1 Samuel 28:12

Modern

But when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out in a loud voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”

Traditional

And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

Literal

And the woman saw Samuel, and she cried out in a loud voice, and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul.”

Latin

Cum autem vidisset mulier Samuelem, exclamavit voce magna, et dixit ad Saul: Quare imposuisti mihi? tu es enim Saul.

Hebrew

English

But when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out in a loud voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”

We do not know why seeing Samuel caused this woman to recognize Saul.

Saul consulted the dead, a practice forbidden by God’s law (see Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:9–11).

Theme notes and profiles

1 Samuel 28:3
Now by this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.
1 Kings 14:5
But the LORD had said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill. You are to say such and such to her, because when she arrives, she will be disguised.”

Samuel: Prophet and last judge of Israel before the kings Saul: First king of Israel, anointed by Samuel