1 Samuel 28:3-14

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; Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10 ff.

those that had familiar spirits The Hebrew word Obsignifies (1) the demon or spirit supposed to speak through the necromancer; (2) the possessor of such a spirit. It is generally rendered by the Sept. "ventriloquist" (ἐγγαστρίμυθος), probably because the spirit was supposed to speak from the necromancer's belly, not as some suppose, because ventriloquists abused their powers for imposing upon the credulous.

the wizards Wizard, connected with witand wise, is an exact equivalent of the Heb. word, which means "a knowing one:" one who is supposed to possess a knowledge of the future by mysterious means.