What is the meaning of 1 Samuel 28:10?

Then Saul swore to her

• Saul’s oath shows the desperation driving him to violate his own decree against mediums (1 Samuel 28:3).

• An oath signals finality and commitment (Numbers 30:2; Matthew 5:33).

• His words expose a tragic contrast: the king who once drove out occult practices now seeks them.

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by the LORD

• Saul invokes the divine name to lend weight and credibility, even while disobeying God’s clear law against witchcraft (Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:10–12).

• Using God’s name for sinful ends underscores how far Saul’s discernment has drifted (Exodus 20:7).

• The invocation reminds us that God’s name is sacred; misusing it invites judgment (Jeremiah 23:32).

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As surely as the LORD lives

• This common oath formula (Ruth 3:13; 2 Kings 2:2) calls on God’s living reality as the guarantee of truth.

• Irony saturates the scene: Saul affirms God is alive while acting as if God were silent or absent.

• It highlights Saul’s confusion—he recognizes God’s life yet refuses God’s lordship.

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no punishment shall come upon you

• Saul promises protection, essentially granting immunity from the very penalty he had legislated (1 Samuel 28:9).

• His pledge ignores divine justice: God—not Saul—determines consequences for sin (Romans 6:23).

• The woman’s temporary safety rests on Saul’s wavering word, not on God’s enduring truth (Proverbs 29:25).

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for this

• “This” refers to her conjuring the dead—an act expressly forbidden (Isaiah 8:19).

• Saul minimizes the seriousness of the sin, placing personal need above God’s law.

• The phrase exposes the transactional nature of Saul’s religion: obey when convenient, bypass when desperate (1 Samuel 15:24).

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summary

Saul, once God’s chosen king, now swears an illicit oath to a medium, invoking the LORD’s name to shield disobedience. Each phrase reveals a layer of compromise: appealing to God while defying Him, promising safety in direct contradiction to divine law, and treating the living God as a tool for personal relief. 1 Samuel 28:10 stands as a sobering reminder that invoking God’s authority without submission leads to spiritual peril, whereas true faith seeks His will over self-preservation.