1 Samuel 28:13
◄  1 Samuel 28:13  ►
New International Version (©2011)
The king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?" The woman said, "I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth."

New Living Translation (©2007)
"Don't be afraid!" the king told her. "What do you see?" "I see a god coming up out of the earth," she said.

English Standard Version (©2001)
The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.”

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
The king said to her, "Do not be afraid; but what do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a divine being coming up out of the earth."

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
But the king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?" "I see a spirit form coming up out of the earth," the woman answered.

International Standard Version (©2012)
The king told her, "Don't be afraid; but what do you see?" The woman told Saul, "I see a divine being coming up out of the ground."

NET Bible (©2006)
The king said to her, "Don't be afraid! What have you seen?" The woman replied to Saul, "I have seen one like a god coming up from the ground!"

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
"Don't be afraid," the king said to her. "What do you see?" "I see a god rising from the ground," the woman answered.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what saw you? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw a god ascending out of the earth.

American King James Version
And the king said to her, Be not afraid: for what saw you? And the woman said to Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

American Standard Version
And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what seest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I see a god coming up out of the earth.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king said to her: Fear not: what hast thou seen? And the woman said to Saul: I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

Darby Bible Translation
And the king said to her, Be not afraid; but what didst thou see? And the woman said to Saul, I saw a god ascending out of the earth.

English Revised Version
And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what seest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I see a god coming up out of the earth.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the king said to her be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said to Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

World English Bible
The king said to her, "Don't be afraid. For what do you see?" The woman said to Saul, "I see a god coming up out of the earth."

Young's Literal Translation
And the king saith to her, 'Do not fear; for what hast thou seen?' and the woman saith unto Saul, 'Gods I have seen coming up out of the earth.'

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the king said unto her, be not afraid,.... Meaning not of the apparition, but of him; since he had sworn no punishment should come upon her, and he should inviolably observe his oath: for what sawest thou? for as yet Saul himself saw not anything, the woman being between him and the apparition; or she might be in another room with her familiar spirit performing the operations when Samuel appeared:

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Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The king quieted her fear, and then asked her what she had seen; whereupon she gave him a fuller description of the apparition: "I saw a celestial being come up from the earth." Elohim does not signify gods here, nor yet God; still less an angel or a ghost, or even a person of superior rank, but a celestial (super-terrestrial), heavenly, or spiritual being.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Gods - אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym is here used in a general sense of a supernatural appearance, either angel or spirit. Hell, or the place of the departed (compare 1 Samuel 28:19; 2 Samuel 12:23) is represented as under the earth Isaiah 14:9-10; Ezekiel 32:18.

Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

I saw gods ascending out of the earth - The word אלהום elohim, which we translate gods, is the word which is used for the Supreme Being throughout the Bible; but all the versions, the Chaldee excepted, translate it in the plural number, as we do. The Chaldee has, I see מלאכא דיי malacha dayeya, an angel of the Lord, ascending from the earth. This sight alarmed the woman; it was what she did not expect; in this she could not recognise her familiar, and she was terrified at the appearance.

Geneva Study Bible

And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

Wesley's Notes

28:13 Gods - That is, a god, and divine person, glorious, and full of majesty and splendor, exceeding not only mortal men, but common ghosts. She used the plural number, gods, either after the manner of the Hebrew language, which commonly uses that word of one person: or, after the language and custom of the heathens.

1 Samuel 28:13 Parallel Commentaries
Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible


Saul and the Medium of Endor
…12And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? for you are Saul. 13And the king said to her, Be not afraid: for what saw you? And the woman said to Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. 14And he said to her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man comes up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. …

1 Samuel 28:12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!"
1 Samuel 28:14 "What does he look like?" he asked. "An old man wearing a robe is coming up," she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.