THOU SHALT KNOW ... - David dissembled (compare also 1 Samuel 29:8), hoping, no doubt, that something would happen to prevent his fighting against his king and country. KEEPER OF MINE HEAD - Captain of his bodyguard.... [ Continue Reading ]
It does not appear when Saul had suppressed witchcraft; it was probably in the early part of his reign. FAMILIAR SPIRITS ... WIZARDS - i. e. ventriloquists ... wise or cunning men. See Leviticus 19:31 note.... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN SAUL INQUIRED OF THE LORD ... - It is said 1 Chronicles 10:14 that one reason why the Lord killed Saul, and gave his kingdom to David, was because he inquired not of the Lord. The explanation of this apparent discrepancy is to be found in the fact that inquiring of the familiar spirit was posit... [ Continue Reading ]
ENQUIRE - A different word from that in 1 Samuel 28:6, though nearly synonymous with it. It is more frequently applied to inquiry of a false god, as e. g. 2 Kings 1:2; Isaiah 8:19; Isaiah 19:3. En-dor (see Joshua 11:2 note) was seven or eight miles from the slopes of Gilboa, on the north of little... [ Continue Reading ]
DIVINE - Compare to 1 Samuel 6:2, note; Numbers 23:23, note. BRING ME HIM UP - The art of the ventriloquist seems to have been always connected with necromancy. The Greeks had necromancers who called up departed spirits to give answers to those who consulted them.... [ Continue Reading ]
BRING ME UP SAMUEL - Dr. Trench observes, “All human history has failed to record a despair deeper or more tragic than his, who, having forsaken God and being of God forsaken, is now seeking to move hell; and infinitely guilty as he is, assuredly there is something unutterably pathetic in that yearn... [ Continue Reading ]
It is manifest both that the apparition of Samuel was real, and also that the woman was utterly unprepared for it. WHY HAST THOU DECEIVED ME ... - She perhaps inferred that Samuel would have answered the call of none inferior to the king. Or it may be the presence of an inhabitant of the world of s... [ Continue Reading ]
GODS - אלהים _'ĕlohı̂ym_ is here used in a general sense of a supernatural appearance, either angel or spirit. Hell, or the place of the departed (compare 1 Samuel 28:19; 2 Samuel 12:23) is represented as under the earth Isaiah 14:9; Ezekiel 32:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
TO HIM - Better, “for Himself,” as in the margin.... [ Continue Reading ]
Rather, “will deliver Israel also.” Saul had not only brought ruin upon his own house but upon Israel also; and when Saul and Jonathan fell the camp (not “host”) would be plundered by the conquerors 1 Samuel 31:8; 2 Samuel 1:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BED - Rather, “the bench” or divan, such as in the East still runs along the wall, furnished with cushions, for those who sit at meals Esther 1:6; Ezekiel 23:41.... [ Continue Reading ]