Symposium on the Encounter Between Saul and the Medium of Endor: Introduction

Abstract

Symposium on the Encounter Between Saul and the Medium of Endor: Introduction Hilary Lipka The encounter between Saul and the medium of Endor in 1 Samuel 28:4-24 plays a pivotal role in the Saul-David cycle. Saul, desperate for divine guidance before an immanent battle with the Philistines, fails to receive a response from God through any of the traditional, sanctioned means. Lacking any other options, he conceals his identity and goes out under the cover of night to seek an who can summon the spirit of Samuel for him (ironically just after he had expelled all and from the land). What follows is the one account in the Hebrew Bible of an exchange between the living and the dead. Samuel is summoned, and after rebuking Saul for disturbing him, he reveals the terrible truth about what is going to happen in the coming battle. Saul, already weakened from fasting and now bereft of all hope, collapses in despair. The episode concludes with the woman persuading Saul to eat, giving him the strength to return to camp, resigned to the fate that awaits him and his sons the next day. This episode touches upon several broader themes within the Hebrew Bible, including ancient Israelite conceptions of the afterlife, the contrast between licit and illicit methods of divination, the consequences of divine disfavor, and the complex dynamic that often existed between kings and prophets. The first two contributions to this symposium focus on some of these themes. Shaul Bar looks into the meanings of the terms and , how this mode of communication was understood in the Hebrew Bible, and what this episode reveals about beliefs concerning the afterlife and resurrection of the dead in the biblical period. Joseph Scales and Ellena Lyell focus on the description of the appearance of the spirit of Samuel. They identify four key elements of this description, each of which they contend is not only integral [End Page 95] to the identification of the spirit as Samuel's, but also serves to draw a contrast between Samuel and Saul, critiquing, condemning, and foreshadowing the fate of the latter. This encounter has also inspired much in the way of literature, art, theatrical pieces, music compositions, and even philosophical treatises. Shatha Almutawa examines the reception of this narrative within medieval Arabic literature, with a focus on the tenth-century Neoplatonist Iraqi thinkers known as Ikhwān al-Ṣafā' (the Brethren of Purity), who incorporate the story of Saul and the medium of Endor into their epistle on magic. Alinda Damsma discusses the role the narrative plays in demonologists' treatises on witchcraft in the late medieval and early modern period, focusing on King James VI of Scotland's Daemonologie and how earlier traditions of representing the encounter in Renaissance art and literature influenced this work. Rachel Ofer considers ways in which the medium of Endor is depicted in modern Hebrew literature. She approaches the poems, stories, and books she discusses as modern midrash, sometimes creatively filling in details absent from the biblical account, and other times providing psychological insight into one or more of the characters or using the story as a springboard to provide insights that transcend the biblical narrative. These essays approach the encounter between Saul and the medium of Endor from a variety of perspectives, and each illuminates different facets of the text. Some help us understand how this text was understood in its original context, and others give us a glimpse into the myriad of ways this story has been interpreted in different times and places. As a group, they reveal how widely knowledge of this episode has circulated and how broad, enduring, and varied its influence has been. [End Page 96] Hilary Lipka University of New Mexico Copyright © 2021 National Association of Professors of Hebrew