Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And the woman came unto Saul,.... Having left him and the apparition in a room by themselves to converse together, and perhaps on hearing him fall to the ground came in:

and saw that he was sore troubled: by his lying on the ground, and the agonies he seemed to be in, and the uneasiness that sat upon his countenance:

and said unto him, behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice; in divining by her familiar spirit for him, and in bringing up Samuel to him, as he desired:

and I have put my life in my hand; exposed it to the utmost danger, since a person of her profession, and token in the exercise of it, was punishable with death; and especially she was in the greater danger, as it was Saul himself, who had by an edict expelled all such persons from his dominions, who now employed her, as she perceived:

and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me: to the oath he had taken, that no hurt should come to her, which she confided in, and relied upon, and to what he bid her do, according to her art of divination.

Geneva Study Bible

(k) I have ventured my life.

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.

Came to Saul — From whom she departed, when she had brought him and Samuel together, that they might more freely converse together.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

1 Samuel 28:21 And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.

Ver. 21. And the woman came unto Saul.] Though she were a wicked woman, yet she was not without pity and humanity, as some savages are.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

The woman came unto Saul; from whom she departed, when she had brought him and Samuel together, that they might more freely converse together, as being alone.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

21. The woman came unto Saul — During the interview she had been standing at a distance from him, not out of sight, or in an adjoining room, as some have supposed, but a little removed from the king’s presence, so as to be less liable to detection in her arts.

Saw that he was sore troubled — Saw how completely her oracles had overwhelmed him with terror and excitement.

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Hand, in the most imminent danger. See Judges xii. 3.

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.

And the woman came unto Saul. During the performance of the necromantic scene she had occupied a place in the farthest recess of the cave, and then when it was done, drew near to Saul.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(21) And the woman.—The story is completed in these few concluding verses (1 Samuel 28:21-25) in a most natural and unaffected style. The witch, though a grievous sinner, is struck with a woman’s pity for the stricken king, and with kind words and still kinder acts does her best to recover him from the death-like swoon into which the hapless Saul had fallen. Her whole behaviour contradicts the supposition that she was moved by a bitter hatred against Saul (see Excursus L at end of this Book) to desire the appearance of Samuel, and to imitate his voice by means of ventriloquism. Firstly, she was herself terrified at the apparition; and secondly, she was saddened by the effect of the dead seer’s words on the king, and did her poor best to restore him to composure and strength again. We read in the next verse how the woman, with Saul’s servants, used even a gentle compulsion to induce the king to take the nourishment he was so sorely in need of.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

I have put

19:5; Judges 12:3; Job 13:14