Bible Strands
1 Samuel 28:9
But the woman replied, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has killed the mediums and spiritists in the land. Why have you set a trap to get me killed?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The woman speaks to a disguised Saul at night immediately after he commands her to summon a spirit. She responds to his request by questioning his motives and highlighting his past actions.
The words — הִנֵּה (hi.Neh) and יָדַ֙עְתָּ֙ (ya.Da'.ta) render as "here!" and "you know," functioning as a direct appeal to Saul’s own awareness of his policies against occult practices.
The thread — The woman’s reference to Saul’s purge of mediums and spiritists directly recalls the decree in 1 Samuel 28:3. The tension between royal power and human life also surfaces in 2 Kings 5:7.
Why it lands — The text states that Saul executed mediums and spiritists. It shows how Saul’s desperate situation overrides his own laws, requiring a reader to acknowledge that fear can compel even a king to violate his own decrees.
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 the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 28:3 Now by this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.
- 2 Samuel 18:13 If I had jeopardized my own life—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have abandoned me.”
- 2 Kings 5:7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!”