Bible Strands
1 Samuel 28:6
He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Saul acts alone in the moment of military panic, seeking divine guidance after seeing the Philistine host arrayed against him. The narrative records his failed petition before he turns to a forbidden medium.
The words — וַ/יִּשְׁאַ֤ל (va/i.yish.'Al) denotes he enquired, and בַּ/חֲלֹמ֛וֹת (ba./cha.lo.Mot) specifies by dreams, marking the channels through which God normally communicates. The text explicitly lists dreams, Urim, and prophets as the means by which the LORD did not answer him.
The thread — The pattern of divine communication through visions and prophets appears in Numbers 12:6, while Saul’s unanswered inquiry echoes his earlier petition in 1 Samuel 14:37. The breakdown of spiritual and civic leadership aligns with the lament in Lamentations 2:9 regarding the loss of gates and exiled princes.
Why it lands — The verse documents a factual cessation of divine response, requiring the reader to note the boundary between inquiry and answered revelation. It demands attention to the text’s plain record of silence before any theological explanation is applied.
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
And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
Cross-references
- Numbers 12:6 He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.
- 1 Samuel 14:37 So Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.
- Lamentations 2:9 Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
- Numbers 27:21 He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will go out and come in.”
- Ezekiel 20:1 In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.
- James 4:3 And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
- Exodus 28:30 And place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece of judgment, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the LORD. Aaron will continually carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 33:8 Concerning Levi he said: “Give Your Thummim to Levi and Your Urim to Your godly one, whom You tested at Massah and contested at the waters of Meribah.
- Jeremiah 23:28 Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD.
- John 9:31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will.