I Samuel 28

Hook

Have you ever sent a text message, saw the little typing bubbles appear, and then... nothing? Or maybe you have waited for a critical email about a job, a medical test, or a relationship, only to be met with total, deafening silence.

It is a deeply unsettling feeling. When we are waiting in the dark, our minds tend to go to some very strange places. We get anxious. We start to panic. And sometimes, when we feel completely backed into a corner, we are tempted to make decisions we would never even consider on a normal day. We might bend our own moral rules, compromise our integrity, or search for answers in places we know we shouldn’t look, just to get a sense of control.

In this lesson, we are going to dive into one of the most dramatic, spooky, and deeply human stories in the entire Hebrew Bible: I Samuel 28. We will meet King Saul, a leader who is facing the ultimate crisis. He is totally out of ideas, his enemies are closing in, and the universe has gone completely silent on him. Out of sheer desperation, Saul sneaks out in disguise under the cover of night to consult a medium—a practice he himself had outlawed!

This is a story about what happens to us when we are pushed to our absolute limits, the weird choices we make when we are scared, and how we can find our footing when the world feels completely silent. Whether you are totally new to Jewish texts or have been reading them for years, you are in the right place. Grab a warm drink, get comfortable, and let's unpack this ancient mystery together.

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Context

To help us understand what is going on in this dramatic chapter, let's set the stage with four quick, simple context points:

• Who and Where: Our story takes place in ancient Israel around 1000 BCE. The main characters are King Saul (Israel's first, highly anxious king), David (Saul's former musician and current rival, who is hiding out with the enemy), and an unnamed woman in a town called En-dor who works as a medium.
• The Big Threat: A powerful neighboring nation called the Philistines has gathered a massive army to launch an all-out war against Israel. To make matters worse, Samuel—the great prophet who was Saul's mentor and main spiritual guide—has recently died, leaving Saul feeling completely exposed and alone.
• The Silent Treatment: Terrified by the approaching army, Saul tries every possible way to get some advice or guidance from God. He tries looking for answers in his dreams, he consults prophets, and he even tries using the Urim—which is an ancient oracle on the High Priest's breastplate (8 words). But he gets absolutely nothing. No voice, no sign, just pure silence.
• The Forbidden Option: Out of options, Saul decides to break his own laws. He had previously banned all mediums and wizards from the land, but now he asks his servants to find him a medium. He travels to En-dor in disguise, hoping to bypass God and drag his old mentor, Samuel, back from Sheol—the ancient Hebrew concept of the place of the dead (10 words).

Before we jump into the actual text, let's define one more key term. This story comes from the Tanakh, which is the Hebrew Bible, containing Torah, Prophets, and Writings (9 words). Specifically, we are in the book of I Samuel, which is filled with raw, honest stories about leadership, human failure, and spiritual struggles.

Now that we know the players and the stakes, let's look at a snapshot of the text itself.

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Text Snapshot

Here is a key moment from the chapter where Saul, in deep despair, takes matters into his own hands. You can read the full, fascinating chapter on Sefaria here: https://www.sefaria.org/I_Samuel_28.

"When Saul saw the Philistine force, his heart trembled with fear... Saul disguised himself; he put on different clothes and set out with two men. They came to the woman by night, and he said, 'Please divine for me by a ghost. Bring up for me the one I shall name to you'... Then Saul knew that it was Samuel; and he bowed low in homage with his face to the ground. Samuel said to Saul, 'Why have you disturbed me and brought me up?' And Saul answered, 'I am greatly troubled. The Philistines are attacking me and God has turned away from me—and no longer answers me...'" I Samuel 28:5-15

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Close Reading

Now, let's roll up our sleeves and look closely at this text. We have some incredible commentaries from Jewish history to help us unpack the psychology, the drama, and the hidden layers of this story. We will break our reading into three main insights that you can actually use in your own life.

Insight 1: The Trap of Desperation and the "Silent Treatment"

To understand why Saul is so terrified, we have to look at the sheer scale of the crisis he is facing. At the very beginning of the chapter, we learn that the Philistines are gathering their forces for war.

The legendary modern commentator Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, in his commentary on I Samuel 28:1, writes:

"This was not another local raid, but an actual war, which might prove decisive."

This is a crucial detail. Saul isn't just dealing with a minor border dispute or a small political headache. This is an existential threat. If Israel loses this battle, the entire nation could be destroyed, and Saul's family will lose everything. The pressure on his shoulders is unimaginable.

When Saul looks out at the Philistine army, the text tells us that "his heart trembled with fear" I Samuel 28:5. He does what any of us would do in a crisis: he reaches out for help. He prays. He looks for dreams. He consults the prophet—which is a person chosen to speak God's messages to people (10 words). He even tries the Urim.

But there is only silence.

Why is God silent? In the biblical narrative, Saul has spent years making decisions based on his own ego, jealousy, and fear rather than following spiritual guidance. He chased David out of the country, he ignored Samuel’s instructions, and he gradually cut himself off from his own spiritual core. Now, when he suddenly needs help, he finds that the line is dead.

This is a deeply human moment. How often do we ignore our inner voice, our values, or our support systems when things are going well, only to frantically cry out for them when things go wrong? When we don't get an immediate answer, we panic. And in our panic, we often make the exact mistake Saul makes: we stop looking for what is right, and we start looking for what is fast and easy, even if it means breaking our own rules.

Insight 2: The Tightrope of Loyalty and Double-Speak

While Saul is panicking, his rival David is caught in a completely different kind of trap. David has been running for his life from Saul, and to survive, he has been living among the Philistines. Now, the Philistine king, Achish, tells David: "You and your men must march out with my forces" I Samuel 28:1.

Imagine David's position. He is an Israelite hero, destined to be the next king of Israel. But now, his host, King Achish, is ordering him to go to war against his own people. Talk about a nightmare scenario!

To understand the scale of this gathering, the classic commentator Metzudat Zion explains that the Hebrew word for "army" used here (le-zava) means:

"A gathering or collection of forces."

This is a massive, unified mobilization. David cannot easily slip away or pretend he didn't hear the order.

So, how does David handle this impossible situation? He uses a brilliant piece of ambiguous language. He tells King Achish: "You surely know what your servant will do" I Samuel 28:2.

What does that actually mean? To Achish, it sounds like: "I am going to fight bravely for you!" But to David, it could mean: "You will see where my true loyalty lies when the fighting starts."

The 16th-century commentator, the Alshich (in his work Marot HaTzoveot on I Samuel 28:1:1), asks why this conversation is so full of strange, circular language. He explains that King Achish was deeply worried about David's loyalty. Achish thought: "If I leave David behind in my land while I go to war, what if he attacks my cities while they are empty? But if I bring him with me to the battlefield, what if he turns around and attacks us from behind to gain favor with King Saul?"

To solve this, Achish decides to place David right in the middle of his camp, surrounded by Philistine soldiers, so David cannot easily escape or communicate with the Israelites. The Alshich explains that David's reply—"you will know what your servant will do"—was a deliberate piece of double-speak. David wanted to ease the king’s anxiety without actually promising to shed the blood of his own brothers.

The great commentator Malbim on I Samuel 28:1:1 and I Samuel 28:1:2 takes this even further. He asks why Achish says "you will go out with me" rather than "with us."

The Malbim explains:

"He did not want David to march among the general army, because he feared the Philistine soldiers would not trust him, or that David would hesitate to fight Israel. Instead, he decided to keep David close to protect the king's own person."

The Malbim points out that throughout history, kings often hired foreign warriors as their personal bodyguards. Why? Because foreign bodyguards had no local political connections, meaning they were less likely to join a domestic rebellion. Achish trusted David’s personal honor to protect him, even if he didn't trust him to fight the nation of Israel as a whole. Therefore, Achish rewards David's vague answer by saying: "I will appoint you my bodyguard for life" I Samuel 28:2.

What can we learn from David here? Sometimes, we find ourselves in impossible situations where every option seems bad. We might feel pressured by our boss, our peers, or our circumstances to do something that compromises our values. David teaches us the power of the "pause." He doesn't immediately cave, and he doesn't start a fight he can't win. Instead, he navigates the crisis with careful, deliberate steps, keeping his options open and preserving his integrity as best as he can under pressure.

Insight 3: Breaking Your Own Rules in the Dark

Back in Israel, Saul's desperation has reached a boiling point. He decides to seek out a medium in En-dor.

The tragedy here is that Saul is violating his own royal decree. He had previously banned all mediums and spirit-callers from the land because Jewish tradition strongly discourages trying to manipulate the spiritual world or bypass the natural order of life and death.

To hide his hypocrisy, Saul puts on a disguise and travels under the cover of night I Samuel 28:8. When we are about to do something we know is wrong, we almost always try to do it in the dark. We hide our screens, we hide our actions, and we pretend to be someone we are not.

When Saul finds the medium, she is terrified. She says: "You know what Saul has done, how he has banned the use of ghosts... why are you laying a trap for me, to get me killed?" I Samuel 28:9.

To calm her fears, Saul does something incredibly shocking. He swears an oath: "As God lives, you won’t get into trouble over this" I Samuel 28:10.

Let's look at what the commentators say about this oath. The commentator Metzudat David on I Samuel 28:10:1 translates Saul's words simply:

"I am swearing: As God lives, if any punishment happens to you because of this matter."

And Metzudat Zion on I Samuel 28:10:1 and I Samuel 28:10:2 explains the specific Hebrew words:

"Yikreh comes from the word mikreh (a bad event or accident). Avon in this context means 'punishment.'"

Think about the massive, mind-boggling irony of this moment. Saul is swearing by God's name to protect a woman who is performing an ritual forbidden by God, which Saul himself outlawed! He is using the ultimate source of holiness to justify and protect a deeply unholy act.

This is what complete moral collapse looks like. When we get desperate enough, we don't just break our rules; we actually try to twist our beliefs to make ourselves feel better about breaking them. We say things like: "Well, normally I would never do this, but God understands how stressed I am," or "I know this isn't honest, but it's for a good cause."

The medium performs the ritual, and the spirit of Samuel rises. But instead of offering Saul the comforting words or tactical advice he was hoping for, Samuel is annoyed and blunt. He asks: "Why have you disturbed me and brought me up?" I Samuel 28:15.

Samuel tells Saul the hard, cold truth that Saul was trying so hard to run away from: the kingdom has been torn from his hands and given to David, and Saul and his sons will lose their lives in the coming battle.

Saul’s frantic, rule-breaking search for answers didn't change his fate. It only forced him to face his end with a heavy heart, knowing he had compromised his last shred of integrity.

But the story doesn't end in complete darkness. After hearing Samuel's terrifying prophecy, Saul collapses to the ground in sheer terror and physical exhaustion. He hasn't eaten all day.

And here, we see a beautiful, surprising moment of grace. The medium—the very woman Saul had outlawed and lied to—looks at this broken king with deep compassion. She doesn't mock him or run away. Instead, she gently coaxes him to sit up. She slaughters her finest calf, bakes some fresh bread, and prepares a meal for him I Samuel 28:21-25.

In the darkest night of his life, Saul does not find comfort from the heavens, and he does not find comfort from the ghost of his old mentor. He finds comfort in a simple plate of warm food, prepared by a stranger he had treated as an enemy. It is a powerful reminder that even when our plans fail and our worlds collapse, simple human kindness can still reach us in the dark.

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Apply It

How do we take this ancient, dramatic story and apply it to our modern, everyday lives?

It all comes down to how we handle the "silent treatment" from the universe. We all experience times when we feel stuck, ignored, or completely out of options. The temptation in those moments is to "pull a Saul"—to panic, to make impulsive choices, or to break our own values just to get a quick fix.

Instead of letting fear make our decisions, we can try a simple, 60-second daily practice to help us stay grounded when we don't have all the answers.

The 60-Second "Pause and Align" Practice

You can try this simple practice once a day this week, especially when you feel a wave of anxiety, impatience, or desperation creeping in:

• Step 1: The Breath (15 seconds): Close your eyes and take one slow, deep breath. Acknowledge the silence or the uncertainty you are facing. Say to yourself silently: "Right now, I do not have the answer, and that is okay."
• Step 2: The Value Check (30 seconds): Think about the decision or action you are tempted to take out of panic. Ask yourself: "Am I putting on a disguise to do this? Is this action aligned with my core values, or am I trying to sneak around them because I am scared?"
• Step 3: The Release (15 seconds): Take one more deep breath. Remind yourself that sometimes, not getting an immediate answer is its own kind of answer. It is an invitation to slow down, wait, and keep your integrity intact.

By choosing to pause, you give yourself a gentle option to step away from panic. You don't have to promise yourself that all your problems will suddenly disappear; instead, you are simply choosing to keep your dignity and values intact while you wait for the storm to pass.

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Chevruta Mini

In Jewish tradition, we rarely study alone. We prefer to study in a Chevruta, which is a traditional partner with whom you study Jewish texts (9 words).

Here are two friendly, open-ended questions you can discuss with a friend, a partner, or even journal about on your own:

1. Saul went to extreme lengths and broke his own laws because he was desperate for answers and control. Have you ever felt so stressed or uncertain that you were tempted to compromise your own personal boundaries or values? What did that experience teach you about yourself?
2. At the end of this dark chapter, Saul receives comfort and a warm meal from the medium—the very person he had outlawed and lied to. Why do you think the bible includes this moment of tenderness? What does it teach us about finding kindness and humanity in unexpected places when our world is falling apart?

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Takeaway

Remember this: When the world feels silent and panic tempts us to break our own rules, our greatest strength lies in holding onto our integrity and waiting out the storm.