1 Samuel 28:8

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.

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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
disguised	וַיִּתְחַפֵּ֣שׂ vai.yit.cha.Pes	H2664	to seek · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
on	וַיִּלְבַּשׁ֙ vai.yil.Bash	H3847	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
other	אֲחֵרִ֔ים 'a.che.Rim	H312	properly · adjective, masculine plural absolute
raiment	בְּגָדִ֣ים be.ga.Dim	H899	a covering · noun, common masculine plural absolute
went	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
two	וּשְׁנֵ֤י u.she.Nei	H8147	two · conjunction + noun, common both genders dual construct
men	אֲנָשִׁים֙ 'a.na.Shim	H582	a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
came	וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ vai.ya.Vo.'u	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
woman	הָאִשָּׁ֖ה ha.'i.Shah	H802	a woman · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
night	לָ֑יְלָה La.ye.lah	H3915	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
said	וַיֹּ֗אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
divine	קָֽסֳמִי ka.so.mi-	H7080	properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
spirit	בָּא֔וֹב ba.'ov	H178	properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
up	וְהַ֣עֲלִי ve.Ha.'a.li	H5927	to ascend · conjunction + verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
name	אֹמַ֖ר 'o.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular

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 Chronicles 10:13 So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for a…
Isaiah 8:19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a peopl…
Deuteronomy 18:10-11 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an obs…
1 Kings 22:30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of…
2 Chronicles 18:29 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and will go to the battle; but put thou on thy robes. So the king of I…
2 Chronicles 35:22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words…
1 Kings 14:2-3 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to…
Job 24:13-15 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 28:7-14

Here, I. Saul seeks for a witch, Sa1 28:7. When God answered him not, if he had humbled himself by repentance and persevered in seeking God, who knows but that at length he might have been entreated for him? but, since he can discern no comfort either from heaven or earth (Isa 8:21, Isa 8:22), he resolves to knock at the gates of hell, and to see if any there will befriend him and give him advice: Seek me a woman that has a familiar spirit, Sa1 28:7. And his servants were too officious to serve him in this evil affair; they presently recommended one to him at Endor (a city not far off) who had escaped the execution of Saul's edict. To her he resolves to apply. Herein he is chargeable, 1. Wit…

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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 28:8

Saul disguised himself - That he might not be known by the woman, lest she, being terrified, should refuse to use her art.

John Gill on 1 Samuel 28:8

And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment,.... Stripped himself of his royal robes, or military apparel, as supreme commander, and clothed himself in the habit of a peasant or a common soldier; and this not only that he might not be known by the woman, but that he might pass from his army incognito, and it might not be known that he was gone, and especially whither he was gone: and he went, and two men with him: these, according to the tradition of the Jews (e), were Abner and Amasa; but it is not probable that Saul should leave his army destitute of their general at such a time as this: and they came to the woman by night; not only that they might not be seen, but because it wa…

The Church Fathers

He therefore changed his appearance, etc. The people of the Jews, having changed their habit in worst either of their earthly kingdom or of faith and works, by which they ought to have been spiritually adorned and loved, came to the hearing of such a Synagogue, which the woman with a familiar spirit signifies, in the blindness of a darkened heart; with those who, transgressing the unity of the true faith or charity, have by no means come to the knowledge of the holy Trinity. For he knows that the number two is sometimes placed in evil, who knows on what account the work of the second day alone in the creation of the world did not deserve the blessing of divine vision, and that unclean animals entered the ark under this number, and he rightly understands innumerable other things of this kind in the Scriptures.
— 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…
Familiar spirit — Sorcerers or necormancers, who professed to call up the dead to answer questions, were said to have a “familiar spirit” (Deut. 18:11; 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chr. 33:6; Lev. 19:31; 20:6; Isa. 8:19; 29:4).…
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…
Saul — Asked for. (1.) A king of Edom (Gen. 36:37, 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48. (2.) The son of Kish (probably his only son, and a child of prayer, “asked for”), of the tribe of Benjamin, the first…
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”…
Dead, The · Idolaters: Invoked and consulted — Idolaters: Invoked and consulted
En-Dor · The witch of, consulted by Saul — The witch of, consulted by Saul
Familiar Spirits · .Saul — .Saul
Miracles Through Evil Agents · Exemplified: Witch of Endor — Exemplified: Witch of Endor
Necromancy · .The witch of En-dor — .The witch of En-dor
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 28:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 28:7-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 28:8

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 28:8

John Gill on 1 Samuel 28:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Samuel 28:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 28:7-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 28:8

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 28:8

John Gill on 1 Samuel 28:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 28:3–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 28:7

Rashi on 1 Samuel 28:8