Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 28:12
And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou [art] Saul.
12. thou art Saul ] The woman had not previously recognised her visitor, but simultaneously with the apparition of Samuel, discovered that he was Saul, either by the fact of the apparition for which she was unprepared, or by her intensified perception in a state of clairvoyance.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 spirits brought a sudden illumination to her mind.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. When the woman saw Samuel] That Samuel did appear on this occasion, is most evident from the text; nor can this be denied from any legitimate mode of interpretation: and it is as evident that he was neither raised by the power of the devil nor the incantations of the witch, for the appearances which took place at this time were such as she was wholly unacquainted with. Her familiar did not appear; and from the confused description she gives, it is fully evident that she was both surprised and alarmed at what she saw, being so widely different from what she expected to see.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
She cried with a loud voice, for fear of her life, Saul himself being witness of her crime.
Thou art Saul: this she knew, either by some gesture of reverence which this supposed Samuel might show to Saul, as to the king; or by information from this ghost; or from the spirit by whose help she had raised him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And when the woman saw Samuel,…. The appearance of him whom she took for Samuel; no mention is made of the methods she used to raise him, to check the curiosity of such as might be desirous to know them, and to prevent the imitation of them; though some think that Samuel, or the apparition, was seen before she made use of any, which surprised her; but this seems not so probable, and is only observed for the sake of an hypothesis; though it must be owned the word “when” is not in the text:
she cried with a loud voice; not so much frightened at what she saw, and the manner of his appearing, and as thinking the resurrection of the dead was come, as say the Jews b, as what she feared would be the consequence to her, even death by the hand of Saul; for though he had sworn no punishment should come upon her, she might begin to fear she was not safe, perceiving who he was:
and the woman spake to Saul, saying, why hast thou deceived me? for thou [art] Saul: how she knew this is a question; it could not be by the appearance of Samuel, for it was Samuel she was to bring up; unless with Ben Gersom it can be thought that she understood him of another man, whose name was Samuel, and not Samuel the prophet; and so when she saw him, concluded he was Saul, because of the intimacy between them in his lifetime; but this is not probable, nor does it appear that she as yet knew who it was, but rather she was told by her familiar spirit, or by the apparition, so Josephus c, that it was Saul that inquired of her; or she guessed at it by some gesture of the apparition to Saul, by way of homage and honour; and so Abarbinel thinks that the clause in
1Sa 28:14 respects not Saul’s bowing to Samuel, but Samuel bowing to Saul; and so by this means the woman knew who he was.
b Pirke Eliezer, c. 33. c Antiqu. l. 6. c. 14. sect. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(12) And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice.Nothing is more clear from the narration than that the woman of En-dor saw something she never dreamed of seeing. Whatever did appear that night was different from anything she had seen before. Whether or not she was an impostor matters little to us. From the severe enactments in the Mosaic code respecting these practices, it would seem as though in the background there was something dark and sinister. At all events, on this memorable occasion, the witch was evidently amazed and appalled at the success of her enchantments. Ewald supposes that she burst into a loud cry on seeing Samuels shade, because it ascended with such frightfully threatening gestures, as it could have used only against its deadly enemy, Saul; and she then saw that the questioner must be Saul. This can, however, only be taken as an ingenious surmise. There is a singular passage in the Chaggigah Treatise of the Babylonian Talmud (quoted below), whichcontrary to the usual interpretation of the word rendered gods (1Sa. 28:13)assumes that a second form came up with Samuel; and one Jewish interpretation tells us that these were judgesso rendering the Elohim of 1Sa. 28:13judges robed in their judicial mantles; and it was the sight of these awful ministers of justice which appalled the consciously guilty woman. Deeply interesting, however, as are these traditions and comments, handed down probably from a school of expositors which flourished before the Christian era, we hardly need anything more to account for the cry of terror which burst from the woman than this appearance of the venerable seer, evidently by her quite unlooked for.
And the woman spake to Saul.At this juncture the woman recognised in the unknown stranger King Saul. For a moment remembering his stern, ruthless procedure in such cases of sorcery as the one in which she was then engaged, she thinks herself betrayed, and given over to a shameful death of agony; and she turns to the king boeide her with a piteous expostulation, Why hast thou deceived me? The question now comes up, How did she come to recognise Saul in the unknown? Ewalds ingenious suggestion has been mentioned above. Keil suggests that the woman had fallen into a state of clairvoyance, in which she recognised persons who, like Saul in his disguise, were unknown to her by face. Josephus (6:14, 2), no doubt writing from traditional sources, asserts that Samuel had most likely revealed the presence of Saul to the witch. Samuel saw through Sauls disguise, which had deceived her whom Saul came to consult, as he spoke to Saul as Saul. So Ahijah the prophet, though blind by age, saw through the disguise of the wife of Jeroboam (1Ki. 14:2; 1Ki. 14:6).Bishop Wordsworth.
On the whole, Josephuss explanation is probably the true one. It was some wordprobably spoken by Samuelnot related here which betrayed the kings identity to the woman. There is one other possible supposition, but it, of course, belongs to the realms of fancy. We know it was night, and Saul was disguised; no doubt his face was partially covered. Is it not to be imagined that with the appearance of the blessed prophet, with or without a companion, a light filled the dark room of the En-dor house? This would fall upon the kings face, who, in the agitation of the moment, would likely enough have thrown off the cape or mantle which shrouded his features. Something of the awful supernatural light Tennyson describes when he writes of the Holy Grail:
A gentle sound, an awful light!
Three angels bear the Holy Grail:
With folded feet in stoles of white,
On sleeping wings they sail.Air Galahad.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice As soon as he said whom he wished to consult, she proceeded, by her peculiar arts, to place herself in a clairvoyant state, and as soon as she came in sensational rapport with Saul’s soul, she saw imaged there the venerable form of the mantled Samuel. She saw him just as he appeared to Saul the last time, and just as his stern and threatening form had haunted that monarch’s soul for years. But Saul and his two men supposed and reported that she saw Samuel actually arise. She discerned, also, the many harrowing fears of defeat that took shape and form in Saul’s imagination, and thus became aware that her consulter was no less a person than the king of Israel. Excessively alarmed at her discovery, she came suddenly out of her clairvoyant state, and said to Saul, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. Observe that her alarm is not at the sight of Samuel, but at finding that the very monarch of Israel who had put away all wizards out of the land (see 1Sa 28:3) had himself detected her in her sorceries. Those interpreters who affirm that Samuel really appeared, and frightened the witch by his unexpected coming, are at a loss to tell how she learned so soon that her guest was Saul. Some say she inferred it from the venerable appearance of Samuel; but how this should be when Saul had asked her to bring up Samuel, does not appear. Others say she learned it from something that Samuel said; but as yet Samuel had not spoken. Keil well says, though he teaches that Samuel actually appeared: “Her recognition of Saul may be easily explained if we assume that the woman had fallen into a clairvoyant state, in which she recognised persons who, like Saul in his disguise, were unknown to her by face.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Sa 28:12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou [art] Saul.
Ver. 12. And when the woman saw Samuel. ] That is, The devil in Samuel’s mantle. Who also told her that it was Saul, whence her outcry.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
saw Samuel. Or, the materialisation of a deceiving spirit personating Samuel, as is done by “mediums” to-day.
she cried, &c. Evidently surprised, and getting more than she expected.
thou art Saul. How should she know this but by a communication from the spirit.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
thou art Saul: 1Sa 28:3, 1Ki 14:5
Reciprocal: 1Sa 19:17 – Why hast Mat 14:26 – they were
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Sa 28:12. And when the woman saw Samuel The particle when, which our translators have inserted here, and which is not in the original text, embarrasses the sense, and is calculated to give the reader a wrong idea of this transaction, leading him to think that some space of time intervened between Sauls request and Samuels appearance, during which the woman was employed in practising her art. Whereas the Hebrew implies no such thing. It is literally, And he (Saul) said, Bring me up Samuel; and the woman saw Samuel, and cried with a loud voice, &c. The true state of this affair seems to have been, that as soon as Saul had signified whom he wished to have brought up, the woman was about to proceed to her charms and incantations, designing, says Dr. Dodd, either to put some trick upon Saul, by producing an accomplice to represent Samuel; or, may we not believe that evil spirits, really assisting on such occasions, might, and did come in to the aid of execrable wretches, sold to their service like this woman! Be this, however, as it may, contrary to all her expectation, the moment Saul had mentioned the name of Samuel, the woman saw a venerable figure before her, which made her shriek out with astonishment, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul She knew this appearance was not owing to any contrivance of her own, or her associates. It was what she in no wise expected; and she immediately concluded, that it could be no less a person than the king of Israel that this venerable person was really sent to. From all the circumstances of the relation, it appears that the woman herself was convinced, as the Egyptian magicians were upon another occasion, that this was the finger of God. To suppose that the woman herself, by her familiar spirit or spells, raised Samuel, or any evil spirit that personated him; or that she put a trick upon Saul, by causing one of her associates to appear as Samuel, is so contrary to reason, and the circumstances of the story, that no unprejudiced mind can well, upon an attentive perusal, take it in any such light. Indeed, the credit of the historian is implicated in this relation. He expressly says the woman saw Samuel, and if we believe that she did not see Samuel, but only an evil spirit personating him, we must call in question either the ability or integrity of the sacred writer: we must conceive either that he did not know what he wrote about, or that he designed to deceive his readers. Supposing then that both the woman and Saul might be deceived by an impostor in Samuels guise; yet we ask, Was this author deceived? Or did he mean to deceive us, when he gives us to understand, that the woman saw Samuel, and was frighted at the sight!