Bible Strands
1 Samuel 28:23
Saul refused, saying, “I will not eat.” But his servants joined the woman in urging him, and he heeded their voice. He got up from the ground and sat on the bed.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Saul lies prostrate on the ground at the medium’s house after the spirit encounter, refusing food until his servants and the woman physically urge him to rise and sit on a bed.
The words — The narrative centers on וַיְמָאֵן (va/y.ma.'En), translated "he refused," and וַיִּפְרְצוּ (va/i.yif.re.tzu), translated "they urged," to track Saul’s shift from stubborn refusal to yielding under pressure.
The thread — This dynamic of a leader’s resolve breaking under persistent counsel appears in 1 Kings 21:4 where Ahab withdraws from eating, and in 2 Kings 5:13 where servants persuade Naaman to follow a simple command.
Why it lands — The text records a physical and spiritual collapse that forces compliance through others' intervention rather than personal conviction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 21:4 So Ahab went to his palace, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had told him, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and refused to eat.
- 2 Kings 4:8 One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.
- 2 Kings 5:13 Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?”
- Proverbs 25:20 Like one who removes a garment on a cold day or vinegar poured on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
- Luke 14:23 So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
- Luke 24:29 But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.
- Acts 16:15 And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
- 2 Corinthians 5:14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.