1 Samuel 28:20

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Saul	שָׁא֗וּל sha.'Ul	H7586	Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
fell	וַיִּפֹּ֤ל vai.yi.Pol	H5307	to fall · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
straightway	וַיְמַהֵ֣ר vay.ma.Her	H4116	properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
all	מְלֹא me.lo'-	H4393	fulness (literally or figuratively) · noun, common masculine singular construct
along	קֽוֹמָתוֹ֙ ko.ma.To	H6967	height · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
earth	אַ֔רְצָה 'Ar.tzah	H776	the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular absolute + directional suffix
sore	מְאֹ֖ד me.'Od	H3966	properly · cardinal number, masculine singular absolute
afraid	וַיִּרָ֥א vai.yi.Ra'	H3372	to fear · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
words	מִדִּבְרֵ֣י mi.div.Rei	H1697	a word · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Samuel	שְׁמוּאֵ֑ל she.mu.'El	H8050	Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
strength	כֹּ֙חַ֙ ko.ach	H3581	vigor · noun, common masculine singular absolute
eaten	אָכַל֙ 'a.Khal	H398	to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
bread	לֶ֔חֶם Le.chem	H3899	food (for man or beast) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
day	הַיּ֖וֹם hai.Yom	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
night	הַלָּֽיְלָה ha.La.ye.lah	H3915	properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Samuel 25:37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within…
1 Samuel 28:5 And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.
Job 15:20-24 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
Job 26:2 How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?
Psalms 50:21-22 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 28:20–end

We are here told how Saul received this terrible message from the ghost he consulted. He desired to be told what he should do (Sa1 28:15), but was only told what he had not done and what should be done to him. Those that expect any good counsel or comfort otherwise than from God, and in the way of his institutions, will be as wretchedly disappointed as Saul here was. Observe, I. How he sunk under the load, Sa1 28:20. He was indeed unfit to bear it, having eaten nothing all the day before, nor that night. He came fasting from the camp, and continued fasting; not for want of food, but for want of an appetite. The fear he was in of the power of the Philistines (Sa1 28:5) took away his appetite,…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 28:8

bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee--This pythoness united to the arts of divination a claim to be a necromancer (Deu 18:11); and it was her supposed power in calling back the dead of which Saul was desirous to avail himself. Though she at first refused to listen to his request, she accepted his pledge that no risk would be incurred by her compliance. It is probable that his extraordinary stature, the deference paid him by his attendants, the easy distance of his camp from En-dor, and the proposal to call up the great prophet and first magistrate in Israel (a proposal which no private individual would venture to make), had awakened her suspicions as to the true character and rank of…

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Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 28:20

Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth - Literally, he fell with his own length, or with the fullness of his stature. He was so overwhelmed with this most dreadful message, that he swooned away, and thus fell at his own length upon the ground. The woman, being terrified, had probably withdrawn to some distance at the first appearance of the prophet; and Saul was left alone with Samuel. After some short time, the woman came again unto Saul, found him sore troubled, and offered him those succours which humanity dictated.

The Church Fathers

And immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, etc. Reading the words of the prophets, the people of the Jews celebrating vain sacrifices, indeed the wretched suffer terror, but they do not have the strength of faith by which they may be blessed, because the grace of evangelical preaching has been shining around the world for such a long time, and they did not know how to eat the living bread that came down from heaven.
— Bede, Commentary on Samuel

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Divination — Of false prophets (Deut. 18:10, 14; Micah 3:6, 7, 11), of necromancers (1 Sam. 28:8), of the Philistine priests and diviners (1 Sam. 6:2), of Balaam (Josh. 13:22). Three kinds of divination are…
Magic — The Jews seem early to have consulted the teraphim (q.v.) for oracular answers (Judg. 18:5, 6; Zech. 10:2). There is a remarkable illustration of this divining by teraphim in Ezek. 21:19-22. We read…
Witchcraft — (1 Sam. 15:23; 2 Kings 9:22; 2 Chr. 33:6; Micah 5:12; Nahum 3:4; Gal. 5:20). In the popular sense of the word no mention is made either of witches or of witchcraft in Scripture. The “witch of En-dor”…
En-Dor · The witch of, consulted by Saul — The witch of, consulted by Saul
Familiar Spirits · .Saul — .Saul
Fear, Unholy · Exemplified: Saul — Exemplified: Saul
Witchcraft · The Witch of Endor — The Witch of Endor

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

1 Samuel 28:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 28:20–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 28:8

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 28:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Samuel 28:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 28:20–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 28:8

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 28:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 1 Samuel 28:20

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 28:3–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 28:19

Rashi on 1 Samuel 28:19