What Does 1 Samuel 28:7 Mean in the King James?
Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse shifts from searching out a medium to resorting to her for counsel, revealing that the source you choose shapes the answer you can reach.
THE MEANING
The verse shows your search for an answer turning into a search for a channel: you first look for a medium, then go to her to inquire. When an answer feels inaccessible, the channel you choose matters as much as the question you ask.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It unsettles the belief that a voice is trustworthy simply because it reaches what ordinary means cannot.
THE ROOT
אֶדְרְשָׁה
ʾedresha
GROWS FROM
דרש
To seek, inquire, or resort to someone for counsel.
“enquire” in this verse is ʾedresha. The Hebrew verb for Saul’s inquiry is דרש (darash), a sustained seeking or resorting to a source. Isaiah 8:19 uses this same root both for seeking mediums and for seeking God, so the verb itself does not decide the direction; the one consulted does.
ALSO GROWS
doresh: One who seeks or inquires.
דּוֹרֵשׁ
This branch makes the inquirer an active seeker: the verse shows Saul choosing whom he will consult.
midrash: Inquiry or exposition; interpretive seeking.
מִדְרָשׁ
The same root can describe a search for meaning, showing that darash is a pursuit of counsel, not merely the posing of a question.
בַּקְּשׁוּ
baqshu
GROWS FROM
בקש
To seek, request, or look for something desired.
“Seek” in this verse is baqshu. The Hebrew distinguishes finding a woman from consulting her: Saul first uses בקש (baqash) to have his servants locate a medium, then דרש (darash) for the inquiry he intends to make. The search for a channel comes before the search for an answer.
ALSO GROWS
baqqashah: A request or petition.
בַּקָּשָׁה
This branch shows the seeking as a deliberate request: Saul directs his servants to find the person he wants.
mevuqqash: Sought after or desired.
מְבֻקָּשׁ
The sought-after person is not incidental; Saul specifically seeks a medium as the route to the answer.
THE PATTERN
The pursuit of hidden counsel turns on its source, because seeking a medium and seeking God direct the inquiry toward different voices.
Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:THE THREAD
And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?Isaiah repeats דרש (darash), the root behind Saul’s “enquire,” for seeking both mediums and God. The root holds the shared act of inquiry; its object reveals the direction of the search.
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