1 Samuel 28:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land.

NIV: Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.

NASB: Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.

CSB: By this time Samuel had died, all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his city, and Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.

NLT: Meanwhile, Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him. He was buried in Ramah, his hometown. And Saul had banned from the land of Israel all mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead.

KJV: Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

NKJV: Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.

Samuel had died some time ago. He had been buried in his own home city of Ramah, and all of Israel had gathered to officially mourn his passing (1 Samuel 25:1). Under the Lord's direction, Samuel had anointed both Saul and David to be the first two kings of Israel. He had served as a kind of mentor to them both.

Saul had explicitly outlawed all the necromancers and mediums from working within Israel. The law of Moses clearly forbade the Israelites from participating in this common practice. The basic idea of these occultists was attempting to contact those who had died:

"When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord" (Deuteronomy 18:9–12).

Despite this clear command and God's statement that such practices were the among the reasons to drive out the people from the land (Deuteronomy 18:12), the Israelites still dabbled in magic (Isaiah 8:19; 29:4; 1 Kings 21:6). Despite Saul's own earlier commitment to remove those who claim to communicate with the dead from Israel, he will seek one out in hopes of having one last conversation with Samuel (1 Samuel 28:7–19).

First Samuel 28:3–7 records Saul's further fall into disobedience. When he sees the size of the Philistine army about to attack him, he's terrified and doesn't know what to do. Samuel the prophet is dead (1 Samuel 25:1), and God won't answer the remaining prophets. Saul sends his servants to find a medium: a profession he himself had outlawed. In disguise, he will meet the medium and receive terrifying news (1 Samuel 28:8–25).

Israelites and the Philistines prepare for war. The Philistine king Achish demands that David fight with him against Israel. Terrified at the amassed Philistine army and unable to reach the Lord for help, Saul finds a medium to contact Samuel's spirit. Samuel repeats that the Lord has taken the kingdom from Saul and adds that Saul and his sons will fall, along with Israel, the next day. The medium serves Saul and his men a large meal, and the men leave under the cover of darkness. David is saved from having to fight his own people, but Saul and his sons do die. David will soon be king (1 Samuel 29; 31).

David and his men have escaped Saul (1 Samuel 27) and begun been fighting Israel's enemies under the protection of the Philistine king Achish (1 Samuel 28). Now, Achish wants David to fight Israel with him. Saul sees the Philistine army and is terrified. He finds a medium to call up Samuel's spirit. Samuel tells Saul that he, his sons, and Israel will fall. Fortunately, the other Philistine kings refuse to fight with David, and Achish sends him home. But Saul's sons are killed. Mortally wounded, Saul will take his own life (1 Samuel 29; 31).

First Samuel introduces the key figures who led Israel after the era of the judges. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally part of a single text, split in certain translations shortly before the birth of Christ. Some of the Bible’s most famous characters are depicted in this book. These including the prophet Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul, her greatest king, David, and other famous names such as Goliath and Jonathan. By the end of this book, Saul has fallen; the book of 2 Samuel begins with David’s ascension to the throne.