Women in the Bible

Medium of Endor

1 Samuel 28:7-25

• 1 Samuel 28:7-14 Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants said to him, “There is a medium at Endor.” So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes and went there, he and two men with him. They came to the woman by night. And he said, “Consult a spirit for me, and bring up for me the one whom I name to you.” The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the wizards from the land. Why then are you laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?” But Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He answered, “Bring up Samuel for me.” When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” The king said to her, “Have no fear; what do you see?” The woman said to Saul, “I see a divine being[a] coming up out of the ground.” He said to her, “What is his appearance?” She said, “An old man is coming up; he is wrapped in a robe.” So Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did obeisance.

List of Reading & Resources:

Articles

• “Medium of Endor: Bible” by Thomas W. Overholt

• “Ancient Israelite Divination: Urim ve-Tummim, Ephod, and Prophecy” by Dr.Jonathan Stökl

• “The Practice of Divination in the Ancient Near East” by Dr. Uri Gabbay

Books

• “Divination in Israelite Society” (pp.69-83) in Cultural Anthropology and the Old Testament by Thomas W. Overholt (1996)

• “1 and 2 Samuel” (pp. 150-163) by Jo Ann Hackett in The Women’s Bible Commentary, edited by Carol A. Newsom, Sharon H. Ringe, and Jacqueline E. Lapsley (2012)