Tyndale Open Study Notes1 Samuel 28

for warfare: Fights between Israel and the Philistines happened often. In exchange for providing refuge, Achish expected David’s military involvement and cooperation.

Saul consulted the dead, a practice forbidden by God’s law (see Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:9–11).

had removed … from the land: Saul had either forced most mediums (people who claimed they could communicate with the spirits of the dead) to leave the land or put them to death. Or he had made necromancy (the practice of trying to speak with the dead) illegal (see study note on 1 Samuel 28:9).

• Shunem was a border town in the land of Issachar (Joshua 19:18). It overlooked the Valley of Jezreel.

• Mount Gilboa is at the east end of the Valley of Jezreel. The mountain got its name from a nearby village.

did not answer him: Earlier, Saul had asked the Lord for guidance using sacred lots, but the results were unclear (1 Samuel 14:36–42). God's silence was a sign of his judgment (1 Samuel 14:37; Lamentations 2:9; Ezekiel 7:26; Amos 8:11–12; Micah 3:6–7).

• Without God's guidance, Saul turned to forbidden ways to learn God's will. Saul had earlier banned the occult practice that he now used himself (1 Samuel 28:3).

• Endor was on the border between Israel and Philistia. The area near Israel’s border was probably a safer location for a banned practice.

killed: Literally cut off, suggesting that Saul might have had most of the mediums executed.

We do not know why seeing Samuel caused this woman to recognize Saul.

Saul asked the medium to describe what she saw that caused her to scream. She described a divine being, a god (Hebrew ’elohim) coming up. erhaps she observed a human figure with a godlike or angelic appearance, or her use of the term god might reflect a pagan belief that a person becomes a god (a spirit possessing supernatural abilities) after death.

• God has turned away from me: The same Hebrew term appears in 1 Samuel 16:14 and Judges 16:20.

• no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams: Compare 1 Samuel 28:6.

Saul’s enemy was not David but the Lord himself.

torn the kingship out of your hand: See 1 Samuel 15:28.

you did not obey: Samuel's message to Saul had not changed (compare 1 Samuel 15:19).

will be with me: In Sheol, the place where the dead are believed to dwell (compare 1 Samuel 2:6, to Sheol; see also Numbers 16:30–33; Job 17:1–16; Psalm 49:11; Revelation 1:18).

fattened calf … flour … and baked unleavened bread: Preparing this meal required much time and effort. It showed generous hospitality (compare Genesis 18:5–7). The meal that the medium shared with Saul recalls the fine meal that Samuel once shared with Saul (1 Samuel 9:22–24). That earlier meal, shared with God’s prophet, marked the beginning of Saul’s kingship. This later meal, shared with a condemned medium, came shortly before Saul’s death.