1Sa 28:3 | KD | STEP | Saul with the witch at Endor . - The invasion of Israel by the Philistines, which brought David into so difficult a situation, drove king Saul to despair, so that in utter helplessness he had recourse to ungodly means of inquiring into the future, which he himself had formerly prohibited, and to his horror had to hear the sentence of his own death. This account is introduced with the remark in that Samuel was dead and had been buried at Ramah (cf. ; וּבעירו, with an explanatory vav , and indeed in his own city), and that Saul had expelled “ those that had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land ” (on the terms employed, oboth and yiddonim , see at ). He had done this in accordance with the law in ; , and Deu 18:10.

‏ 1 Samuel 28:3

1Sa 28:3 Saul with the witch at Endor. - The invasion of Israel by the Philistines, which brought David into so difficult a situation, drove king Saul to despair, so that in utter helplessness he had recourse to ungodly means of inquiring into the future, which he himself had formerly prohibited, and to his horror had to hear the sentence of his own death. This account is introduced with the remark in 1Sa 28:3 that Samuel was dead and had been buried at Ramah (cf. 1Sa 25:1; וּבעירו, with an explanatory vav, and indeed in his own city), and that Saul had expelled “those that had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land” (on the terms employed, oboth and yiddonim, see at Lev 19:31). He had done this in accordance with the law in Lev 19:31; Lev 20:27, and Deu 18:10.