1 Samuel 28 is the twenty-eighthchapter of the First Book of Samuel in theOld Testament of theChristianBible or the first part of theBooks of Samuel in theHebrew Bible.[1] According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophetSamuel, with additions by the prophetsGad andNathan,[2] but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BC.[3][4] This chapter contains the account of David's escape from Saul's repeated attempts to kill him.[5][6] This is within a section comprising1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 5 which records the rise of David as the king of Israel.[7]
Verses 1–2 continue the story of David's time among the Philistines, which will be picked up again in chapters 29–30.[15] As the Philistines prepared for another war against Israel, David was placed in an awkward position to prove his loyalty to Achish by going to fight against his own people.[16]
At his camp at Gilboa, facing the big army of Philistines at Shunem, Saul was in utter fear because he had no access to divine guidance, as described in verses 3–6:[15]
Samuel was already dead and buried
Saul had removed 'mediums and wizards' from the land, as was required by law (Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 27; Deuteronomy 18:11).
Saul did not get any answer when he sought YHWH's guidance through dreams, sacred lots (Urim) and prophets (cf. Jeremiah 18:18; Ezekiel 7:26).[15]
This caused Saul to desperately turn to prohibited means of getting to know the divine will, going against his own laws.[15] Because Endor was located northeast of Shunem, thus behind enemy lines, Saul had to go in disguise and at night.[15][17] The narrative about Saul's visit to thewoman in Endor was 'one of the most bizarre texts in Scripture', as it claimed that Samuel's spirit could be called to speak through using witchcraft.[18] It is debatable whether it was really Samuel's spirit or the woman impersonating Samuel, because there was no new information was given other than what was already known from Samuel's speech long ago.[19] The text does say that the woman "saw a figure coming up", whom Saul assumed to be "Samuel" (verse 14), and was in terror (as perhaps she never had this result before), as well as got the knowledge that Saul was the one requesting this (verse 12).[20] The main point of the narrative is to show how Saul was totally cut off from YHWH, and failed as a king to protect Israel as he himself and his heirs would die at the hands of the Philistines.[15]
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.[21]
^Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors).On "1 Samuel 28". In:ThePulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Codex Sinaiticus".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
