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TheWitch of Endor (Biblical Hebrew:בַּעֲלַת־אֹוב בְּעֵין דּוֹר,romanized: baʿălaṯ-ʾōḇ bəʿĒyn Dōr,lit. 'mistress of theʾōḇ inEndor'), according to theHebrew Bible, was consulted bySaul to summon the spirit of the prophetSamuel. Saul wished to receive advice on defeating thePhilistines in battle after prior attempts to consult God throughsacred lots and other means had failed. However, what was summoned (whether the actual ghost of Samuel or a spirit impersonating him) delivered a prophecy of doom against Saul and his army, who were defeated. This event occurs in1 Samuel 28:3–25 and is also mentioned in thedeuterocanonicalBook of Sirach.[1]
The Hebrew Bible calls her "a woman, possessor of anʾōḇ at En Dor," apparently a settlement around aspring. The wordov has been suggested byHarry A. Hoffner to refer to a ritual pit for summoning the dead from the netherworld based on parallels in otherNear Eastern andMediterranean cultures. The word hascognates in other regional languages (cf.Sumerianab,Akkadianâbu,Hittitea-a-bi,Ugariticib) and the medium or witch of Endor's ritual has parallels inMesopotamian andHittite magical texts as well as rites tochthonic deities in theOdyssey.[2][3]
Other suggestions for a definition ofov include afamiliar spirit, atalisman,[4] or awineskin, in reference toventriloquism.[5]
In theSeptuagint, she is called theengastrímuthos ("belly-talker", an Ancient Greek term for aspirit medium[6]) of Aendōr (Koine Greek:ἐγγαστρίμυθος ἐν Αενδωρ,romanized: engastrímythos en Aendōr). The LatinVulgate haspythonem in Aendor, both terms referencing then-contemporary paganoracles.
The medium says that she sees "elohim arising" from the ground, using the word typically translated as "god(s)" to refer to the spirit of the dead. This is also paralleled by the use of the Akkadian cognate wordilu "god" in a similar fashion.[7]
When the prophet Samuel dies, he is buried inRama (1 Samuel 25:1; 28:3). Saul,King of Israel, seeks advice from God in choosing a course of action against the assembled forces of the Philistine army. He receives no answer fromdreams, prophets, or theUrim and Thummim. Having previously expelled allnecromancers andmagicians from Israel, Saul anonymously searches for a witch. He is told one is living in the village ofEndor, so Saul disguises himself and crosses enemy lines to visit her. He asks the woman to raise Samuel, and she initially refuses citing Saul's own royal edict against sorcery, but Saul assures her that she will not be punished.
The woman then summons a spirit, and when it appears, she works out who Saul is and screams, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!" Saul assures her again that no harm will come to her, then asks what she sees. She says she sees "elohim rising" (plural noun and verb). Then, Saul asks what "he" (singular) looks like, and she describes an old man wrapped in a robe. Saul bows down to the spirit despite being unable to see it himself.[8]
The spirit complains of being disturbed, berates Saul for disobeying God, and predicts Saul's downfall. The living Samuel had previously said Saul would have his kingship removed, but this spirit adds that Israel's army will be defeated, and Saul and his sons will be "with me" tomorrow. Saul collapses in terror; the woman comforts him and prepares him a meal of a fatted calf to restore his strength.
The following day, the Israelite army is defeated as prophesied: Saul is wounded by the Philistines and commits suicide by falling on his sword.[9] Later, a youngAmalekite, hoping to impressDavid, will falsely claim he delivered the death blow, and David will execute him.[10] In1 Chronicles, it is stated Saul's death was partly punishment for seeking advice from a medium rather than from God.[11]
In the Septuagint (2nd century BC), the woman is described as aventriloquist,[12] possibly reflecting the consistent view of the Alexandrian translators that demons do not exist.[13] On the other hand, the HebrewBook of Sirach, composed in the same period, represents it as a fact that Samuel prophesied to Saul after his death.[1]Josephus, writing in the 1st century AD, also appears to find the story completely credible.[14] In theTalmud and theMidrash, the view is expressed that Samuel could be summoned from the dead since the soul comes and goes from the body in the first twelve months after a person's death.[15]
TheYalkut Shimoni (11th century) identifies the anonymous witch as the mother ofAbner.[16] Based upon the witch's claim to have seen something, and Saul having heard a disembodied voice, theYalkut suggests that necromancers can see the spirits of the dead but are unable to hear their speech, while the person for whom the deceased was summoned hears the voice but fails to see anything.[4]
According toAntoine Augustin Calmet, writing in the 18th century:[17]
The Jews of our days believe that after the body of a man is interred, his spirit goes and comes, and departs from the spot where it is destined to visit his body, and to know what passes around him; that it is wandering during a whole year after the death of the body, and that it was during that year of delay that the Pythoness of Endor evoked the soul of Samuel, after which time the evocation would have had no power over his spirit.
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TheChurch Fathers and some modern Christian writers have debated the theological issues raised by this text, which would appear at first sight to affirm that it is possible (though forbidden) for humans to summon the spirits of the dead by magic.
King James, in his philosophical treatiseDaemonologie (1597), rejected the theory that the witch was performing an act ofventriloquism, but also denied that she had truly summoned the spirit of Samuel. He wrote that the Devil is permitted at times to take on the likeness of the saints, citing2 Corinthians 11:14, which says that "Satan can transform himself into an Angel of light".[18] James describes the witch of Endor as "Saul's Pythonese", likening her to the ancient Greek oraclePythia. He asserts the reality of witchcraft, arguing that if such things were not possible, they would not be prohibited in Scripture:[18]
Certain it is, that the Law of God speaks nothing in vain, neither does it lay curses, or enjoin punishments upon shadows, condemning that to be ill, which is not in essence or being as we call it.
Other medievalglosses to the Bible also suggested that what the witch summoned was not the ghost of Samuel, but a demon taking his shape or an illusion crafted by the witch.[19]Martin Luther, who believed that thedead were unconscious, read that it was "the Devil's ghost", whereasJohn Calvin read that "it was not the real Samuel, but a spectre."[20]
Antoine Augustin Calmet briefly mentions the witch of Endor in hisTraité sur les apparitions des esprits et sur les vampires ou les revenans de Hongrie, de Moravie, &c. (1759), among other scriptural proofs of "the reality of magic." He acknowledges that this interpretation is disputed and says that he will deduce nothing from the passage "except that this woman passed for a witch, [and] that Saul esteemed her such."[17]
Since this passage states that the witch made a loud cry in fear when she saw Samuel's spirit, some interpreters reject the suggestion that the witch was responsible for summoning Samuel's spirit, claiming instead it was the work of God.[21][22]Joyce Baldwin (1989) writes that:
the incident does not tell us anything about the veracity of claims to consult the dead on the part of mediums, because the indications [of the woman’s behavior] are that this was an extraordinary event for her, and a frightening one, because she was not in control.[23]
Grenville Kent summarises the two main historical interpretations: one, that Samuel really appeared, either bodily or in resurrected form; and two, that Samuel was impersonated by a demon in order to destroy Saul. He argues that the latter view matches the text.[24]
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Spiritualists have taken the story as evidence of spiritmediumship in ancient times. The story has been cited in debates between Spiritualist apologists and Christian critics. "The woman of Endor was a medium, respectable, honest, law-abiding, and far more Christ-like than Christian critics of Spiritualism," asserted one Chicago Spiritualist paper in 1875.[25]
The story of Saul's consultation with the witch of Endor has frequently been set to music, with many works expanding on the character of the witch.[26] One early example isIn guiltie night, anoratorio written byRobert Ramsey in the 1630s, which formed the basis of a better-known work of the same title byHenry Purcell in 1691.[27]
The witch also appears inMors Saulis et Jonathae byCharpentier (c. 1682),Saul byGeorge Frideric Handel (1738),Die Könige in Israel byFerdinand Ries (1837), andLe Roi David byHonegger (1921). Notable operas featuring the character includeDavid et Jonathas by Charpentier (1688) andSaul og David byCarl Nielsen (1902). In 1965, theMartha Graham Dance Company premieredThe Witch of Endor, a one act ballet with music byWilliam Schuman; this was subsequently reworked into a short piece by American composerMoondog (Louis Hardin) for his1969 self-titled album.[28]
Poetic works retelling the story includeConfessio Amantis, the 14th Century poem byJohn Gower in Book 4 Sloth (line 1935);[29] "Saul" byLord Byron, published in his 1815 collectionHebrew Melodies,[30] and "In Endor" byShaul Tchernichovsky (1893), a major work ofmodern Hebrew poetry which paints Saul as a sympathetic figure.[31]Rudyard Kipling, a year after the death of his son at theBattle of Loos, wrote a poem called "En-Dor", using the story to criticise contemporary mediums.[32]
In literature another early example appears inChaucer'sCanterbury Tales as part ofthe Friar's Tale. This was believed to be written around 1390, and has the line "...and speke as renably and faire and wel, as to the Phitonissa dide Samuel." This uses the term now rendered as pythoness, for a female soothsayer.[33][34]
In theatre, the witch of Endor figures inLaurence Housman's 1944 playSamuel the Kingmaker, and has a central role inHoward Nemerov's 1961 playEndor.[30] The character has been portrayed cinematically by Israeli actorDov Reiser in the 1976 television filmThe Story of David, and by Belgian actressLyne Renée in the 2016 seriesOf Kings and Prophets.
The character of Endora, the mother of the heroine Samantha on the television showBewitched, may be named for the Witch of Endor.[35]
The Witch of Endor is a name occasionally given to ships, both real and in fiction, such as in theHoratio Hornblowernovels[36] and the Sci Fi seriesThe Expanse.[37]
In music, the Witch of Endor is mentioned in the last verse of the song "Lover, Leaver" byGreta Van Fleet.[citation needed]
The Witch of Endor is also a plot point inThe Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel byMichael Scott.[citation needed]
... of 'ob (RSV 'medium'). According to one view it is the same word that means a 'bottle made out of skins' ('wineskin,' Job 32:19). The term would then refer to the technique of ventriloquism or, more accurately, 'belly-talking'.
A classical example is King Saul's visit to the witch of Endor: The Septuagint says once that the seer engages insoothsaying and three times that she engages inventriloquism (1 Sam 28:6–9).
The Septuagint translates: Theyburn incense on bricks to devils which exist not.
The witch of Endor – The account of the "Witch of Endor" is the only instance in the Bible where a description of the processes and ... Luther held that it was "the Devil's ghost"; Calvin that "it was not the real Samuel, but a spectre".
Desperate as they were, there is no evidence that Rudyard and Carrie ever contemplated trying to reach John in this way and Rudyard's scorn for those who did was expressed in the poem En-dor, written the following year.
The Connaught was one part, as were all the ragtag ships under her command: Panshin, Solano, Witch of Endor, Serrio Mal, and a dozen more.
