Saul and the Medium of Endor – Part 4
In this post we ask the question: ‘Did Samuel appear to Saul, or was it something else?’ We evaluate the options available which may reveal the identity of the character called “Samuel” in the text.
Click here for the full text of 1 Samuel 28
Will the Real Samuel Please Rise?
Scholars fall into one of several camps regarding the medium’s conjuration of Samuel as either:
- A deceptive spirit impersonated Samuel
- The real Samuel was conjured up, as God allowed the event. The medium’s power was not able to achieve this
- The real Samuel was conjured up, and the medium genuinely had the ability to summon him via an intermediary spirit(s).
- Having never seen Samuel, Saul could have been deceived by the medium.
This last point is held by Rationalists, who ignore the writer’s clear intention to convey that Samuel was summoned. This ties neatly with the Septuagint (Greek) translation of 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 which says it was Samuel who appeared to him:
13So Saul died for his transgressions, wherein he transgressed against God, against the word of the Lord, forasmuch as he kept it not, because Saul enquired of a wizard to seek counsel, and Samuel the prophet answered him: 14and he sought not the Lord: so he slew him, and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.
1 Chronicles 10:13-14 (Septuagint, Translated by Brenton,1851)
Furthermore, the deuterocanonical book Sirach 46:19-20, tells us that it was Samuel himself who spoke to Saul:
Before the time of his eternal sleep,
Sirach 46:19-20, New Revised Standard Version
Samuel bore witness before the Lord and his anointed:
‘No property, not so much as a pair of shoes,
have I taken from anyone!’
And no one accused him.
Even after he had fallen asleep, he prophesied
and made known to the king his death,
and lifted up his voice from the ground
in prophecy, to blot out the wickedness of the people.
Over the last two millenia, the majority of Christianity has understood this passage as describing a paranormal occurrence. In line with this traditional undertanding, we will fall back to Scripture and Tradition, using Reason to explore further options.
Whilst trickery is an intriguing as a proposition, the authors remains silent that this was a trick, insisting that it was Samuel himself who was summoned and spoke to Saul. Scripture openly states where trickery is used (such as Jacob and Rachel’s to obtain Isaac’s blessing). Because of this, trickery isn’t an option worthy of further investigation.
Spirit Impersonation
It has been suggested that the medium summoned a deceiving non-human spirit impersonating Samuel. One of the earliest examples of this is claimed by Tertullian in De Anima chapter 57[1]. The main Scripture used in support of this view is 2 Cor. 11:14-15, which describes Satan masquerading as an angel of light and a deceiver. Whilst this is important to remember, the context given by Paul is that of the arrogant pride of false apostles, and has no bearing on interpreting this passage. This is eisegesis, for the text says clearly that Samuel did appear to Saul. Putnam[2] gives the background to Tertullian’s interpretation as having to refute necromancy practiced by the Simonian cult at the time, thus shows the need to be cautious to avoid eisegesis in argument.
Mitton and Parker[3] analyse the demonic impersonation hypothesis, concluding that whilst this is a possibility and probably the case most of the time in encounters, there remain instances where this cannot be the case and instead must be the spirit of a deceased person communicating with the living. As such, discerning and testing the spirits in deliverance ministry should always be carried out to know their nature and the best course of action to remove them. Accounts of the deliverance ministry of 19th Century Lutheran pastor, Johann Blumhardt (which we shall explore later), describe this approach in detail.
It Really Was Samuel!
Letting the text speak for itself, it was Samuel who was raised and pronounced judgement on Saul. It not, then we have to ask why God would use a deceiving spirit to be the mouthpiece for Samuel’s prophetic message to Saul? There is no other place in Scripture where this occurs! It therefore seems sensible to accept this was the real Samuel who appeared before her.
Samuel – Via God or Via Medium?
The two remaining options open to Samuel’s appearance are either it was a one-off case allowed by God for pronouncement of judgement on Saul, or it was the woman’s mediumistic practice that was effectual in summoning Samuel from the grave.
Davis and Whitcomb[4] exemplify the standard interpretation that this was a one-off which was ‘designed to emphasize the doom of Saul and God’s displeasure for his coming to a necromancer.’ This interpretation makes no attempt to understand the nature of the ‘ôb which the woman had, and feels unsatisfying when exploring the passage at a deeper level.
Unger[5] claims (without supporting evidence) the medium was in contact with a deceiving spirit, and that she had no power herself to raise the dead Samuel. This rationalistic assumption is similar to Blumenthal[6] who claims: ‘The idea that some human beings had the ability to raise deceased persons from the grave stretches our imagination.’ However, recognising the eisegetical nature of arguments which claim Samuel was not raised from the dead, Unger concedes that it must have been Samuel who appeared to the medium[7] His argument supposes the medium genuinely wasn’t expecting Samuel to appear and was shocked when, through God’s divine intervention, he appeared before her: ‘The medium’s terrified conduct, and her complete loss of poise at the appearance of a real spirit of a deceased person, constitutes a complete and irrefutable Scriptural disclosure of the fraudulency of all spiritistic (sic) mediumship.’[8] Unger’s a-priori commitment to the dead not being able to come back is then used to make a hasty generalization about all mediumship, claiming her fright was caused by the appearance of Samuel which, being a fraud, she wasn’t expecting[9]. Montenegro[10] concurs with Unger that her surprise was at the unexpected appearance of Samuel.
Saul is Rumbled!
A careful reading of the passage, especially (28:12), allows another possible interpretation given the context of the legal prohibitions on mediumship and necromancy, and statements in (28:3,9). Is she screaming at Saul rather than at Samuel’s appearance?
There was a necessary secrecy for the rendezvous; she knew her practices could lead to capital punishment. Her scream may have been caused by the sudden realisation of being in the presence of the king who had expelled mediums with familial spirits from the area or else kill them. Sensing potential doom, she would have cause to cry out against Saul’s deception. This interpretation seems more in keeping with the context, rather than Unger’s eisegetical straining of the text.
Another argument that the woman herself was responsible for raising Samuel comes from the text itself (28:15) where he complains about being disturbed by being brought up. If God was responsible for sending Samuel rather than the woman’s necromantic ability, it seems nonsense that the righteous God-serving Samuel would be annoyed at being disturbed to carry God’s message to Saul.
As we have seen earlier, the perceived power of mediumship was commonplace in the region at the time: Schmidt[11], Raphael[12], Johnston[13] and Saul’s own seeking help from the medium to speak with Samuel suggest his belief in her ability to summon and communicate with the dead was nothing out of the ordinary.
God of the Absurd?
That God had outlawed such practices (Lev. 19:31; 20:6,27; Deut. 18:10-12) also lends credence that mediumship was effectual in contacting spiritual beings beyond the veil of the living, otherwise, as Putnam[14] suggests, why would God create an absurdity in proscribing something which was impossible to perform. And seriously, why would God issue the death penalty for an impossible task? As Putnam says God does not deal in absurdities.
Conclusion
Whilst it may be perfectly possible that God did allow this instance of the dead Samuel to appear to Saul, the evidence suggests that there was some power at work. The medium and her associate spirit(s) were able to stir Samuel from the underworld, which in turn brought Saul’s fateful message regarding his imminent death.
Bibliography
Blumenthal, F. (2013) ‘The Ghost of Samuel: Real or Imaginary?’, Jewish Bible Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 104-106.
Davis, J. J. and Whitcomb, J. C. (1970) A History of Israel, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker.
Johnston, P. S. (2002) Shades of Sheol: Death and Afterlife in the Old Testament, Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press.
Mitton, M. and Parker, R. (1991) Requiem Healing: A Christian Understanding of the Dead. London: Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd.
Montenegro, M. (2002) ‘I see dead people: a look at after-death communication’ in Christian Research Journal, vol. 25, no. 1.
Putnam, C. (2014) Supernatural Worldview, Crane, Missouri: Defender Publishing.
Raphael, S. P. (1996) Jewish Views of the Afterlife, Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson Inc.
Schaff, P. (2006) ANF03. Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian – Christian Classics Ethereal Library. [online] Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Available at: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.xi.lvii.html
Schmidt, B. B. (1996) Israel’s Beneficient Dead: Ancestor Cult and Necromancy in Ancient Israelite Religion and Tradition, Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns
Unger, M. F. (1994) Biblical Demonology: A Study of Spiritual Forces at Work Today. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
References
[1] Schaff, 2006
[2] Putnam, 302-303
[3] Mitton and Parker, 73-77
[4] Davis and Whitcomb, 257
[5] Unger, 149
[6] Blumenthal, 104
[7] Unger, 149
[8] ibid
[9] Unger, 152
[10] Montenegro, 5
[11] Schmidt
[12] Raphael, 43-50
[13] Johnston, 150-158
[14] Putnam, 293-294
