Saul and the Witch of En-dor Raise the Prophet Samuel

"And a man or a woman in whom there is a ghost or a familiar spirit" (Leviticus 20:27). What is written after it? "Speak to the priests" (Leviticus 21:1). What is the connection of this matter to that one? Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that Saul was destined to reign over Israel, and to kill the priests, and to inquire of a ghost and familiar spirits, as it is said, "And Saul said to his servants: Seek out for me a woman who is a mistress of a ghost" (I Samuel 28:7). Resh Lakish said: To what is Saul comparable? To a king who entered a province and said: Let all the roosters in this province be slaughtered tonight. He sought to depart on his way; he said: Is there no rooster here to crow? They said to him: Did you not yourself command to slaughter them? So too here, Saul "had removed the ghosts and the familiar spirits" (ibid. 28:3), and yet he said: "Seek out for me a woman who is a mistress of a ghost." "And Saul disguised himself" (ibid. 28:8). What is "disguised himself" (vayyithapes)? That he was made free (hofshi) of the kingship. "And he went, he and two men with him" (ibid.). Who were they? Abner and Amasai. The Torah taught proper conduct, that a person should not go out on the way alone; and so did Abraham our father do: "And he took his two lads with him and Isaac his son" (Genesis 22:3); and so, "And he went, he and his two lads with him" (I Samuel 28:8). "And they came to the woman by night" (ibid.). And was it night? Rather, at that hour it was for them dark as night. "And he said: Divine for me, please, by a ghost" (ibid.). "And the woman said to him: Behold, you know what Saul has done, that he has cut off the ghosts and the familiar spirit" (ibid. 28:9). Immediately, "And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord lives, no punishment shall befall you in this matter" (ibid. 28:10). Resh Lakish said: To what is Saul comparable? To a woman who was set beside her lover, and swore by the life of her husband. "And the woman said: Whom (mi) shall I bring up for you?" (ibid. 28:11) — from those who say "Who (mi) is like You" (Exodus 15:11), or from those who say "Who (mi) is the Lord" (Exodus 5:2). He said to her: "Bring up Samuel for me" (I Samuel 28:11). She did what she did and brought him up. "And the woman saw Samuel and cried out with a loud voice, and the woman said to Saul: Why have you deceived me, for you are Saul?" (ibid. 28:12). From where did she know? Our Rabbis said: It does not come up for a king as it comes up for a commoner: for a king its face is upward and its feet downward, like the way of all people; but for a commoner its feet are upward and its face downward. "And the king said to her: Do not fear; for what did you see? And the woman said to Saul: I saw a god coming up from the earth" (ibid. 28:13). "Coming up" — two; and who were they? Moses and Samuel. When Saul heard this, he was afraid, for he had called one and two arose. "And he said to her: What is his form? And she said: An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe" (ibid. 28:14, 12). Three things they said concerning one who brings up the ghost: the one who brings it up sees it but does not hear its voice; the one who inquires of it hears its voice but does not see it; those who stand there neither see it nor hear its voice. "An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe," and elsewhere it says, "And his mother would make him a little robe" (I Samuel 2:19). It was taught: In it he grew up, in it he was buried, in it he came up. It was taught in the name of Rabbi Nathan: A garment that goes down with a person to burial — in it he is destined to come up at the resurrection of the dead, as it is said, "It is changed like clay under a seal, and they stand forth as in a garment" (Job 38:14). "And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed his face to the ground and prostrated himself. And Samuel said to Saul: Why have you disturbed me, to bring me up?" (I Samuel 28:14-15). You had no one to disturb your Creator with except me, in that you made me into an idol. Did we not learn thus: Just as one exacts punishment from the worshipper, so one exacts punishment from the worshipped? And some say: "Why have you disturbed me" — that he said to him: I was disturbed, lest it be the Day of Judgment, and I was afraid. And here is a matter of a fortiori reasoning: if Samuel, the master of all the prophets, was afraid of the Day of Judgment, the rest of humankind all the more so. "And Saul said: I am greatly distressed... and He answers me no more, neither by the prophets nor by dreams" (ibid. 28:15). Why did he not say to him, "by the Urim and Thummim"? Rabbi Isaac said: "The heart knows its own bitterness" (Proverbs 14:10) — because he had killed Nob, the city of the priests. "And the Lord has done to you as He spoke through me, and the Lord has torn the kingship from your hand and given it to your fellow, to David" (I Samuel 28:17). He said to him: When you were with us, you said to me, "and He has given it to your fellow who is better than you" (I Samuel 15:28), and now you say "to your fellow, to David." He said to him: When I was with you I was in the world of falsehood, and I would tell you words of falsehood, for I was afraid of you, lest you kill me; but I now, in the world of truth, you shall hear from me only words of truth. And not for nothing did He do this thing to you, "because you did not hearken to the voice of the Lord and did not carry out His fierce wrath against Amalek" (ibid. 28:18). "And the Lord will give also Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons are with me" (ibid. 28:19) — "with me," within my partition. When he heard this, "And Saul hastened and fell his full height to the ground, and he was greatly afraid of the words of Samuel" (ibid. 28:20). Abner and Amasa said to him: What did Samuel say to you? He said to them: He said to me: Tomorrow you go down to battle and are victorious, and your sons are appointed officers. Resh Lakish said: At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, called the ministering angels. He said to them: Come and see a creature that I created in My world. As is the way of the world, a person goes to a feast house and does not bring his sons with him, because of the evil eye; but this one, who goes down to war and knows that he will be killed, takes his sons with him, and rejoices over the measure of justice that strikes him. Rabbi Joshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moses each generation and its expositors, each generation and its judges, each generation and its kings; and He showed him Saul and his sons falling by the sword. He said before Him: Master of the World, the first king who arises over Your children shall be pierced by the sword? He said to him: Moses, to Me you say it? Say it to the priests whom he killed, for they accuse him. Our Rabbis taught: For five sins that righteous man was killed, as it is said, "And Saul died for his trespass that he trespassed against the Lord" (I Chronicles 10:13).