1 Samuel 28:15
Ver. 15. And Samuel said to Saul, why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up?.... This makes it a clear case that this was not the true Samuel; his soul was at rest in Abraham's bosom, in the state of bliss and happiness in heaven, and it was not in the power of men and devils to disquiet it; nor would he have talked of his being brought up, but rather of his coming down, had it been really he; much less would he have acknowledged that he was brought up by Saul, by means of a witch, and through the help of the devil:
and Saul answered, I am sore distressed; in mind, being in great straits and difficulties, pressed hard upon by men, and forsaken of God, as follows:for the Philistines make war against me; so they had many times, and he had been victorious, and had no reason to be so much distressed, if that was all: but he adds,and God is departed from me: and therefore he feared he should be left to fall into their hands; and that he had forsaken him he concluded from hence,and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams:See Gill on "1Sa 28:6"; he makes no mention of Urim, either because they were not with him to inquire by, being carried away by Abiathar when he fled to David, 1Sa 23:9; or, as the Jews say {h}, through shame, he said nothing of the Urim before Samuel, as he took this appearance to be, because he had slain the priests at Nob, and because of this shame, they say, his sin was forgiven him:therefore have I called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do; which was downright madness and folly to imagine, that since God had forsaken him, and would give him no answer, that a prophet of his should take his part; or when he could get no answer from a prophet of God on earth, that he could expect an agreeable one from one fetched down from heaven: one would be tempted to think that he himself believed it was the devil he was talking to, and whom he had called for under the name of Samuel, and expected to see; for from whom else could he expect advice, when he was forsaken of God, and his prophets?{h} T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 12. 2. 1 Samuel 28:16Ver. 16. Then said Samuel, wherefore then dost thou, ask of me,.... Whom thou knowest to have been a prophet of the Lord, and therefore can say nothing more or less than what comes from him, and is according to his will, if anything at all; the "devil" representing Samuel, whom Saul had called for, and reasons in such language as might be thought to be his own, though sometimes he betrays himself:seeing the Lord is departed from thee; as Saul himself owned: to which he adds,and is become thine enemy; to make his case appear still more desperate; for his whole view is to lead him to despair, which shows what sort of spirit he was: though some understand this as spoken of David, and read the words, and "he is with thine enemy" {i}; is on his side, and favours his cause; so the Targum,"and he is for the help of a man, whose enmity thou sharest in;''or who is at enmity with thee, meaning David; but now the true Samuel would never have said this, or suggested it, that David was an enemy to Saul, for he was not.{i} Kre yhyw "et est cum inimico tuo", Pagninus, Vatablus; so V. L. 1 Samuel 28:17Ver. 17. And the Lord hath done to him,.... To David, Saul's enemy, as he insinuated he was:as he spake by me; pretending to be the true Samuel, and wearing the guise of him, he speaks his very words, which he was well acquainted with, and could deliver exactly as he did:for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour; which words are expressed by Samuel, 1Sa 15:28;[even] unto David; which is added by the apparition, by way of explanation, interpreting the words of David; which he might safely venture to do, seeing such a train of circumstances had occurred since the delivery of these words, which plainly made it appear he was intended. 1 Samuel 28:18Ver. 18. Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord,.... At Gilgal, as Abarbinel thinks; which is the first thing for which the kingdom was threatened to be taken from him, 1Sa 13:13;nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek: in sparing Agag, and the best of the cattle, 1Sa 15:9;therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day; forsaken him, rent his kingdom from him, and would deliver him into the hands of the Philistines, as follows: had he been the true Samuel, he would have told him of some other sins of his, provoking to the Lord; as his slaughter of the priests at Nob, his cruel persecution of David, and especially of his asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit at this time, of which not a word is said, and yet was the very transgression for which Saul died, 1Ch 10:13. 1 Samuel 28:19Ver. 19. Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines,.... Not a word of comfort does he speak unto him, it being the business of this foul spirit to drive him to despair by the permission of God; had he been the true Samuel, he would have directed him to have altered his course of life, and especially his behaviour toward David, and advised him in those difficulties to send for him, who might have been of singular use unto him; he would have exhorted him to repentance for his sins, and humiliation before God on account of them, and given him hope on this that God would appear for him, and work deliverance, as he had done; but instead of this tells him, that he and his army would be delivered into the hands of the Philistines, which he might make a shrewd guess at, and venture to say from the circumstances of things, and the situation Saul and his people were in; the armies of the Philistines were very numerous, and those of Israel comparatively weak; Saul was quite dispirited, and God had forsaken him:and tomorrow [shalt] thou and thy sons be with me; which if understood in what sense it may, seems to be a lie of the devil, and at best an ambiguous expression, such as he has been wont to give in the Heathen oracles; if he meant this of himself as an evil spirit, it could not be true of Saul and all his sons, that they should be with him in hell, especially of Jonathan who appears throughout the whole of his life to have been a good man; if he would have it understood of him as representing Samuel, and of their being with him in heaven, it must be a great stretch of charity to believe it true of Saul, so wicked a man, and who died in the act of suicide; though the Jews {k}, some of them, understand it in this sense, that his sins were pardoned, and he was saved; and if it is taken in the sense of being in the state of the dead, and in the earth, from whence he is said to ascend, and where the body of Samuel was, which seems to be the best sense that is put upon the phrase, "with me"; yet this was not true, if he meant it of all the sons of Saul, as the expression seems to suggest; for there were Ishbosheth, and his two sons by Rizpah, which survived him; nor was it true of Saul and his sons that they were cut off, and that they died the next day; for the battle was not fought till several days after this, see 1Sa 28:23; if it should be said, that "tomorrow" signifies some future time, and not strictly the next day, this shows the ambiguity of the expression used, and the insignificance of it to the present purpose; for who knew not that Saul and his sons would die some time or another?the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines; which is only a repetition of what is said in the first clause.{k} T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 12. 2. 1 Samuel 28:20Ver. 20. Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth,.... Fell at his full length at once, as if he had been thunderstruck, or pierced through with a dart or sword:and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel; as he supposed they were, whose words never failed:and there was no strength in him: to rise up again, he was quite dispirited and strengthless:for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night; which contributed the more to his weakness; not only his fears, but not eating any food, occasioned his weakness, and that through want of an appetite, by reason of the great concern of his mind in his present troubles. 1 Samuel 28:21Ver. 21. And the woman came unto Saul,.... Having left him and the apparition in a room by themselves to converse together, and perhaps on hearing him fall to the ground came in:and saw that he was sore troubled: by his lying on the ground, and the agonies he seemed to be in, and the uneasiness that sat upon his countenance:and said unto him, behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice; in divining by her familiar spirit for him, and in bringing up Samuel to him, as he desired:and I have put my life in my hand; exposed it to the utmost danger, since a person of her profession, and token in the exercise of it, was punishable with death; and especially she was in the greater danger, as it was Saul himself, who had by an edict expelled all such persons from his dominions, who now employed her, as she perceived:and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me: to the oath he had taken, that no hurt should come to her, which she confided in, and relied upon, and to what he bid her do, according to her art of divination. 1 Samuel 28:22Ver. 22. Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid,.... She argues, that as she had hearkened unto him to the endangering of her life, it was but reasonable, and might be expected, that he would hearken to her in a case that would be to the preservation of his life:and let me set a morsel of bread before thee, and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way; which she might urge, not merely out of respect to the king, but for her own sake, lest should he die in her house, she might be taken up, not only for a witch, but as being accessory to the death of the king; and therefore she moves, that he would take some food for refreshment of nature, that he might be able to depart her house, and go on his way to his army. 1 Samuel 28:23Ver. 23. But he refused, and said, I will not eat,.... Choosing rather to die with famine than by the sword of the Philistines; though perhaps his meaning is, he could not eat, his stomach loathed it, being overwhelmed with grief and trouble:but his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; not by force, but by arguments; they reasoned with him, and prevailed upon him to try to eat:and he hearkened unto their voice; and agreed to eat, if he could;so he arose from the earth; on which he lay at his full length:and sat upon the bed; or couch, it being now the custom to recline on couches at caring; though some deny that this custom obtained so early. 1 Samuel 28:24Ver. 24. And the woman had a fat calf in the house,.... This was reckoned a very dainty dish in those countries, and fit for any guests, see Ge 18:7; Josephus says {l}, she vouchsafed to feed and take care of it in her house, and it was very familiar with her; and he highly commends the liberality of the woman, and as worthy of imitation:and she hasted and killed it; and dressed it in some way or another, and which in those times was done speedily:and took flour and kneaded [it], and did bake unleavened bread therewith; which was soonest made, she not having time to leaven it.{l} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 14. sect. 3. 4. 1 Samuel 28:25Ver. 25. And she brought [it] before Saul, and before his servants, and they did eat,.... Of the fatted calf, and unleavened bread, which she set upon a table before them, in the best manner she could:then they rose up, and went away that night; that it might not be seen in what house they had been, and that they might get to the camp without being discovered by the Philistines, or known by the Israelites that they had been out.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.