When the woman performs her rites and chants her incantations, Samuel’s ghost appears. Upon seeing this apparition of the prophet, the woman is terrified: “Then the woman recognized Samuel, and she shrieked loudly, and said to Saul, ‘Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!’”(I Sam. 28:12). The Rabbis ask: How did this woman suddenly realize that the man sitting before her was Saul? They answer that when a commoner seeks to raise a ghost, the spirit rises upside down, with his head below and his feet above; but when a king requests the same thing, the spirit emerges with his head up and his feet down below. Since Samuel appeared right side up, the woman realized that the man sitting before her was none other than King Saul.
The monarch asks the woman what she sees, and she tells him: “I see a divine being [elohim] coming up from the earth” (v. 13). The Rabbis deduced from the plural “elohim” that Samuel did not emerge alone, but together with many elders (Lev. Rabbah26:7). According to another midrashic tradition, the least plural is two, and Moses rose together with Samuel (Tanhuma[ed. Buber],Emor4).
Yet another tradition goes so far as to claim that all the dead came up together with Samuel; when they saw Samuel materialize, they thought that the Resurrection of the Dead had come (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, [ed. Higger], chap. 32). The Rabbis ask why Saul questioned the necromancer as to Samuel’s appearance: did he not recognize the prophet when he arose? They answer that three things were said about the raising of a spirit: the one who raises him, sees the ghost but does not hear his voice; the one who needs him, hears his voice, but does not see him; and the one who does not need him, neither hears nor sees the spirit. Accordingly, the necromancer saw Samuel, but did not hear his voice, while Saul, who requested him, heard Samuel’s voice, but could not see him; and the king’s two courtiers, Abner and Amasa, did not need Samuel, and therefore neither heard his voice nor saw him.
The woman described Samuel to Saul (verse 14): “It is an old man coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” This robe, according to the Rabbis, was the one prepared byHannahfor her son Samuel when she brought him to the Tabernacle at Shiloh, which accompanied him his entire life: he grew up with this robe, he was buried in it and he wore it when his spirit was brought up. The Rabbis infer from this that a person will arise at the Resurrection of the Dead in the same clothing in which he was buried(Tanhuma,Emor2).
Verse 15 states that when Samuel appeared, he asked Saul: “Why have you disturbed me and brought me up?” from which the Rabbis learned that Samuel feared that this was the Day of Judgment; and if Samuel, the doyen of the prophets, was apprehensive of this day, how much more so should other people dread the Day of Judgment. In reply to Samuel’s question, Saul states that the Lord had not answered him through other prophets or in dreams. This prompts the question by the Rabbis, why Saul did not tell him that he had also consulted the Urim and Thummim. Saul, however, did not want to mention the subject of the Urim and Thummim, for fear this would remind Samuel of the king’s sin of the massacre of the priestly city of Nob (since the Urim and Thummim were worn by the High Priest).
Samuel prophesies to the king in verse 17 that the kingship will be torn from Saul’s hands, and the Lord “has given it to your fellow, David.” The Rabbis closely compare this with Samuel’s announcement to Saul of the loss of his throne, made during the prophet’s lifetime, in which the king’s successor is not named. Now, when Saul raised Samuel’s spirit, the latter reveals to him that David is to replace him (cf.I Sam. 15:28with 26:17). Samuel tells Saul: When I was in the world of falsehood, I feared that you would kill me, so I spoke falsely to you. Now that I am in the world of truth, I am not in awe of you, and so you hear the truth from me.
FAQs
Necromancer of Endor: Midrash and Aggadah
What is Midrash and Aggadah? ›
Midrash (Hebrew: מדרש) is ancient rabbinic interpretation of scripture. Aggadah (Hebrew: אגדה) is rabbinic narrative. The two terms are, however, often used interchangeably to refer to those many aspects of rabbinic literature that are not related to Jewish behavior or law (Hebrew: הלכה).
What is a necromancer according to the Bible? ›
( Deuteronomy 15:11 ), i.e., "one who interrogates the dead," as the word literally means, with the view of discovering the secrets of futurity (Compare 1 Samuel 28:7 ). (See DIVINATION .)
Did Saul practice necromancy? ›
By making use of a ghost pit, Saul was not only disobeying God about practicing occult necromancy, but he was also dabbling in the polytheistic religion of his pagan enemies the Philistines.
Who used necromancy in the Bible? ›
The best known case of necromancy in the Bible is the evocation of the soul of Samuel at Endor (1 Samuel 28). King Saul was at war with the Philistines, whose army had gathered near that of Israel.
What is the difference between the Bible and the Midrash? ›
Midrash is certainly a sub-genre of rabbinic literature; the difference between some Bible commentaries and midrash is in the spatial arrangement. Commentary is line-by-line, whereas midrash 'weaves' its exegesis of single biblical lemmata into coherent statements.
What does the Hebrew word aggadah mean? ›
AGGADAH or HAGGADAH (Heb. הַגָּדָה, אַגָּדָה; "narrative"), one of the two primary components of rabbinic tradition, the other being halakhah, usually translated as "Jewish Law" (see: Kadushin , The Rabbinic Mind, 59f.).
Why is necromancy forbidden? ›
Early and High Middle Age. Many medieval writers believed that actual resurrection required the assistance of God. They saw the practice of necromancy as conjuring demons who took the appearance of spirits. The practice became known explicitly as maleficium, and the Catholic Church condemned it.
What is the purpose of a necromancer? ›
a person who uses witchcraft or sorcery, especially to reanimate dead people or to foretell the future by communicating with them: In the story, the boy is killed by a serial killer and then revived as a zombie by a necromancer.
Is necromancy considered evil? ›
When it comes to DnD though? Older ones it's highly forbidden and looked down upon and newer editions it's still considered evil but not that big of a deal in comparison. Depends on place and usage.
Who Was the Witch of Endor? The witch of En-Dor and her encounter with King Saul is located in 1 Samuel 28:3-25. The narrative serves as a sad and interesting account of Saul's desperate attempt to have God's help and His will revealed to him. The witch is not named, but she was a practicing sorceress.
Where is Endor in the Bible today? ›
The location of the ancient site of Endor is widely debated and many locations have been suggested. From the biblical accounts, an Endor that is located on the south edge of the Jezreel Valley seems to fit best.
What God is associated with necromancy? ›
But the gods directly associated with necromancy and undead in the Forgotten Realms, Velsharoon and Myrkul, are both Neutral Evil.
Which Bible verse talks about necromancy? ›
In the Bible, necromancy is also called “divination,” “sorcery” and “spiritism” and is forbidden many times in Scripture (Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:10; Galatians 5:19-20; Acts 19:19) as an abomination to God. It is something that the Lord speaks very strongly against and is to be avoided as much as any evil.
Who was the first witch in Bible? ›
It's unclear exactly when witches came on the historical scene, but one of the earliest records of a witch is in the Bible in the book of 1 Samuel, thought be written between 931 B.C. and 721 B.C. It tells the story of when King Saul sought the Witch of Endor to summon the dead prophet Samuel's spirit to help him ...
Is resurrection a form of necromancy? ›
Necromancy refers to the ability to control the bodies and/or souls of the deceased. This is most frequently depicted as being able to resurrect the dead to varying to degrees, from shambling corpses to conscious zombies to even complete Resurrection.
What is the midrash in simple terms? ›
The term Midrash (“exposition” or “investigation”; plural, Midrashim) is also used in two senses. On the one hand, it refers to a mode of biblical interpretation prominent in the Talmudic literature; on the other, it refers to a separate body of commentaries on Scripture using this interpretative mode.
What is aggadah translation? ›
Aggadah (Hebrew: אַגָּדָה ʾAggāḏā or הַגָּדָה Haggāḏā; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly the Talmud and Midrash.
What are the two types of midrash? ›
Midrash can be divided into two types: there is midrash halacha, which offers hypothetical scenarios through which a Jewish law could be applied so as to test its limits and ensure its durability and fairness; and there is midrash aggadah, which is a mode of analysis called exegesis that offers critical narrative ...
Who was the daughter of Pharaoh midrash and aggadah? ›
The Daughter of Pharaoh Is Bithiah
The midrash calls the daughter of Pharaoh “Bithiah,” identifying her with the woman mentioned in I Chron 4:18: “And his Judahite wife bore Jered father of Gedor, Heber father of Soco, and Jekuthiel father of Zanoah.
