1 Samuel 28:11
New International Version
Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” “Bring up Samuel,” he said.

New Living Translation
Finally, the woman said, “Well, whose spirit do you want me to call up?” “Call up Samuel,” Saul replied.

English Standard Version
Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

Berean Standard Bible
“Whom shall I bring up for you?” the woman asked. “Bring up Samuel,” he replied.

King James Bible
Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

New King James Version
Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

New American Standard Bible
Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

NASB 1995
Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

NASB 1977
Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

Amplified Bible
So the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

Christian Standard Bible
“Who is it that you want me to bring up for you? ” the woman asked. “Bring up Samuel for me,” he answered.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
“Who is it that you want me to bring up for you?” the woman asked. “Bring up Samuel for me,” he answered.

American Standard Version
Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up to you? And he said, bring up Shemueil to me”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the woman said, Whom shall I bring up to thee? and he said, Bring up to me Samuel.

Contemporary English Version
"Who do you want me to bring up?" she asked. "Bring up the ghost of Samuel," he answered.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the woman said to him: Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

English Revised Version
Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Whom should I conjure up for you?" the woman asked. "Conjure up Samuel for me," he answered.

Good News Translation
"Whom shall I call up for you?" the woman asked. "Samuel," he answered.

International Standard Version
The woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" Saul said, "Bring up Samuel for me."

JPS Tanakh 1917
Then said the woman: 'Whom shall I bring up unto thee?' And he said: 'Bring me up Samuel.'

Literal Standard Version
And the woman says, “Whom do I bring up to you?” And he says, “Bring up Samuel to me.”

Majority Standard Bible
“Whom shall I bring up for you?” the woman asked. “Bring up Samuel,” he replied.

New American Bible
“Whom do you want me to conjure up?” the woman asked him. “Conjure up Samuel for me,” he replied.

NET Bible
The woman replied, "Who is it that I should bring up for you?" He said, "Bring up for me Samuel."

New Revised Standard Version
Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He answered, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

New Heart English Bible
Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up to you?" He said, "Bring Samuel up for me."

Webster's Bible Translation
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.”

Young's Literal Translation
And the woman saith, 'Whom do I bring up to thee?' and he saith, 'Samuel -- bring up to me.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Saul and the Medium of Endor
10Then Saul swore to her by the LORD: “As surely as the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this.” 11“Whom shall I bring up for you?” the woman asked. “Bring up Samuel,” he replied. 12But when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out in a loud voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”…

Cross References
1 Samuel 28:10
Then Saul swore to her by the LORD: "As surely as the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this."

1 Samuel 28:12
But when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out in a loud voice and said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!"


Treasury of Scripture

Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to you? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

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Samuel
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Samuel
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














(11) Bring me up Samuel.--A remarkable passage in the Babylonian Talmud evidently shows that, at all events in the Rabbinical Schools of a very early date, the bringing up of Samuel was looked upon as owing to the witch's power.

" A Sadducee once said to Rabbi Abhu, 'Ye say that the souls of the righteous are treasured up under the throne of glory; how then had the witch of En-dor power to bring up the prophet Samuel by necromancy?' The Rabbi replied, 'Because that occurred within twelve months after his death; for we are taught that during twelve months after death the body is preserved, and the soul soars up and down, but that after twelve months the body is destroyed, and the soul goes up, never to return.'"--Treatise Shabbath, fol. 88, Colossians 2.

Another Rabbinical tradition, however, seems to limit this near presence of the departed spirit to the body to four days:--"It is a tradition of Ben Kaphra's. The very height of mourning is not till the third day. For three days the spirit wanders about the sepulchre, expecting if it may return into the body. But when it sees that the form or aspect of the face is changed [on the fourth day], then it hovers no more, but leaves the body to itself. After three days (it is said elsewhere), the countenance is changed."--From the Bereshith R., p. 1143: quoted by Lightfoot, referred to by Canon Westcott in his commentary on St. John 11:39.

Saul's state of mind on this, almost the eve of his last fatal fight at Gilboa, affords a curious study. He felt himself forsaken of God, and yet, in his deep despair, his mind turns to the friend and guide of his youth, from whom--long before that friend's death--he had been so hopelessly estranged. There must have been a terrible struggle in the proud king's heart before he could have brought himself to stoop to ask for assistance from one of that loathed and proscribed class of women who professed to have dealings with familiar spirits and demons. "There is," once wrote Archbishop Trench, "something unutterably pathetic in the yearning of the dis-anointed king, now in his utter desolation, to exchange words once more with the friend and counsellor of his youth; and if he must hear his doom, to hear it from no other lips but his."

Verse 11. - Whom shall I bring up to thee? Assured by Saul's oath, the woman now asserts her ability to call up the spirits of the dead, and asks, just as would happen now with those who claim similar powers, who it is to be. We need not suppose that she possessed either greater or less powers than those claimed or even exercised now; for many of the phenomena of clairvoyance, though undoubtedly natural, still belong to an unscientific, and therefore vague and illusory, region. Perhaps on this very account these arts have always had an extraordinary fascination for men, and been practised in all ages and among all people with considerable skill. Bring me up Samuel. Samuel had been Saul's friend in his youth, and his guide and counsellor in those happy days when the young king walked uprightly, and all went well with him. But gradually the light yoke of respect for one who loved him became too heavy for a despotic temperament, which would brook no will but its own. Now that self-will is broken; it had brought the warrior king to a hopeless despair, and in his distress his mind once again returns to its old channels Intense as was the degradation for one so haughty, in disguise by night, at the risk of his life, to seek help from a sorceress, he bears it all that he may at least for a few minutes see the spirit of the true though stern monitor, whose memory once again filled his whole heart.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“Whom
מִ֖י (mî)
Interrogative
Strong's 4310: Who?, whoever, in oblique construction with prefix, suffix

shall I bring up
אַֽעֲלֶה־ (’a·‘ă·leh-)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

for you?”
לָּ֑ךְ (lāḵ)
Preposition | second person feminine singular
Strong's Hebrew

the woman
הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה (hā·’iš·šāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

asked.
וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ (wat·tō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Bring up
הַֽעֲלִי־ (ha·‘ă·lî-)
Verb - Hifil - Imperative - feminine singular
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

Samuel,”
שְׁמוּאֵ֖ל (šə·mū·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 8050: Samuel -- 'name of God', a prophet of Israel

he replied.
וַיֹּ֕אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say


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OT History: 1 Samuel 28:11 Then said the woman Whom shall (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 28:10
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