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1 Samuel 28:25

in 1 Samuel 28

She served it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. And that night they got up and left.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night.

KJV

And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night.

This verse in 1 Samuel 28

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

They rose up, and went away that night - The transactions of this chapter occupy one night only. 1. Saul came by night to En-dor, 1Sa 28:8. 2. He consulted the woman, and had his conference with Samuel the same night; for no time whatever appears to have been lost after his arrival at En-dor. 3. He was overcome by the heavy tidings which he heard; and which for a time appear to have deprived him of all power. 4. The woman kills a calf; dresses a part; makes and bakes bread; and Saul and his servants eat. And,

This site's exposition

I took my life in my hands and did as you told me

on 1 Samuel 28:21-25

The woman whose craft Saul's law had outlawed is the one who feeds him. She slaughters a fattened calf, and Henry recalls that Josephus praised her kindness to a guest who could do nothing for her. The chapter ends in darkness, with Saul and his servants leaving that night.

This site's exposition

that night they got up and left

Adam Clarke counts the chapter's events and finds that they all fit within one night, from Saul's arrival at Endor to the meal. John Gill explains why they left in the dark. Saul had to get back past the Philistines to his camp without being seen.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Perhaps, indeed, now that rage and envy possessed him to the uttermost, he was the better reconciled to his hard fate, being told that his sons, and Jonathan among the rest, whom he hated for his affection to David, should die with him. If he must fall, he cared not what desolations of his family and kingdom accompanied his fall, hoping it would be the worse for his successor.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

2 And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever. 3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants, and they did eat,.... Of the fatted calf, and unleavened bread, which she set upon a table before them, in the best manner she could: then they rose up, and went away that night; that it might not be seen in what house they had been, and that they might get to the camp without being discovered by the Philistines, or known by the Israelites that they had been out.

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַתַּגֵּ֧שׁand she brought [them] near

    vatageshH5066 →125 times

  • לִפְנֵֽי־<to> before

    lifnei-H6440 →2123 times

  • שָׁא֛וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • וְלִפְנֵ֥יand <to> before

    velifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • עֲבָדָ֖יוservants his

    ʾavadavH5650 →799 times

  • וַיֹּאכֵ֑לוּand they ate

    vaiyokheluH398 →810 times

  • וַיָּקֻ֥מוּand they arose

    vaiyakumuH6965 →628 times

  • וַיֵּלְכ֖וּand they went

    vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • בַּלַּ֥יְלָהon the night

    balaylahH3915 →233 times

  • הַהֽוּא׃ פ<the> that

    hahu'H1931 →1879 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Samuel

Saul and the Witch of Endor — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Saul and the Witch of Endor — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.