1 Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.” 2 So David said to Achish, “Surely you know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you one of my chief guardians forever.” 3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land. 4 Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. 7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.” The Philistines gathered their army against Israel and Achish-the Philistinian king- expected David and his men to fight with them. “So David said to Achish, ‘Surely you know what your servant can do.’” “Judging from his previous acts, it would necessarily have been against his conscience to fight against his own people. Nevertheless, in the situation in which he was placed he did not venture to give a distinct refusal to the summons of the king. He therefore gave an ambiguous answer, in the hope that God would show him a way out of this conflict between his inmost conviction and his duty to obey the Philistian king. He had no doubt prayed earnestly for this in his heart. And the faithful God helped His servant: first of all by the fact that Achish accepted his indefinite declaration as a promise of unconditional fidelity.”(Keil & Delitcsch) “‘Therefore;’ for that valour which I doubt not thou wilt show on my behalf. ‘I will make you one of my chief guardians forever”— a guardian of “‘mine head’ [-the center of my life-], i.e. of my body and life.” (Poole) “‘Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him.” This is one of the dues of the dead - viz., to be sowed in the earth, and watered with tears. Mors mea ne careat lachrymis. ‘And buried him in Ramah.’— The bodies of the saints, being the temples of the Holy Ghost, should with reverence be commended and committed unto Christian sepulture, in hope of the resurrection [of the body]” (Trapp) — at the last day. “And they buried him in Ramah”— his home town. So, he was both dead and buried. “And Saul had” previously “put away” out of the land “those that had familiar spirits,” according to law. (Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:11) “‘Then”— a national emergency arose – “the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem’ — a town in the tribe of Issachar, Joshua 19:18. ‘So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa’— a mountain not far from the valley of Jezreel, where the battle was fought, 1 Samuel 31:1 2 Samuel 1:21. So the two armies seem to be placed in the same manner as they were 1Sa 17, each upon a hill, and a valley between them.” (Poole) “And when Saul inquired of Yahweh, Yahweh did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.">>> This is the crux of the matter. “Isaiah said well, When they say to you, ‘Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?” The king of Israel had petitioned Yahweh and He did not answer him through allowed means. He should have repented and put on sackcloth and ashes. but he showed no such repentance “Sackcloth was associated primarily with mourning (Gn 37:34; 1 Kgs 21:27; Lam 2:10). National (2 Kgs 6:30; Neh 9:1; Is 37:1; Jon 3:8) as well as personal crises constituted times for the wearing of sackcloth. Kings (1 Kgs 21:27; 2 Kgs 6:30), priests (Jl 1:13), elders (Lam 2:10), prophets (Is 20:2; Zec 13:4), and cattle (Jon 3:8) all wore sackcloth. Sackcloth was found on the penitent (Neh 9:1; Jer 6:26; cf. Mt 11:21) though such usage was not restricted to Israel (Is 15:3; Jer 49:3; Ez 27:31; Jon 3:5).” (William Tyndale) And they would sit and ashes and put ashes on the foreheads, signifying that they know they are but dust. ”When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.” This was a legitimate fear. “If this enemy succeeded, they would cut Israel in half geographically. God gave Saul no guidance... Since Saul had refused to listen to God in the past (chs13,15), God now refused to listen to him (cf. 1 Samuel 28:18). He gave the king no revelation about how to proceed. Normally when people refuse to pay attention to the word of God, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to hear the word of God (cf. Jeremiah 7:13-16).” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) “Then Saul said to his servants, ‘Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.’ And his servants said to him, ‘In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.’”— He did not miss a beat; he sought the spirit of Samuel through a medium. “Overwhelmed in perplexity and fear, he yet found the common and legitimate channels of communication with Heaven shut against him. And so, under the impulse of that dark, distempered, superstitious spirit which had overmastered him, he resolved, in desperation, to seek the aid of one of those fortune telling impostors whom, in accordance with the divine command (Levi. 19:31; 20:6, 20:27; Deut. 18:11), he had set himself formerly to exterminate from his kingdom.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) “Publicly Saul was against these diviners, but privately he now sought one out. This is hypocrisy…. Mediums are people who communicate with the dead, and spiritists are those who communicate with evil spirits. The terms always go together in the Old Testament, indicating the close relationship that exists between these activities. The Mosaic Law prescribed death for mediums and spiritists because God promised to give His people all the information He wanted them to have about the future from prophets (Deut. 18). It was unwise, even dangerous and therefore forbidden, for them to seek more information from these other sources.” (Dr. Thomas B Constable) “Is it possible for human beings to talk with the dead, or lawful to do so? We answer no in both cases. Spiritualistic mediums may have intercourse with demons who by their superior knowledge personate the dead, but they are not permitted of God to bring back the dead themselves.” (Gray) 8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.” “‘And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment,’ as well he might with shame enough, thus to return to his vomit, and make use of those whom he had formerly suppressed.” (John Trapp) “‘and he went, and two men with him and they came to the woman by night’; not only that they might not be seen, but because it was a work of darkness they were going about,...” (John Gill) And he said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.” This was no israelitish bodily resurrection. He desired to speak with the spirit of Saul. 9 Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?” 10 And Saul swore to her by the LORD, saying, “As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” 11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!” “Mediums and spiritists do not have access to the dead but [oft] communicate with evil spirits posing as people who have died. That is why these spirits are called ‘lying spirits’ (1 Kings 22:22).” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) But perhaps this is a case where Yahweh attended the séance, suppressing the other spirits and spoke Himself. 9 Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?” 10 And Saul swore to her by the LORD, saying, “As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” 11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” The woman knows of the threatenings of Saul against such practices. The word of Yahweh says that she “must be put to death” for practicing such black magic, but the disguised king swears by the name of Yahweh that no punishment shall come on her. “As the LORD lives"- not as I live but as He lives. After getting an oath to hold her harmless, the medium proceeds with the séance:“Whom shall I bring up for you?”!And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” “Saul neglected to hearken to Samuel while he was alive, and now would fain advise with him after his death. Haec est fortuna eorum qui salutaria monita spernunt. Let such look to it as despise wholesome counsel, while they may have it. ‘The days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.’ [Luke 7:22]” (John Trapp) 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”13 And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth.” 14 So he said to her, “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle.” Perhaps it was the Ancient of Days. But the wicked Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down. "What did you see?" “I saw a gods ascending out of the earth.” “The king… asks what she saw which called forth the cry of fear and terror ‘gods’—this is the rendering of the Hebrew word Elohim. The English Version, however, follows the majority of the Versions here. The Chaldee translates the word by ‘angels.’ Corn, à Lapide and the best modern scholars, however, reasoning from Saul’s words which immediately follow—‘What is his form?’—suppose the Elohim to signify, not a plurality of appearances, but one God-like form: something majestic and august. The feeling, however, of antiquity seems to have been in favour of more than one supernatural form entering into the En-dor dwelling on that awful night. Besides the testimony of the Versions above referred to, the passage in the Babylonian Talmud treatise Chaggigah, quoted below, speaks of two positively spirit forms-Samuel and another.” (Ellicott's Commentary) “‘And he said unto her, What form is he of?’ He wanted a more exact description of the apparition. ‘And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel,’ the long prophet's mantle having given him the information, as the apparition showed it. ‘And he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself,’ in [new born] awe and reverence.” (Paul Kretzmann) 15 Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.” 16 Then Samuel said: “So why do you ask me, seeing the LORD has departed from you and has become your enemy? 17 And the LORD has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.” This seems to be a message from Yahweh, perhaps by the Spirit of prophet, that is the Holy Spirit. “An evil spirit speaking by means of a medium, always gives messages of a nice, pampering kind that are intended to make the enquirer feel good. But Samuel frankly, honestly tells of the inconsistency of Saul's enquiring of Samuel when the LORD had departed from him (v.16).“ (L. M. Grant) God will do to His adversary none other than that which HIs prophesy had spoken. “What could the servant do for him if the Master was become his enemy? What can a priest or a minister do for any man if God has turned His face away from him? Can he make God deny Himself, and become favourable to one who has scorned or sinned away His Holy Spirit? Saul was experiencing no more than he had just reason to expect since that fatal day when he had first deliberately set up his own will above God's will in the affair of Amalek. In the course which he began then, he had persistently continued, and God was now just executing the threatenings which Saul had braved. And next day would witness the last of his sad history. The Lord would deliver Israel into the hands of the Philistines; in the collision of the armies he and his sons would be slain; disaster to his arms, death to himself, and destruction to his dynasty would all come together on that miserable day.” (Expositor's Bible) 20 Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night. 21 And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was severely troubled, and said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice, and I have put my life in my hands and heeded the words which you spoke to me. 22 Now therefore, please, heed also the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.” 23 But he refused and said, “I will not eat.” So his servants, together with the woman, urged him; and he heeded their voice. Then he arose from the ground and sat on the bed. 24 Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she hastened to kill it. And she took flour and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from it. 25 So she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night. “What a shock for Saul! There is not the slightest ray of hope to lighten his darkness. He only felt the worse for consulting the spirit medium. Tall and strong as he was, he fell to the ground in terror (v.20). He had refused the Word of God. Now he has to face the results of his own folly and is not prepared. What a picture of those who dare to dismiss God from their lives, then come to the end, having nothing whatever to depend upon! He had not eaten, evidently thinking that fasting would gain him some favor with God. This was probably the most distressing case the woman had ever seen. She reminds Saul that she had put her life in her hands by doing what he wanted. Now she asks him to consider her advice and take some food in order to be strengthened (v.22). The best she can offer is what will give him physical strength in order to go to meet his doom! Saul refused to eat. Evidently he was too disturbed to even desire food. But the insistence of both the woman and Saul's servants prevailed, and Saul go up from the ground and sat on the bed. The woman's house was apparently sparsely furnished, but she had food to give him, a fat calf which she killed, and flour that provided means of baking unleavened bread (v.24). This reminds us of Abraham's provision for the Lord and the two angels (Genesis 18:6-8), but how totally in contrast were circumstances!” (L. M. Grant)