Saul, Samuel, and the Witch of Endor

Could people in the Old Testament really summon the dead?

Photo by Dan Farrell on Unsplash

You have to admit that 1 Samuel 28:3-25 is one of the strangest stories in the Bible.

After the death of the prophet Samuel, King Saul, fearing the Philistines, seeks guidance from a “medium” (in other translations a woman with a “familiar spirit” [KJV]; “who communicates with ghosts” [CEB]; “who can talk to the spirits of the dead” [CEV]). The Hebrew word ʾōbôt usually translated as “medium” designates the pit used by a spiritual medium to conjure up spirits from the abode of the dead (see 2 Kings 21:6 [NET]). Saul goes in disguise and asks her to summon Samuel's spirit from the dead. The woman is frightened when she sees Samuel, who rebukes Saul for disturbing him in his death. Samuel informs Saul of his impending defeat and death, leading Saul to fall into inconsolable despair. The passage highlights the themes of the failure of kings, the dangers of forbidden practices like necromancy, and the consequences of Saul's disobedience to God.

So many questions here! Was necromancy, summoning the dead, normal in ancient Israel? What was Saul’s motivation in going the medium? Was the “medium” the real deal or a charlatan? How does this narrative contribute to questions about the afterlife, heaven and hell, and the reality of mediums?

---

To read further, consider joining the “Aviary” by taking out a paid subscription, only $7 per month or $75 per year, supports me in my ministry and scholarship, and gets you 4-5 posts per week on biblical studies, Christianity and gender relationships, cultural commentary, book reviews, previews of my forthcoming books. Also, access to exclusive content in the Paideia Academy, which includes my video lectures on several topics.

First, the prohibition of making contact with the dead appears at several places in the Torah (Exod 22:18; Lev 19:13; 20:6, 27; Deut 19:11). It is unclear if this was a practice within Israel that had to be prohibited or else was something part of Canaanite practices that could filter into Israelite rituals and popular practice over time. Perhaps the latter which then became the former! In any case, by seeking out a medium through forbidden rituals to receive guidance for his plight, Saul had committed a capital offense (see Lev 20:6). Indeed, in less than a day he would be dead himself and end up sharing the same habitation with Samuel whom he was summoning.

Second, as to Saul’s purpose in consulting the medium, the answer is easy: using forbidden power to avoid divine retribution. The irony is that Saul had clamped down on mediums who engaged in consulting the dead (1 Sam 15:13-31; 28:3, 9) and yet now faced with a military crisis, he hypocritically seeks out a medium of spirits to get advice from the departed prophet Samuel on how to save his skin. Saul’s sin was to seek a shortcut to good fortune through forbidden practices and rituals that led into a dark web of human interference with the supernatural. Instead of consulting Yahweh, instead of heeding Samuel’s advice while living, Saul sought to circumvent divine punishment by bringing back his departed advisor to tell him how to get out of his personal pickle.

Third, was the woman a charlatan or a genuine necromancer? The woman is surprised that Saul has sought her out given his anti-sorcery policy, but she is not surprised by her ability to summon the dead! She is terrified when she sees Samuel, not because of, “Holy moly, this fake magic just got real,” but because she thinks the only person who would want to summon the spirit of Samuel was King Saul who had a reputation for killing or exiling mediums. So, yes, the story treats summoning the dead in a kind of séance as possible yet dangerous and therefore forbidden.

Fourth, what does this story tell us about the afterlife? The OT sends mixed messages about the afterlife. The afterlife in the OT is hardly a central concern, there’s a vague mentions of a shadowy existence in Sheol, and the prospect of resurrection is spelled out only later in Daniel 12:1-2. Yet there seems to be an idea here that there is a place where the spirits/souls of the dead depart to and from whence they could be summoned and consulted. The place of the dead received increasing fascination and description in subsequent literature from the post-biblical period into the second century. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus from Luke 16 is probably one of the best examples of how the good and the bad are compartmentalized in the immediate afterlife as a prelude to the ultimate judgment.

The point of the story, I think, is well captured by N.T. Wright (RSG, 94):

The living god is the only source of true life, wisdom, and instruction, and he will give it to those who truly seek him. The dead are to remain undisturbed in their long sleep.

A strange story indeed!