1 Samuel 28:21
New International Version
When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do.

New Living Translation
When the woman saw how distraught he was, she said, “Sir, I obeyed your command at the risk of my life.

English Standard Version
And the woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, “Behold, your servant has obeyed you. I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me.

Berean Standard Bible
When the woman came to Saul and saw how distraught he was, she said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice. I took my life in my hands and did as you told me.

King James Bible
And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.

New King James Version
And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was severely troubled, and said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice, and I have put my life in my hands and heeded the words which you spoke to me.

New American Standard Bible
The woman came to Saul and saw that he was utterly horrified, and she said to him, “Behold, your servant has obeyed you, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.

NASB 1995
The woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified, and said to him, “Behold, your maidservant has obeyed you, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.

NASB 1977
And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified, and said to him, “Behold, your maidservant has obeyed you, and I have taken my life in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.

Legacy Standard Bible
And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified and said to him, “Behold, your servant-woman has listened to your voice, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.

Amplified Bible
The woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly troubled, and she said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed you, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to everything you said to me.

Christian Standard Bible
The woman came over to Saul, and she saw that he was terrified and said to him, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The woman came over to Saul, and she saw that he was terrified and said to him, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do.

American Standard Version
And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thy handmaid hath hearkened unto thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the woman came and she saw that he was very afraid, and she said to him: “See, your Maid Servant has listened to your voice, and I have placed my life into your hands, and I have listened to your words which you told me

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the woman went in to Saul, and saw that he was greatly disquieted, and said to him, Behold now, thine handmaid has hearkened to thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have heard the words which thou has spoken to me.

Contemporary English Version
The woman came over to Saul, and when she saw that he was completely terrified, she said, "Your Majesty, I listened to you and risked my life to do what you asked.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the woman came to Saul (for he was very much troubled) and said to him: Behold thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand: and I hearkened unto the words which thou spokest to me.

English Revised Version
And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath hearkened unto thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The woman came over to Saul and saw that he was terrified. "I listened to you," she told him, "and I took my life in my hands when I did what you told me to do.

Good News Translation
The woman went over to him and saw that he was terrified, so she said to him, "Please, sir, I risked my life by doing what you asked.

International Standard Version
Then the woman came to Saul and saw that he was very disturbed. She told him, "Look, your servant obeyed you. I put my life into your hands, and I listened to your words that you spoke to me.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore affrighted, and said unto him: 'Behold, thy handmaid hath hearkened unto thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spokest unto me.

Literal Standard Version
And the woman comes to Saul, and sees that he has been greatly troubled, and says to him, “Behold, your maidservant has listened to your voice, and I put my soul in my hand, and I obey your words which you have spoken to me;

Majority Standard Bible
When the woman came to Saul and saw how distraught he was, she said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice. I took my life in my hands and did as you told me.

New American Bible
Then the woman came to Saul and, seeing that he was quite terror-stricken, said to him: “Remember, your maidservant obeyed you: I took my life in my hands and carried out the request you made of me.

NET Bible
When the woman came to Saul and saw how terrified he was, she said to him, "Your servant has done what you asked. I took my life into my own hands and did what you told me.

New Revised Standard Version
The woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, “Your servant has listened to you; I have taken my life in my hand, and have listened to what you have said to me.

New Heart English Bible
The woman came to Saul, and saw that he was very troubled, and said to him, "Look, your handmaid has listened to your voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was greatly troubled, and said to him, Behold, thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened to thy words, which thou didst speak

World English Bible
The woman came to Saul and saw that he was very troubled, and said to him, “Behold, your servant has listened to your voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.

Young's Literal Translation
And the woman cometh in unto Saul, and seeth that he hath been greatly troubled, and saith unto him, 'Lo, thy maid-servant hath hearkened to thy voice, and I put my soul in my hand, and I obey thy words which thou hast spoken unto me;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Saul and the Medium of Endor
20Immediately Saul fell flat on the ground, terrified by the words of Samuel. And his strength was gone, because he had not eaten anything all that day and night. 21When the woman came to Saul and saw how distraught he was, she said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice. I took my life in my hands and did as you told me. 22Now please listen to your servant and let me set a morsel of bread before you so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way.”…

Cross References
Judges 12:3
When I saw that you would not save me, I risked my life and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come today to fight against me?"

1 Samuel 19:5
He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?"

1 Samuel 28:20
Immediately Saul fell flat on the ground, terrified by the words of Samuel. And his strength was gone, because he had not eaten anything all that day and night.

1 Samuel 28:22
Now please listen to your servant and let me set a morsel of bread before you so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way."

Job 13:14
Why do I put myself at risk and take my life in my own hands?


Treasury of Scripture

And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said to him, Behold, your handmaid has obeyed your voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.

I have put

1 Samuel 19:5
For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?

Judges 12:3
And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?

Job 13:14
Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?

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Affrighted Hand Handmaid Hearkened Life Maidservant Obeyed Saul Shaken Sore Spakest Speak Spokest Terrified Troubled Voice Words
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Affrighted Hand Handmaid Hearkened Life Maidservant Obeyed Saul Shaken Sore Spakest Speak Spokest Terrified Troubled Voice Words
1 Samuel 28
1. Achish puts confidence in David
3. Saul having destroyed the witches
4. and now in his fear forsaken of God
7. has recourse to a witch
8. who, encouraged by Saul, raises up Samuel
15. Saul hearing his ruin, faints
21. The woman and his servants refresh him with meat














(21) And the woman.--The story is completed in these few concluding verses (1Samuel 28:21-25) in a most natural and unaffected style. The witch, though a grievous sinner, is struck with a woman's pity for the stricken king, and with kind words and still kinder acts does her best to recover him from the death-like swoon into which the hapless Saul had fallen. Her whole behaviour contradicts the supposition that she was moved by a bitter hatred against Saul (see Excursus L at end of this Book) to desire the appearance of Samuel, and to imitate his voice by means of ventriloquism. Firstly, she was herself terrified at the apparition; and secondly, she was saddened by the effect of the dead seer's words on the king, and did her poor best to restore him to composure and strength again. We read in the next verse how the woman, with Saul's servants, used even a gentle compulsion to induce the king to take the nourishment he was so sorely in need of.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
When the woman
הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ (hā·’iš·šāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

came
וַתָּב֤וֹא (wat·tā·ḇō·w)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

Saul
שָׁא֔וּל (šā·’ūl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 7586: Saul -- first king of Israel, also an Edomite and two Israelites

and saw
וַתֵּ֖רֶא (wat·tê·re)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 7200: To see

how
כִּי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

distraught he was,
נִבְהַ֣ל (niḇ·hal)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 926: To tremble inwardly, be, alarmed, agitated, to hasten anxiously

she said
וַתֹּ֣אמֶר (wat·tō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to him,
אֵלָ֗יו (’ê·lāw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

“Look,
הִנֵּ֨ה (hin·nêh)
Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

your maidservant
שִׁפְחָֽתְךָ֙ (šip̄·ḥā·ṯə·ḵā)
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 8198: Maid, maidservant

has obeyed
שָׁמְעָ֤ה (šā·mə·‘āh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

your voice.
בְּקוֹלֶ֔ךָ (bə·qō·w·le·ḵā)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6963: A voice, sound

I took
וָאָשִׂ֤ים (wā·’ā·śîm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7760: Put -- to put, place, set

my life
נַפְשִׁי֙ (nap̄·šî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 5315: A soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion

in my hands
בְּכַפִּ֔י (bə·ḵap·pî)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 3709: Hollow or flat of the hand, palm, sole (of the foot), a pan

and did
וָֽאֶשְׁמַע֙ (wā·’eš·ma‘)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

as
אֲשֶׁ֥ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

you told
דִּבַּ֖רְתָּ (dib·bar·tā)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 1696: To arrange, to speak, to subdue

me.
אֵלָֽי׃ (’ê·lāy)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to


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OT History: 1 Samuel 28:21 The woman came to Saul and saw (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 28:20
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