The Meaning of 1 Samuel 28:7 Explained

1 Samuel 28:7

KJV: Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.

YLT: And Saul saith to his servants, 'Seek for me a woman possessing a familiar spirit, and I go unto her, and inquire of her;' and his servants say unto him, 'Lo, a woman possessing a familiar spirit in En-dor.'

Darby: Then said Saul to his servants, Seek me a woman that has a spirit of Python, that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman who has a spirit of Python at En-dor.

ASV: Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then said  Saul  unto his servants,  Seek  me a woman  that hath  a familiar spirit,  that I may go  to her, and enquire  of her. And his servants  said  to him, Behold, [there is] a woman  that hath  a familiar spirit  at Endor. 

What does 1 Samuel 28:7 Mean?

Context Summary

1 Samuel 28:1-14 - Resorting To A Familiar Spirit
This chapter records the climax to which Saul's sins led, and which sealed his fate. See 1 Chronicles 10:13-14. He went back to that which he had put away and sought counsel of a familiar spirit, 2 Peter 2:20-22.
The soul cannot live apart from the unseen world. It is its native element. Divorce it from God, and it will fill the empty space with demons. When the king could get no answer to his questions by the usual means, he sent his servants, in desperation, to seek for a medium. Had he been right with God, there would have been no need for this. It is the decay of the old religious spirit that nowadays gives occasion for the rise of crystal-gazing, palmistry and spirit-rapping. What a tragedy was presented that night in the witch's hut, and how terrible must have been Saul's long tramp to and fro, between his own encampment and Endor, which lay in the rear of the Philistine host! It is an evil thing and a bitter to forsake the fountain of living waters, and hew out "broken cisterns that can hold no water," Jeremiah 2:13; Jeremiah 2:19. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Samuel 28

1  Achish puts confidence in David
3  Saul having destroyed the witches
4  and now in his fear forsaken of God
7  has recourse to a witch
8  who, encouraged by Saul, raises up Samuel
15  Saul hearing his ruin, faints
21  The woman and his servants refresh him with meat

What do the individual words in 1 Samuel 28:7 mean?

And said Saul to his servants Find me a woman who is a medium that I may go to her and inquire of her and said his servants to him in fact [there is] who is a medium at En Dor
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר שָׁא֜וּל לַעֲבָדָ֗יו בַּקְּשׁוּ־ לִי֙ אֵ֣שֶׁת בַּעֲלַת־ א֔וֹב וְאֵלְכָ֥ה אֵלֶ֖יהָ וְאֶדְרְשָׁה־ בָּ֑הּ וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ עֲבָדָיו֙ אֵלָ֔יו הִנֵּ֛ה בַּֽעֲלַת־ א֖וֹב בְּעֵ֥ין דּֽוֹר

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר  And  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
שָׁא֜וּל  Saul 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שָׁאוּל  
Sense: a Benjamite, son of Kish, and the st king of Israel.
לַעֲבָדָ֗יו  to  his  servants 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: עֶבֶד  
Sense: slave, servant.
בַּקְּשׁוּ־  Find 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: בָּקַשׁ  
Sense: to seek, require, desire, exact, request.
לִי֙  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
אֵ֣שֶׁת  a  woman 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
בַּעֲלַת־  who  is 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: בַּעֲלָה  
Sense: mistress, female owner.
א֔וֹב  a  medium 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֹוב 
Sense: water skin bottle.
וְאֵלְכָ֥ה  that  I  may  go 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
אֵלֶ֖יהָ  to  her 
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
וְאֶדְרְשָׁה־  and  inquire 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: דַּרְיׄושׁ 
Sense: to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require.
בָּ֑הּ  of  her 
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular
וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ  and  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
עֲבָדָיו֙  his  servants 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: עֶבֶד  
Sense: slave, servant.
אֵלָ֔יו  to  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
הִנֵּ֛ה  in  fact  [there  is] 
Parse: Interjection
Root: הִנֵּה  
Sense: behold, lo, see, if.
בַּֽעֲלַת־  who  is 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: בַּעֲלָה  
Sense: mistress, female owner.
א֖וֹב  a  medium 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֹוב 
Sense: water skin bottle.
בְּעֵ֥ין  at 
Parse: Preposition
דּֽוֹר  En  Dor 
Parse: Preposition, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: עֵין־דֹּאר  
Sense: a place in the territory of Issachar yet possessed by Manasseh; located 4 miles (6.5 km) north of Tabor.