Saul and the Medium of Endor – Part 2
In the introduction to our exploration of Saul and the Medium of Endor, we noted that Saul had banished all the mediums and wizards from the land of Israel. In this post we shall explore the spirit beings operating through the medium of Endor.
Click here for the full text of 1 Samuel 28
The particular woman in this story is labelled with the modern term, ‘medium’ and the Hebrew wording reveals the spiritual dynamic behind her abilities. She is known as a ‘baalat eishet ob, literally “a woman who has mastery over an ‘ôb”’[1], though scholars differ as to what ‘ôb means. Investigating similar appearances of this word in Scripture, Schmidt[2] and Kuemmerlin-Mclean[3] suggest different places within the OT offer potential interpretations that can be grouped as follows:
- an external entity such as an ancestral spirit, a ‘demon’, a ghost of the dead, and / or a spirit summoned by the medium
- the medium or the medium controlled by a spirit
- an object such as a ritual pit, leather bottle or skin bag.
Working backwards through this list we shall examine and eliminate each in turn, followed by a detailed examination of the first entry above.
‘Ôb: An ‘Ob’ject?
Putnam[4] and Rake[5] accept the ritual pit interpretation, but as Schmidt[6] points out, there is no explicit mention of a pit within the passage text, and notes that Lev. 20:27 says that a person should be stoned to death if the ‘ôb is found in them. It seems therefore that ‘ôb cannot be a physical object external to the medium, ruling out the third option.
The Medium Herself?
Raphael[7] observes passages like 2 Kgs. 23:24 and Isa. 8:19 use the term to denote the medium themselves. Again, Schmidt[8] argues against this as he does with the ritual pit interpretation, for the location of the ‘ôb in Lev. 20:27 is in the practitioner. This therefore eliminates the medium herself being the ‘ôb.
A Separate Spirit Being?
Raphael[9], Heiser[10] and Schmidt[11] all conclude that the most likely interpretation for ‘ôb is the spirit of one who returns from the dead. The Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (DDD) entry for ‘Ob’[12] directs the reader to the entry for ‘Spirit of the dead’, claiming that according to recent research amongst ancient Mesopotamian literature the ‘ôb, was ‘a designation of the spirits of the dead … [a] deified ancestor’. Podella [13] is in agreement with DDD scholars in claiming the ‘ôb is a ‘deceased ancestor’. In an attempt to understand the passage through the context of when it was first written, it shall be taken that the ‘ôb is the spirit of a deceased human that may act as an intermediary between the living and the dead. We therefore can make an educated guess as to the identity of at least one of the spirit beings in this passage.
Spirit Possession – An Unhealthy Practice
Being possessed by the dead spirit of an ancestor makes more sense than the ritual pit interpretation, given the prohibitions on having one of these within a person for divinatory practices that consult the dead. Such prohibitions as laid out in Leviticus 20:6 link the practice of having union with another spirit as prostitution, a sexual sin, rather than merely simple communication with the dead directly [14]. This echoes the Gen. 6:1-4 and the Second Temple piece of literature called The Book of the Watchers, which give accounts of possession of human bodies by spirits with sexual overtones, producing offspring that were illegitimate “bastards” that were the origins fo evil spirits, made in the image of the fallen Watchers, not the Image of God. It may also explain why mediumship that encouraged possession by another spirit was outlawed in Israel. As seen throughout the Bible, possession by spirits other than the Holy Spirit are always portrayed in a negative light for a person’s mental, physical and spiritual health.
If the story of Saul and the Medium of Endor is read knowing the spirit beings in operation, it makes much more sense in its finer details.
Bibliography:
Heiser, M. S. (2017) The Bible Unfiltered: Approaching Scripture on its Own Terms, Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Kent, G. J. R. (2014) ‘“Call up Samuel”: Who Appeared to The Witch at En-dor?’, Andrews University Seminary Studies, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 141-160.
Kuemmerlin-Mclean, J. K. (1992) ‘Magic (Old Testament)’ in Freedman, D. (ed.) The Anchor Bible Dictionary – Volume 4. New York, NY: Doubleday, pp. 468-471.
Putnam, C. (2014) Supernatural Worldview, Crane, Missouri: Defender Publishing.
Rake, K. (2015) God and the Paranormal Part 1: Mediums, Ghosts and the Afterlife in the Bible, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Raphael, S. P. (1996) Jewish Views of the Afterlife, Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson Inc.
Schmidt, B. B. (1996) Israel’s Beneficient Dead: Ancestor Cult and Necromancy in Ancient Israelite Religion and Tradition, Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns
Van der Toorn, K., Van der Horst, P. W., et al (1998) Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Lieden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers.
References:
[1] Raphael, 50
[2] Schmidt, 152
[3] Kuemmerlin-Mclean, 469
[4] Putnam, 295
[5] Rake, 243
[6] Schmidt, 151-152
[7] Raphael, 51
[8] Schmidt, 153
[9] Raphael, 51
[10] Heiser, 101
[11] Schmidt, 147-153
[12] DDD:638
[13] in Kent, 144
[14] Rake, 235
