UTN uW Translation Notes:

1 Samuel 28 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This chapter continues the part of the book that describes how David became king (chapters 16–31). It describes how, because of Saul’s disobedience, Yahweh would no longer guide him about how to fight against the Philistines. It tells how Saul instead asked a woman to contact the spirit of Samuel for him so that Samuel could provide guidance. But Samuel only told Saul that what he had prophesied was about to come true. Saul and his sons would be killed in battle against the Philistines the next day.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

What were “ritual pits” and “familiar spirits” (28:3)?

A “ritual pit” was a hole that some people in this culture dug in the ground in order to use it in ceremonies in which they tried to contact the spirits of dead people. Some versions of the Bible translate this term as “medium,” referring to a person who tries to contact such spirits. However, the most recent biblical scholarship suggests that the term refers to the pit rather than to the person who uses it. A “familiar spirit” was a supernatural being that people in this culture believed could help them gain secret knowledge. Some versions of the Bible translate this term as “wizard,” “spiritist,” or “soothsayer,” once again referring to the person who uses the means rather than the means itself. But current scholarship suggests in this case as well that it refers to the spirit rather than the person who uses it. The law of Moses forbade such practices, and that was why Saul at first had banned them from Israel. The fact that he now turned to a woman who owned a ritual pit shows how he was no longer obeying God.

How did the woman know her visitor was Saul once she had seen Samuel?

In 28:12, the author says that when the woman with the ritual pit saw Samuel, she “cried out with a loud voice” and then said to her visitor, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!” While the author does not state this explicitly, this suggests that the woman was not expecting to see anyone or anything like Samuel when he appeared. The overall teaching of the Bible is that it is not possible to contact the spirits of people who have died and that it is not possible for those spirits to return to earth. So Yahweh apparently did something very exceptional in this case. This surprised and frightened the woman. She also apparently concluded that this would only have happened for someone as important as Saul, and that was how she realized who her visitor was. Readers of the Bible are not meant to take any encouragement from this episode to try to contact the spirits of people who have died. Samuel announced that Yahweh had judged Saul for his disobedience and that he was was going to punish him with death before another day went by. Trying to contact the spirit of a dead person was further disobedience, and it only resulted in a definitive pronouncement of judgment and punishment.

Where were Shunem and Gilboa?

The author says in 28:4 that Philistines assembled their troops and marched into Israel and set up their tents near the city of Shunem. That city was in the north of Israel, within the Valley of Jezreel. While the Israelites lived in hilly territory that became more mountainous the farther it got from the coast, the Philistines were able to use that valley to march well into Israel. The author also says in 28:4 that Saul gathered the Israelite army and they set up their tents at Gilboa. That was a mountain range on one side of the Valley of Jezreel. So as in the case of the battle in which Goliath challenged the Israelites (17:3), the Israelites took up defensive positions on a height overlooking a potential field of battle.