1-samuel 28:11
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to you? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
American King James Version (AKJV)
Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to you? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
American Standard Version (ASV)
Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Then the woman said, Who am I to let you see? And he said, Make Samuel come up for me.
Webster's Revision
Then said the woman, whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
World English Bible
Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up to you?" He said, "Bring Samuel up for me."
English Revised Version (ERV)
Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
Clarke's 1-samuel 28:11 Bible Commentary
Whom shall I bring up - The woman certainly meant no more than making her familiar personify whomsoever the querist should wish. In the evocation of spirits this is all that, according to the professed rules of their art, such persons pretend to; for over human souls in paradise or in the infernal regions they have no power. If we allow that there is such an art founded on true principles, all it can pretend to is, to bring up the familiar; cause him when necessary to assume the form and character of some particular person, and to give such notices relative to futurity as he is able to collect. And this even in the cases to which authenticity is generally allowed, is often scanty, vague, and uncertain, for fallen spirits do not abound in knowledge: this is an attribute of God, and rays of this perfection are imparted to pure and holy intelligences; and even Satan himself, as may be seen from most of his temptations, is far from excelling in knowledge. He may be cunning and insidious, but he certainly is not wise and prudent; we in general give this fallen spirit credit for much more wisdom than he possesses.
Barnes's 1-samuel 28:11 Bible Commentary
Bring me up Samuel - Dr. Trench observes, "All human history has failed to record a despair deeper or more tragic than his, who, having forsaken God and being of God forsaken, is now seeking to move hell; and infinitely guilty as he is, assuredly there is something unutterably pathetic in that yearning of the disanointed king to change words with the friend and counselor of his youth, and if he must hear his doom, to hear it from no other lips but his" ('Shipwrecks of Faith, ' p. 47).
Wesley's 1-samuel 28:11 Bible Commentary
28:11 Samuel - Whose kindness and compassion as he had formerly experienced, so now he expected it in his deep distress. This practice of divination by the dead, or the souls of dead persons, was very usual among all nations.