What is the meaning of 1 Samuel 28:9? But the woman replied She pushes back immediately, revealing both caution and conscience. Saul arrives in disguise (1 Samuel 28:8), asking her to summon Samuel. Her first instinct is to challenge the request. • Contrast her hesitation with Balaam’s first refusal to curse Israel (Numbers 22:12–13). • Proverbs 14:16 says, “A wise man is cautious and turns from evil,” showing that even a medium can sense danger when sin collides with authority. Surely you know what Saul has done She assumes her customer understands the political and spiritual climate. Saul had publicly expelled occult practices in obedience—at least outwardly—to the Law (Deuteronomy 18:10–12). • 1 Samuel 15:24 shows Saul’s tendency to act for appearances; his ban on sorcery was part of that pattern. • 2 Kings 23:24 records Josiah’s later reform that echoes Saul’s earlier purge, indicating ongoing recognition of God’s prohibition. How he has killed the mediums and spiritists in the land Her statement underscores the seriousness of the ban: capital punishment. • Leviticus 20:27 commands, “A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist must surely be put to death.” Saul enforced this—at least selectively—earlier in his reign. • 1 Chronicles 10:13 explains Saul’s eventual death came “because he was unfaithful to the LORD… and consulted a medium,” highlighting the irony that he now seeks what he once destroyed. Why have you set a trap to get me killed? She suspects entrapment; Saul’s request violates his own edict. • In Judges 16:5, the Philistine lords set a trap for Samson through Delilah—an example of using intimacy to betray. • Psalm 142:3 speaks of snares laid on the path; here, the medium senses one directly threatening her life. Her fear is rational: obedience to Saul’s order could cost her life under Saul’s law. summary 1 Samuel 28:9 shows a wary medium reminding a disguised Saul of his own anti-occult decree and the fatal penalty attached. Her protest highlights Saul’s hypocrisy: he once enforced God’s ban on witchcraft but now seeks forbidden guidance, revealing his spiritual desperation and departure from earlier obedience. |
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