1 Samuel 28:14-Nehemiah NIV

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - 1 Samuel 28:1-25

Saul At Endor 1Sa 28:7 SAMUEL was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. The death of such a man so described! How graphic in its simplicity is this book of God! No common author could afford to treat his best materials in this way. The writer who spins himself into fine sentences would have dwelt long and carefully upon the death of Samuel; he would have told how dreary was the hollow sound of the moaning wind on the burial day, how tearfully... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - 1 Samuel 28:8-20

(8) And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. (9) And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? (10) And Saul sware to... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 28:14

Understood that it was Samuel. It is the more common opinion of the holy fathers, and interpreters, that the soul of Samuel appeared indeed; and not, as some have imagined, an evil spirit in his shape. Not that the power of her magic could bring him thither, but that God was pleased for the punishment of Saul, that Samuel himself should denounce unto him the evils that were falling upon him. See Ecclesiasticus xlvi. 23. (Challoner) --- The passage is decisive; (Tirinus) he slept and he made... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 28:7-19

7-19 When we go from the plain path of duty, every thing draws us further aside, and increases our perplexity and temptation. Saul desires the woman to bring one from the dead, with whom he wished to speak; this was expressly forbidden, Deuteronomy 18:11. All real or pretended witchcraft or conjuration, is a malicious or an ignorant attempt to gain knowledge or help from some creature, when it cannot be had from the Lord in the path of duty. While Samuel was living, we never read of Saul's... read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - 1 Samuel 28:1-14

The Consultation with the Witch v. 1. And it came to pass in those days, while David was still living in their country, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare to fight with Israel. It was a mustering of all the soldiers of the Philistine city-states that were fit for military duty; for the purpose was not a mere raid, but a campaign of conquest. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, since the circumstances were such as David saw before his eyes, that... read more

Johann Peter Lange

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical - 1 Samuel 28:1-25

FOURTH SECTIONSaul’s Downfall in War with the Philistines1 Samuel 28-31I. David in the Philistine Expedition against Israel. Saul’s Visit to the Witch of Endor1 Samuel 28:1-251And it came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies1 together for warfare,2 to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly that thou shalt go out with me to battle [in the army],1 thou and 2thy men. And David said to Achish, Surely [Therefore] thou3 shalt know what thy... read more

Frederick Brotherton Meyer

F.B. Meyer's 'Through the Bible' Commentary - 1 Samuel 28:1-14

Resorting to a Familiar Spirit 1 Samuel 28:1-14 This chapter records the climax to which Saul’s sins led, and which sealed his fate. See 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 . He went back to that which he had put away and sought counsel of a familiar spirit, 2 Peter 2:20-22 . The soul cannot live apart from the unseen world. It is its native element. Divorce it from God, and it will fill the empty space with demons. When the king could get no answer to his questions by the usual means, he sent his... read more

G. Campbell Morgan

G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible - 1 Samuel 28:1-25

It is strange how this story has been made to serve in defense of things occult, which, as a matter of fact, it condemns. Let it be carefully read, and it becomes perfectly patent that this woman had nothing to do with bringing up Samuel. Still practicing her black art, and that in secret, because of the king's edict against all of her class, she commenced, on the occasion of Saul's visit, to practice the deceptions with which she was familiar. When in response to her incantations, as it... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 28:3-19

Saul Consults A Necromancer And Samuel Appears To Him (1 Samuel 28:3-19 ). Having been unable to obtain any response from God, Saul, in desperation, determined to turn to a necromancer. It would, however, only be in order to receive bad news. For Samuel’s message to him would be that his case was hopeless. Thus instead of receiving help he would learn of coming failure and death. It is a reminder that those who treat God lightly can be sure that one day they will reap what they have sown, and... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 28:2-25

1 Samuel 28:2 is continued by 1 Samuel 29:1; the connexion is broken by the insertion of— 1 Samuel 28:3-Lamentations : . Saul and the Witch of Endor.— This section interrupts the connexion; moreover, it would come naturally immediately before the battle of Gilboa. Saul is at Gilboa (p. 29) in 284. Opinions are divided; some hold that this section is from another source (E) than the bulk of 1 Samuel 25-31, and some that it is from the same source (J), that originally it stood in that document... read more