1 Samuel 28:4

_AND THE PHILISTINES GATHERED THEMSELVES TOGETHER, AND CAME AND PITCHED IN SHUNEM: AND SAUL GATHERED ALL ISRAEL TOGETHER, AND THEY PITCHED IN GILBOA._ The Philistines ... pitched in Shunem. Having collected their forces for a last grand effort, they marched up from the sea coast, and encamped in the "valley of Jezreel." The spot on which their encampment was fixed was Shunem (Joshua 19:18), now Solam, a village which is situated 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 Philistines clung, as usual, to the plain, which was most suitable for those war-chariots of which their military armament principally consisted, and they took up an advantageous position for the free and effective use of that force in action. That of the Hebrews was badly selected. 'The ground slop

1-6 David could not refuse Achish without danger. If he promised assistance, and then stood neuter, or went over to the Israelites, he would behave with ingratitude and treachery. If he fought against Israel, he would sin greatly. It seemed impossible that he should get out of this difficulty with a clear conscience; but his evasive answer, intended to gain time, was not consistent with the character of an Israelite indeed. Troubles are terrors to the children of disobedience. In his distress, Saul inquired of the Lord. He did not seek in faith, but with a double, unstable mind. Saul had put the law in force against those that had familiar spirits, Exodus 22:18. Many seem zealous against, sin, when they are any way hurt by it, who have no concern for the glory of God, nor any dislike of sin as sin. Many seem enemies to sin in others, while they indulge it in themselves. Saul will drive...

GILBOA - Now called Jebel Fukuak. But the ancient name is preserved in the village of Jelbon, situated on the south side of the mountain. It was separated from Shunem (see the marginal reference) by the deep valley of Jezreel. The Philistines either advanced along the seacoast, and then entered the valley of Jezreel from the west, or they came by the present road right through Samaria, starting from Aphek 1 Samuel 29:1....

DOWNFALL AND DEATH OF SAUL (CHS. 28-31.) THE PHILISTINES GATHER TOGETHER FOR WAR. DISTRESS OF SAUL, AND VISIT TO THE WITCH OF ENDOR (1 Samuel 28:1.). EXPOSITION ACHISH SUMMONS DAVID TO JOIN HIM IN THE WAR AGAINST ISRAEL (1 Samuel

AND THE PHILISTINES GATHERED THEMSELVES TOGETHER,.... From different parts, and formed a considerable army: AND CAME AND PITCHED IN SHUNEM; a city, in the borders of the tribe of Issachar, of which Joshua 19:18; AND SAUL GATHERED ALL ISRAEL TOGETHER, AND THEY PITCHED IN GILBOA; a range of mountains, near Jezreel, and which Jerom b calls the mountains of the Philistines, six miles from Scythopolis, where there is a large village called Gelbus. b De loc. Heb fol. 92. D....

7. SAUL AND THE WITCH AT ENDOR CHAPTER 28 _ 1. David fully joined to Achish (1 Samuel 28:1)_ 2. Forsaken Saul (1 Samuel 28:3) 3. The command to seek a witch (1 Samuel 28:7) 4. Saul's visit to Endor (1 Samuel 28:8) 5. Samuel's solemn message (1 Samuel 28:15) 6. Saul's despair and departure (1 Samuel 28:21) Saul's final plunge towards his awful end is the main topic of this chapter. Israel had ad

1 SAMUEL 28:2 is continued by 1 Samuel 29:1; the _connexion is_ broken by the insertion of 1 SAMUEL 28:3. SAUL AND THE WITCH OF ENDOR. This section interrupts the connexion; moreover, it would come naturally immediately before the battle of Gilboa. Saul is at Gilboa (p. 29) in 284. Opinions are divided; some hold that this section is from another source (E) than the bulk of 1 Samuel 25-31, and some that it is from the same source (J), that originally it stood in that document immediately before ch. 31, and that it has got into the wrong place, because it was omitted from an edition of _Samuel,_ and reinserted in a later edition (see p. 273)....

Saul resorts to the witch of Endor 3. _Now Samuel_, &c. From 1 Samuel 28:3 to the end of the chapter is an independent narrative. 1 Samuel 28:3 states by way of introduction certain facts as the key to the incidents about to be related: (1) the death and burial of Samuel (1 Samuel 25:1); (2) Saul's expulsion of the soothsayers. This he probably did in the early part of his reign. An allusion to it may be traced in 1 Samuel 15:23. It was In accordance with the Law. See Leviticus 19:31;...

_Saul Forsaken by God._ 1 Samuel 28:3-6 3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. 4 And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa. 5 And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. 6 And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. DAVID'S WANDERINGS WHEN HE FLED FROM SAUL (_The places listed are shown on the map._) 1. _Gibeah;_ 1 Samuel 19:1-17. a. Jonathan intercedes f

SAUL AND THE WITCH OF ENDOR 1 Samuel 28:3 come from another document and interrupt the connexion, as will be seen if the account is read without them. In order of time their proper position is after 1 Samuel 30. In 1 Samuel 29:1 the Philistines are still in Aphek; in 1 Samuel 29:11 they advance to Jezreel, where we find them in 1 Samuel 28:4. In 1 Samuel 28:3 we have come to the eve of the battle, the account of which follows in...