Endor

Biblical Text

Endor appears three times in the Old Testament.

• Joshua 17:11 Endor is listed among the towns that the tribe of Manasseh held within the territories of Issachar and Asher. The following verse (17:12) records that the descendants of Manasseh could not drive out the Canaanite inhabitants of these towns.
• 1 Samuel 28:7 Endor is best known for this episode. The Philistines encamped at Shunem, and Saul encamped at Gilboa (28:4). When God answered him "neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets" (28:6), Saul sought out "a woman that hath a familiar spirit" at Endor. A person with a familiar spirit was one believed to communicate with the spirits of the dead. Saul went to her by night in disguise and had her bring up the deceased Samuel. Samuel appeared and announced that Saul and his sons would die the next day and that Israel would be defeated. This was fulfilled in the battle of Gilboa recounted in chapter 31.
• Psalm 83:10 The psalm speaks of the armies of Sisera and Jabin, "which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth." The battle in view appears to be the one at the river Kishon in Judges 4–5, although the name Endor does not appear in the Judges account.

Background

Endor is thought to have been located east of the Jezreel Valley, on the northern slope of the Hill of Moreh. It lay close to Mount Tabor, while Shunem, where the Philistines encamped, lay on the opposite slope of the Hill of Moreh. For this reason, many interpreters hold that Saul made a dangerous journey that took him near the enemy camp. Scholars differ on the town's exact location.

The first element of the name, "En," is generally taken to be the Hebrew word for "spring." The meaning of the name as a whole is uncertain.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The Law forbids seeking out those who have familiar spirits and wizards (Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:10-12). Saul himself had earlier put such people out of the land (1 Samuel 28:3). First Chronicles 10:13-14 cites as a reason for Saul's death that he inquired of one who had a familiar spirit rather than inquiring of the LORD.

Endor does not appear in the New Testament. The New Testament, however, likewise lists witchcraft among the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:20).

Interpretation and Debate

The oldest question of interpretation is whether the figure who appeared before the woman was truly Samuel.

• The view that it was Samuel himself: Proponents note that the text consistently calls him "Samuel" and that his prophecy was fulfilled exactly. They take the woman's great alarm (28:12) as a sign that something she had not expected had occurred. Sirach 46:20, which the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church accept as canonical, also states that Samuel prophesied to the king after his death.
• The view that it was an evil spirit in disguise: Proponents hold that a departed saint could not answer the summons of a medium. Among the Reformers, Martin Luther and John Calvin are said to have regarded the apparition as an illusion produced by Satan.
• The view that it was a deception by the woman has also been proposed.

The woman is popularly known as "the Witch of Endor" and is often pictured as an old hag. The text, however, gives neither her name nor her appearance. Instead, it records that she killed a calf and fed the exhausted Saul (28:24-25).

In the Korean Church

In preaching, the passage is frequently presented as the story of Saul, cut off from any answer from God, turning to a forbidden path. It is also often cited as a warning against fortune-telling and shamanism.