6 and Saul asketh at Jehovah, and Jehovah hath not answered him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.
And it cometh to pass, in the seventh year, in the fifth `month', in the tenth of the month, come in have certain of the elders of Israel to seek Jehovah, and they sit before me; and there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `Son of man, speak with the elders of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: To seek Me are ye coming in? I live -- I am not sought by you -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
And he dreameth, and lo, a ladder set up on the earth, and its head is touching the heavens; and lo, messengers of God are going up and coming down by it; and lo, Jehovah is standing upon it, and He saith, `I `am' Jehovah, God of Abraham thy father, and God of Isaac; the land on which thou art lying, to thee I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed hath been as the dust of the land, and thou hast broken forth westward, and eastward, and northward, and southward, and all families of the ground have been blessed in thee and in thy seed. `And lo, I `am' with thee, and have kept thee whithersoever thou goest, and have caused thee to turn back unto this ground; for I leave thee not till that I have surely done that which I have spoken to thee.'
Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: For knowing wisdom and instruction, For understanding sayings of intelligence, For receiving the instruction of wisdom, Righteousness, judgment, and uprightness, For giving to simple ones -- prudence, To a youth -- knowledge and discretion. (The wise doth hear and increaseth learning, And the intelligent doth obtain counsels.) For understanding a proverb and its sweetness, Words of the wise and their acute sayings. Fear of Jehovah `is' a beginning of knowledge, Wisdom and instruction fools have despised! Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, And leave not the law of thy mother, For a graceful wreath `are' they to thy head, And chains to thy neck. My son, if sinners entice thee be not willing. If they say, `Come with us, we lay wait for blood, We watch secretly for the innocent without cause, We swallow them as Sheol -- alive, And whole -- as those going down `to' the pit, Every precious substance we find, We fill our houses `with' spoil, Thy lot thou dost cast among us, One purse is -- to all of us.' My son! go not in the way with them, Withhold thy foot from their path, For their feet to evil do run, And they haste to shed blood. Surely in vain is the net spread out before the eyes of any bird. And they for their own blood lay wait, They watch secretly for their own lives. So `are' the paths of every gainer of dishonest gain, The life of its owners it taketh. Wisdom in an out-place crieth aloud, In broad places she giveth forth her voice, At the head of the multitudes she calleth, In the openings of the gates, In the city her sayings she saith: `Till when, ye simple, do ye love simplicity? And have scorners their scorning desired? And do fools hate knowledge? Turn back at my reproof, lo, I pour forth to you my spirit, I make known my words with you. Because I have called, and ye refuse, I stretched out my hand, and none is attending, And ye slight all my counsel, And my reproof ye have not desired. I also in your calamity do laugh, I deride when your fear cometh, When your fear cometh as destruction, And your calamity as a hurricane doth come, When on you come adversity and distress. Then they call me, and I do not answer, They seek me earnestly, and find me not. Because that they have hated knowledge, And the fear of Jehovah have not chosen. They have not consented to my counsel, They have despised all my reproof, And they eat of the fruit of their way, And from their own counsels they are filled. For the turning of the simple slayeth them, And the security of the foolish destroyeth them. And whoso is hearkening to me dwelleth confidently, And `is' quiet from fear of evil!'
For once doth God speak, and twice, (He doth not behold it.) In a dream -- a vision of night, In the falling of deep sleep on men, In slumberings on a bed. Then He uncovereth the ear of men, And for their instruction sealeth:
And Saul dieth because of his trespass that he trespassed against Jehovah, against the word of Jehovah that he kept not, and also for asking at a familiar spirit -- to inquire, -- and he inquired not at Jehovah, and He putteth him to death, and turneth round the kingdom to David son of Jesse.
and God speaketh to Israel in visions of the night, and saith, `Jacob, Jacob;' and he saith, `Here `am' I.' And He saith, `I `am' God, God of thy father, be not afraid of going down to Egypt, for for a great nation I set thee there; I -- I go down with thee to Egypt, and I -- I also certainly bring thee up, and Joseph doth put his hand on thine eyes.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Samuel 28
Commentary on 1 Samuel 28 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 28
1Sa 28:1-6. Achish's Confidence in David.
1. The Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel—The death of Samuel, the general dissatisfaction with Saul, and the absence of David, instigated the cupidity of those restless enemies of Israel.
Achish said to David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle—This was evidently to try him. Achish, however, seems to have thought he had gained the confidence of David and had a claim on his services.
2. Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do—This answer, while it seemed to express an apparent cheerfulness in agreeing to the proposal, contained a studied ambiguity—a wary and politic generality.
Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever—or, "my life"; that is, "captain of my bodyguard," an office of great trust and high honor.
3. Now Samuel is dead, &c.—This event is here alluded to as affording an explanation of the secret and improper methods by which Saul sought information and direction in the present crisis of his affairs. Overwhelmed in perplexity and fear, he yet found the common and legitimate channels of communication with Heaven shut against him. And so, under the impulse of that dark, distempered, superstitious spirit which had overmastered him, he resolved, in desperation, to seek the aid of one of those fortune telling impostors whom, in accordance with the divine command (Le 19:31; 20:6, 27; De 18:11), he had set himself formerly to exterminate from his kingdom.
4. the Philistines … pitched in Shunem—Having collected their forces for a last grand effort, they marched up from the seacoast and encamped in the "valley of Jezreel." The spot on which their encampment was fixed was Shunem (Jos 19:18), now Sulem, a village which still exists on the slope of a range called "Little Hermon." On the opposite side, on the rise of Mount Gilboa, hard by "the spring of Jezreel," was Saul's army—the Israelites, according to their wont, keeping to the heights, while their enemies clung to the plain.
1Sa 28:7-25. Saul Seeks a Witch, Who, Being Encouraged by Him, Raises Up Samuel.
7, 8. Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit—From the energetic measures which he himself had taken for extirpating the dealers in magical arts (the profession having been declared a capital offense), his most attached courtiers might have had reason to doubt the possibility of gratifying their master's wish. Anxious inquiries, however, led to the discovery of a woman living very secluded in the neighborhood, who had the credit of possessing the forbidden powers. To her house he repaired by night in disguise, accompanied by two faithful servants.
En-dor—"the fountain of the circle" (that figure being constantly affected by magicians) was situated directly on the other side of the Gilboa range, opposite Tabor; so that, in this midnight adventure, Saul had to pass over the shoulder of the ridge on which the Philistines were encamped.
8-14. bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee—This pythoness united to the arts of divination a claim to be a necromancer (De 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 her visitor. The story has led to much discussion whether there was a real appearance of Samuel or not. On the one hand, the woman's profession, which was forbidden by the divine law, the refusal of God to answer Saul by any divinely constituted means, the well-known age, figure, and dress of Samuel, which she could easily represent herself, or by an accomplice—his apparition being evidently at some distance, being muffled, and not actually seen by Saul, whose attitude of prostrate homage, moreover, must have prevented him distinguishing the person though he had been near, and the voice seemingly issuing out of the ground, and coming along to Saul—and the vagueness of the information, imparted much which might have been reached by natural conjecture as to the probable result of the approaching conflict—the woman's representation—all of this has led many to think that this was a mere deception. On the other hand, many eminent writers (considering that the apparition came before her arts were put in practice; that she herself was surprised and alarmed; that the prediction of Saul's own death and the defeat of his forces was confidently made), are of opinion that Samuel really appeared.
24. the woman had a fat calf … and she hasted, and killed it, &c.—(See on Ge 18:1-8).
25. Then they rose up, and went away that night—Exhausted by long abstinence, overwhelmed with mental distress, and now driven to despair, the cold sweat broke on his anxious brow, and he sank helpless on the ground. But the kind attentions of the woman and his servants having revived him, he returned to the camp to await his doom.