired with the knowledge of them, it is surprising that any person should imagine that this appearance of Samuel was either a human or diabolical imposture; for it is evident it could only proceed from the omniscient God. And if we consider the whole attentively, we may see a peculiar propriety in it. When Samuel denounced God’s judgments upon Saul he was clad in a mantle, which Saul tore on that occasion. He now came to repeat and to ratify the sentence then denounced; and, to strike him with fuller conviction, he appears in the same dress, the same mantle, in which he denounced that sentence. And since he now again denounced a rending of the kingdom from Saul’s posterity, why may we not presume that the mantle showed now the same rent which was the emblem of that rending? Is it irrational to suppose that when he spoke of this he held up the mantle and pointed to the rent? It is well known the prophets were men of much action in their speaking, and often illustrated their predictions by emblems. It may be observed further, that although Samuel in his lifetime often reproved Saul for his guilt, and told him that God had given away his kingdom from him for that guilt; yet he never told him to whom, nor when the sentence should be executed upon him. How proper, then, to raise from the dead the same prophet who predicted that sentence, to confirm it; to tell him that the kingdom should be taken from him that day; and to name the very person to whom it should be given; to show by whom, and where, and how the sentence should be executed; and that the execution of it was instant, and should be deferred no longer. Was not this an occasion worthy of the divine interposition? The son of Sirach, who probably had as much wisdom, penetration, and piety, as any critic that came after him, is clearly of opinion with the sacred historian, that it was Samuel himself who foretold the fate of Saul and his house in this interview. And it is no ill presumption that his judgment was also that of the Jewish Church upon this head. It has been a question with some, whether the Jews had any belief in the immortality of the soul? This history is a full decision upon that point, and perhaps the establishment of that truth upon the foot of sensible evidence, was not the lowest end of Samuel’s appearance upon this occasion. See Delaney.

19. The Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me — To take these words as a revelation from Samuel involves the evangelical interpreter in the dilemma expressed by Charles Wesley: What do these solemn words portend?

A ray of hope when life shall end.

“Thou and thy sons, though slain, shall be

To-morrow in repose with me.”

Not in a state of hellish pain,

If Saul with Samuel do remain;

Not in a state of dark despair,

If loving Jonathan be there.

But if Saul, Samuel, and the “loving Jonathan” find after death the same abode, what matters it that “Saul died for his transgressions,” and especially for the crime of inquiring of a necromancer? See 1 Chronicles 10:13. Universalism may then well comfort the incorrigible sinner, and assure him of immediate “repose” after death with the saints in light!! Such theology may do for the witch of Endor, but not for the holy Samuel. Beholding Saul’s despair and terror, the witch knew that the Philistines had every probability of victory in the approaching battle, and that warriors like Saul and his sons would not be likely to survive defeat. We have, therefore, no evidence of a supernatural communication here. It ought to be noted that there is no evidence outside of this verse that the disastrous battle of Mount Gilboa was fought and Saul slain on the morrow after this interview with the witch. Here she herself, perhaps, made a blunder, for very possibly several days elapsed before the fatal battle in which Saul and his sons were slain.

V. 20. Fell-As if the Archers of the Philistines had already hit him, and there was no strength in him, to bear up against these heavy tidings: especially, as we cannot doubt, but all his past sins were now brought to his remembrance and what authority has any man to affirm, that he felt no contrition all this time? Altho’ it did not seem good to the holy ghost, to leave it upon record?

Verse 20. Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth.] Literally, he fell with his own length, or with the fullness of his stature. He was so overwhelmed with this most dreadful message, that he swooned away, and thus fell at his own length upon the ground. The woman, being terrified, had probably withdrawn to some distance at the first appearance of the prophet; and Saul was left alone with Samuel. After some short time, the woman came again unto Saul, found him sore troubled, and offered him those succours which humanity dictated.

Verse 20. Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth — Struck to the heart, as if the archers of the Philistines had already hit him, at the hearing this dreadful sentence pronounced upon himself, his family, and people; and overcome with astonishment and terror. And was sore afraid because of the words of Samuel — Observe, reader, the words of Samuel, says the inspired historian, and not the words of Satan, or any evil spirit personating Samuel. These words, which he now fully believed, and which were the more awful as being pronounced by a departed spirit, sent from the invisible world on purpose to pronounce them, even the spirit of a great and holy prophet, whom he had once highly revered, and to whom, under God, he had owed all his elevation; these words so operated upon his mind, weakened and oppressed with guilt, and upon his body, exhausted with fatigue and fasting, that no strength, or power of motion, was left in him; and he fell at his full length as dead upon the floor. Unhappy Saul! he now reaps the bitter fruits of forsaking God, and of being therefore forsaken by him, and of his many great and aggravated crimes. Vengeance, which had long hovered over him, and waited in long-suffering for his repentance, now advances with large and rapid strides, and his doom approaches. He is deeply sensible of it, and is overwhelmed with horror and dismay on the account thereof.

20. Fell straightway all along — See margin. He was completely overwhelmed with fear. Because of the words of Samuel — He believed that the words he had heard were the words of the holy Samuel. The witch was perfectly successful in making him believe that she had called up the holy prophet from his rest in hades. No strength in him — Before his interview with the woman he must have been weak from his long fasting, and now these impressive oracles completely prostrate him

V. 21. Came to Saul-From whom she departed, when she had brought him and Samuel together, that they might more freely converse together.

21. The woman came unto Saul — During the interview she had been standing at a distance from him, not out of sight, or in an adjoining room, as some have supposed, but a little removed from the king’s presence, so as to be less liable to detection in her arts. Saw that he was sore troubled — Saw how completely her oracles had overwhelmed him with terror and excitement.

22. Let me set a morsel of bread before thee — Even the witch neglects not the customs of eastern hospitality.

Verse 23. I will not eat.] It is no wonder that not only his strength, but also his appetite, had departed from him.

And sat upon the bed] Beds or couches were the common places on which the ancients sat to take their repasts.

23. I will not eat — Extreme mental anguish takes away all appetite. Compelled him — Constrained him by urgent importunity. Sat upon the bed — The couch or divan beside the table, on which guests are wont to recline at meals.

V. 24. Unleavened-Not having time to leaven it.

Verse 24. The woman had a fat calf] The ancients used great despatch in their cookery. In hot countries they could not keep flesh meat by them any length of time; hence they generally kept young animals, such as calves, lambs, and kids, ready for slaughter; and when there was occasion, one of them was killed, and dressed immediately.

Unleavened bread] There was not time to bake leavened bread; that would have taken considerable time, in order that the leaven might leaven the whole lump.

24. A fat calf in the house — At this day cattle are kept stalled in the caves of Endor. Dr. Thomson saw little calves at the mouths of these caves, where they were kept while their mothers were at pasture. She hasted, and killed it — “With the Bedouin it is nearly universal to cook the meat immediately after it is butchered, and to bake fresh bread for every meal.… A sheep or a calf will be brought and killed before you, thrust instanter into the great caldron, which stands ready on the fire to receive it, and, ere you are aware, it will reappear on the great copper tray, with a bushel of burgul, (cracked wheat,) or a hill of boiled rice and leben… It seems that this killing, cooking, and eating in rapid succession is a very old custom. Abraham, and Manoah, and many others, besides the witch of Endor, were expert in getting up such impromptu feasts; and our Saviour has given it a proverbial expression in the fatted calf of the prodigal son.” — The Land and the Book; vol. ii, p. 162.

Verse 25. They rose up, and went away that night.] The transactions of this chapter occupy one night only. 1. Saul came by night to En-dor, 1 Samuel 28:8. 2. He consulted the woman, and had his conference with Samuel the same night; for no time whatever appears to have been lost after his arrival at En-dor. 3. He was overcome by the heavy tidings which he heard; and which for a time appear to have deprived him of all power. 4. The woman kills a calf; dresses a part; makes and bakes bread; and Saul and his servants eat. And, 5. They rose and went away that night, 1 Samuel 28:25. The next day, in all probability, the battle happened in which Israel was defeated, and Saul and his sons lost their lives. THERE is a considerable diversity of opinion, both among learned and pious men, relative to the subject mentioned in this chapter, that of raising Samuel from the dead. Some deny the possibility of the thing, and say that it was the devil that personified Samuel; and others, that the whole was the imposition of this cunning woman, and that there was no supernatural agency in the business. This is not a proper place to argue the point. I have given my opinion in the notes. I may sum up in a few particulars.

1. I believe there is a supernatural and spiritual world, in which HUMAN spirits, both good and bad, live in a state of consciousness.

2. I believe there is an invisible world, in which various orders of spirits, not human, live and act.

3. I believe that any of these spirits may, according to the order of God, in the laws of their place of residence, have intercourse with this world, and become visible to mortals.

4. I believe there is a possibility, by arts not strictly good, to evoke and have intercourse with spirits, not HUMAN; and to employ, in a certain limited way, their power and influence.

5. I believe that the woman of En-dor had no power over Samuel; and that no incantation can avail over any departed saint of God, nor indeed over any human disembodied spirit.

6. I believe Samuel did actually appear to Saul; and that he was sent by the especial mercy of God to warn this infatuated king of his approaching death, that he might have an opportunity to make his peace with his Maker.

7. I believe that the woman found, from the appearances, that her real or pretended charms had no effect; and that what now took place came from a totally different disposition of things from those with which she was conversant.

8. I believe that direct, circumstantial, and unequivocal oracles were now delivered concerning things which neither human nor diabolical wisdom could foresee or penetrate; that the defeat of the Israelites, and the death of Saul and his three sons on the following day, were matters which, from their nature, could only be known to God himself; and that no demon or bad spirit could be employed in such a transaction.

I SAMUEL

Verse 25. They arose up and went away that night — “What remorse,” says Delaney, “what desolation of mind, what horrors of guilt, what terrors and anticipations of divine wrath haunted him by the way, may no reader ever learn from his own experience!” Some have expressed a hope, that as, no doubt, his past sins were now brought to his remembrance, he felt contrition for them. Of this, however, the Holy Ghost is silent; and considering that at last he was guilty of self-murder we have no reason to think he experienced any repentance that was of any service to his immortal interests.

25. Went away that night — And returned to his camp on the heights of Gilboa. Some have questioned whether Saul could have travelled from the top of Gilboa to Endor and back in one night, besides holding the interview with the witch. Supposing him to have taken the route indicated in the note on verse 7, it can be shown to have been by no means impossible. In May, 1852, Dr. Robinson travelled from the Wady Jalud, at the eastern base of Gilboa, to within a mile of Endor, in two hours and forty minutes, besides stopping thirty-five minutes to lunch. — Bib. Res., vol. iii, pp. 338-340. Doubtless Saul, travelling probably more rapidly and by well known paths, could have gone down from the top of Gilboa to the same valley, and thence nearly in the route pursued by Dr. Robinson, and have reached Endor in less than three hours. His return could have been effected in the same length of time; and, allowing two hours for his interview with the witch, the whole affair need not have occupied more than eight hours, while it is possible it may have been done in much less time.