The Legend of the Witch of Endor

The tale of the Witch of Endor is one of the odder stories recorded in the bible. In the tale, Israel was under threat from marauding Philistine invaders. The king, Saul, sought advice from lots of different channels to God, but without answer. Eventually, he went against the word of God, the law, and his own personal history as a savage witch-hunter, and asked his servants to find him a seer who had managed to survive his earlier purges. His servants directed him to the Witch of Endor.

To try to escape punishment, Saul put on a disguise, and visited the Witch. Unsurprisingly, she wasn’t exactly keen, pointing out that he himself had declared the actions he was asking for to be punishable by death. Saul finally managed to convince her, and asked her to bring the spirit of the prophet Samuel out of heaven to speak to him.

"The Spirit of Samuel Appearing to Saul at the House of the Witch of Endor" by Salvator Rosa, 1668

Samuel appeared, to the Witch’s surprise, and Saul begged him for answers. Samuel was furious at being bothered, and told Saul that God was now his enemy. Saul’s big transgression? Failing to be wrathful and vengeful enough when battling the Amalekites. The upshot was that God had decided Israel would go to David, and Saul, his children and most of his armies were going to be slaughtered the next day.

Saul collapsed in horror, and the Witch then took the time to tend him back to some degree of self-possession, and made sure he had a nice meal to help boost his strength. The next day, of course, Samuel’s prophecies came true.

The story raises a number of issues. Why was God so thoroughly brutal because his servant wasn’t vicious enough? How did a witch – who, we’re told, has no powers save those of the devil – conjure a spirit of a prophet out of heaven against his will? If God had declared himself Saul’s enemy, aren’t there more direct ways to get rid of him and give Israel to David – ones that don’t involve the death of thousands of uninvolved soldiers? Theologians have wrangled over the implications for centuries.

It’s a strange tale.