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1 Samuel 28

Saul’s search for guidance through a forbidden source brings him face to face with YHWH’s judgment on his disobedience.

The Philistines gather for war against Israel, and Achish expects David and his men to join his army. Across the battle lines, Saul trembles at the enemy’s strength and receives no answer from YHWH. Samuel is dead. Though Saul has expelled mediums from the land, he visits a woman at Endor in disguise and asks her to summon Samuel. The encounter brings a sentence of defeat and death, after which the exhausted king eats and leaves in the night.

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1In those days, the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. Achish said to David, “Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the army, you and your men.”
2David said to Achish, “Therefore you will know what your servant can do.” Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you my bodyguard forever.”
3Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. Saul had sent away those who had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land.
4The Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and encamped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped in Gilboa.
5When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.
6When Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD didn’t answer him by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets.
7Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek for me a woman who has a familiar spirit, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants said to him, “Behold, there is a woman who has a familiar spirit at Endor.”
8Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night. Then he said, “Please consult for me by the familiar spirit, and bring me up whomever I shall name to you.”
9The woman said to him, “Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who have familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?”
10Saul swore to her by the LORD, saying, “As the LORD lives, no punishment will happen to you for this thing.”
12When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”
13The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What do you see?” The woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.”
14He said to her, “What does he look like?” She said, “An old man comes up. He is covered with a robe.” Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and showed respect.
15Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me, to bring me up?” Saul answered, “I am very distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me, and answers me no more, by prophets, or by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I shall do.”
16Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has departed from you and has become your adversary?
17The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, even to David.
18Because you didn’t obey the LORD’s voice, and didn’t execute his fierce wrath on Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you today.
19Moreover the LORD will deliver Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will deliver the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”
20Then Saul fell immediately his full length on the earth, and was terrified, because of Samuel’s words. There was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all day long or all night long.
21The woman came to Saul and saw that he was very troubled, and said to him, “Behold, your servant has listened to your voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.
23But he refused, and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants, together with the woman, constrained him; and he listened to their voice. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed.
24The woman had a fattened calf in the house. She hurried and killed it; and she took flour and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread of it.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
1 Samuel 28:6YHWH’s silence through every named means of guidance sets the crisis that Saul tries to escape at Endor.
1 Samuel 28:15Saul explains his distress to Samuel, seeking direction even as he acknowledges that God has departed from him.
1 Samuel 28:3Samuel’s death and Saul’s expulsion of mediums establish the boundaries Saul crosses during his secret visit.
Where this chapter reaches

Exodus supplies the legal background for the ban on sorcery, while Isaiah also addresses consulting the dead for guidance. Amos shares the theme of seeking a word from YHWH and failing to find it, a central feature of Saul’s distress here.

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After reading the whole chapter

What do you notice about Saul’s appeal to YHWH’s name while promising the woman protection?

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How does the woman’s care for Saul affect your reading of the chapter’s final scene?

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Questions people ask about 1 Samuel 28

Was it really Samuel who appeared to Saul at Endor?

The narrator identifies the figure as Samuel, and the speech repeats YHWH’s judgment against Saul before announcing defeat and death. The woman cries out when she sees him. The text does not explain how the appearance happens or establish that mediums have authority over the dead.

Why did God refuse to answer Saul in 1 Samuel 28?

Verse 6 records that YHWH gives Saul no answer through dreams, Urim, or prophets. Samuel’s later speech connects Saul’s predicament with his failure to obey YHWH concerning Amalek and with the loss of his kingdom. The silence belongs to this specific account of judgment against Saul.

What does Samuel mean by saying Saul and his sons will be with him?

In context, Samuel announces that Saul and his sons will die in the coming battle, joining him among the dead. The same speech predicts Israel’s defeat by the Philistines. The phrase does not explain their final standing before God or describe the conditions of life after death.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).