Saul and the Necromancer

Leviticus Rabbah 26:7

5th–7th Century

To what was Saul comparable at that time [when he swore by God that no harm would come to the necromancer]? [It is comparable] to a woman who is with her lover and swears by her husband’s life.

Translated byMarc Hirshman.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

In 1 Samuel 28, a disguised King Saul consults a medium (referred to as a “necromancer,” one who conjures the dead in the hopes of revealing the future) after Samuel’s death in order to seek Samuel’s guidance. Because it was the same King Saul who had outlawed necromancy, the medium feared for her life. Saul swore an oath to her in God’s name that she would not be punished. The rabbis offer the following parable to describe Saul’s hypocrisy.

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Saul and the Necromancer

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