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1 Samuel 28

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1 Samuel 28 Overview

As the Philistines gather for war against Israel, Saul is terrified and receives no answer from the LORD by dreams, Urim, or prophets. Although he had removed mediums from the land, he disguises himself and seeks a woman at Endor with a familiar spirit. She is startled when Samuel appears, and Samuel announces that the LORD has become Saul’s adversary and that Saul and his sons will die in the coming battle.

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Before you read 1 Samuel 28

Coming from

Chapter 27 placed David under Achish in Philistine territory, creating tension as the Philistines prepare to fight Israel.

In this chapter

The narrative turns to Saul’s final spiritual collapse: having repeatedly rejected the LORD’s word through Samuel, he now seeks forbidden occult counsel and receives only a confirmation of the judgment already announced.

Leads into

Chapter 29 returns to David and shows the Philistine lords refusing to let him accompany the army, removing him from the battle in which Saul will die.

Key understandingExplore deeper

The text consistently identifies the figure who speaks with Saul as Samuel, and the medium herself reacts with surprise. The point is not that necromancy works as a legitimate channel or that the woman controls Samuel; rather, in an extraordinary act of judgment, Saul receives the very prophetic message he had spent years resisting. The Torah had plainly forbidden consulting familiar spirits. Saul’s desperation therefore reveals rebellion, not a valid alternative form of guidance. Nothing in the chapter requires inventing compartments of the afterlife to explain Samuel’s appearance.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

A person who repeatedly rejects God’s revealed word should not expect forbidden methods to provide a better answer.

Truth 2

Saul’s attempt to obtain guidance through a medium directly contradicts the law he himself had enforced against such practices.

Truth 3

Samuel’s message contains no new path of escape; it confirms the consequences already announced because Saul did not obey the LORD.

Truth 4

The chapter brings Saul’s reign to the edge of its final judgment while David remains absent from the scene.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 27 and Deuteronomy 18:9–14 explicitly forbid seeking mediums, familiar spirits, or the dead, making Saul’s action a direct covenant violation.

Connection 2

1 Samuel 15:22–29 had already announced Saul’s rejection from the kingdom; Samuel’s words at Endor specifically connect the coming disaster to that earlier disobedience.

Connection 3

1 Chronicles 10:13–14 later comments on Saul’s death and specifically includes his consulting a familiar spirit among the reasons for divine judgment.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

Do not use this chapter to validate séances, necromancy, spirit guides, or attempts to contact the dead. The act is forbidden, and the episode functions as judgment on Saul.

Keep this clear 2

The text calls the appearing figure Samuel; there is no need to replace the text with an unsupported claim that it must have been a demon impersonating him. At the same time, the medium does not summon Samuel by her own power as though God were subject to occult technique.

Keep this clear 3

Samuel’s prediction of temporal death and military defeat should not be turned into a complete statement about Saul’s eternal destiny.

Read 1 Samuel 28 watching for…

The three ordinary means by which Saul says the LORD is no longer answering him.

The irony that Saul seeks the very kind of practitioner he had removed from the land.

The woman’s reaction when Samuel appears.

How Samuel connects the coming defeat to earlier warnings.

Saul’s physical and emotional collapse after hearing the message.

The final acts of care the woman and Saul’s servants provide before he leaves.

Chapter outline4 sections

1-6The Philistines gather for war, and Saul receives no answer from the LORD 7-14Saul goes to the woman at Endor, and Samuel appears 15-19Samuel tells Saul that Israel will be defeated and Saul will die 20-25Saul is overcome by fear, eats, and leaves during the night

And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.

And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever.

Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa.

And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.

And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.

Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.

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.

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?

And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.

And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.

Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?

And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David:

Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day.

Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.

And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.

Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way.

But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.

And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread thereof:

And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night.

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1 Samuel 28:1

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