What Does 1 Samuel 28:8 Mean?
And Saul disguised himself, and put on other garments, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night. And he said, Please, divine for me through the voice out of the ground, and bring up for me the one I name to you.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.THE KEY
The Hebrew verb for Saul’s disguise comes from a root that also means “search,” making the hidden man a seeker in the very word that conceals him.
THE MEANING
You can conceal your identity while still seeking a very specific answer from what you cannot see. Saul tries to direct both the channel, a medium, and the result, the person he will name. The verse holds the tension between a hidden seeker and a precise demand.
THE ROOT
וַיִּתְחַפֵּשׂ
wayyitḥappēs
GROWS FROM
חפשׂ
ḥ-p-ś
To search, seek out, or investigate; in the Hitpael form, to disguise oneself.
“disguised himself” in this verse is wayyitḥappēs. The verse uses a form meaning “disguise himself,” while the root’s basic form means “search” or “investigate.” Concealment and pursuit sit in one word family: Saul’s appearance is hidden even as his purpose stays sharply directed.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāphaś: Search or investigate.
חָפַשׂ
This basic form shares its root with Saul’s verb for disguising himself.
hitḥappēs: Disguise oneself.
הִתְחַפֵּשׂ
This is the form used for Saul’s concealment in the verse.
הַעֲלִי
haʿali
GROWS FROM
עלה
ʿ-l-h
To go up or ascend; in causative forms, to cause something to rise or bring it up.
“bring up for me” in this verse is haʿali. The request carries the image of ascent: the woman is asked to bring the man up toward Saul. The same root can describe ascent itself and an offering that rises, giving the phrase a concrete movement from below to above.
ALSO GROWS
ʿālāh: Go up or ascend.
עָלָה
This is the root’s basic movement, echoed in the request to bring someone up.
ʿōlāh: Burnt offering; an offering that ascends.
עוֹלָה
The offering’s name shares the ascent root, showing how broadly Hebrew uses this movement.
שָׁאוּל
Shaʾul
GROWS FROM
שאל
š-ʾ-l
To ask or request; Saul’s name is connected with “asked for.”
Saul’s name carries the sense of being asked for, from a root meaning “ask” or “request.” His sentence echoes that nature: he pleads for divination, specifies the means, and directs which person is to be brought up.
ALSO GROWS
shaʾal: Ask or request.
שָׁאַל
This verb supplies the root sense carried in Saul’s name.
sheʾēlāh: Request or petition.
שְׁאֵלָה
This noun carries the same asking into the language of a request.
THE PATTERN
When scripture speaks of emergence from death or the grave, it often gives that movement a vertical shape: the dead rise or are brought up.
And the king said to her, Do not be afraid. What did you see? And the woman said to Saul, I saw gods coming up out of the earth.O LORD, you brought up my living soul from Sheol. You kept me alive from those who go down into the pit.Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the ground of Israel.THE THREAD
O LORD, you brought up my living soul from Sheol. You kept me alive from those who go down into the pit.“Bring me him up” and “thou hast brought up my soul” share the Hebrew root עלה (ʿ-l-h), meaning “go up” or “bring up.” The shared verb keeps both verses in the language of ascent while their scenes differ: Saul makes a request through a medium, while the psalm voices rescue from the grave.
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