Witch of Endor: Difference between revisions
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[[File:endor.jpg|thumb|200px|The Witch of Endor: from the [[Book frontispiece|frontispiece]] to ''[[Saducismus Triumphatus]]'' by [[Joseph Glanvill]]]] |
[[File:endor.jpg|thumb|200px|The Witch of Endor: from the [[Book frontispiece|frontispiece]] to ''[[Saducismus Triumphatus]]'' by [[Joseph Glanvill]]]] |
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The '''Witch of Endor''', [[Hebrew]], |
The '''Witch of Endor''', [[Hebrew]], בעלת האוב מעין דור , sometimes called the [[Mediumship|Medium]] of [[Endor (village)|Endor]], was a medium who apparently summoned the [[prophet]] [[Samuel (Bible)|Samuel]]'s spirit, at the demand of King [[Saul the King|Saul]] of the [[Kingdom of Israel (united kingdom)|Kingdom of Israel]] in the [[Books of Samuel|First Book of Samuel]], chapter {{bibleverse-nb|1|Samuel|28:3–25|HE}}. The witch is absent from the version of that event recounted in the [[Deuterocanonical books|deuterocanonical]] Book of [[Sirach]] (46:19–20). |
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==Story== |
==Story== |
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Revision as of 22:47, 1 March 2014
The Witch of Endor, Hebrew, בעלת האוב מעין דור , sometimes called the Medium of Endor, was a medium who apparently summoned the prophet Samuel's spirit, at the demand of King Saul of the Kingdom of Israel in the First Book of Samuel, chapter 28:3–25. The witch is absent from the version of that event recounted in the deuterocanonical Book of Sirach (46:19–20).
Story
After Samuel had died, he was buried in Ramah. After Samuel's death, Saul received no answer from God from dreams, prophets, or the Urim and Thummim as to his best course of action against the assembled forces of the Philistines. Consequently Saul, who has earlier driven out all necromancers and magicians from Israel, seeks out a medium, anonymously and in disguise. Following the instruction of her visitor, the woman claims that she sees the ghost of Samuel rising from the abode of the dead.[1] The voice of the prophet's ghost, after complaining of being disturbed, berates Saul for disobeying God, and predicts Saul's downfall, with his whole army, in battle the next day, then adds that Saul and his sons will join him, then, in the abode of the dead. Saul is shocked and afraid, and following the encounter his army is defeated and Saul commits suicide after being wounded.
The woman is described as "a woman with an ob" (אוֹב, a talisman[2] or perhaps wineskin)[3] in Hebrew, which may be a reference to ventriloquism,[4] and claims to see "elohim arising" (plural verb) from the ground.
Interpretations
Judaism
In the Septuagint (2nd century BCE) the woman is described as a "ventriloquist",[5] possibly reflecting the consistent view of the Alexandrian translators concerning "demons... which exist not".[6] However Josephus (1st century) appears to find the story completely credible (Antiquities of the Jews 6,14).
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The Yalkut Shimoni (11th century) identifies the anonymous witch as the mother of Abner.[7] Based upon the witch's claim to have seen something, and Saul having heard a disembodied voice, the Yalkut suggests that necromancers are able to see the spirits of the dead but are unable to hear their speech, while the person for whom the deceased was summoned hears the voice but fails to see anything.[8]
Christianity
The Church Fathers and some modern Christian writers have debated the theological issues raised by this text. The story of King Saul and the Medium of Endor would appear at first sight to affirm that it is possible for humans to summon the spirits of the dead by magic.
Medieval glosses to the Bible suggested that what the witch actually summoned was not the ghost of Samuel, but a demon taking his shape or an illusion crafted by the witch.[9] Martin Luther, who believed that the dead were unconscious, read that it was "the Devil's ghost", whereas John Calvin, who did believe in the immortal soul, read that "it was not the real Samuel, but a spectre."[10]
Mortalist denominations, such as Seventh-day Adventists, generally teach that the story is an example of ancient witchcraft or sorcery in the Bible.
In popular culture
The witch appears as a character in oratorios (including Mors Saulis et Jonathae (c.1682) by Charpentier, In Guilty Night: Saul and the Witch of Endor (1691) by Henry Purcell, Saul (1738) by Handel on the death of Saul, and Le roi David (1921) by Honegger) and operas (David et Jonathas (1688) by the afore-mentioned Charpentier and Saul og David (1902) by Carl Nielsen).
A year after the death of his son at Loos, Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called En-Dor (1916), about communicating with the dead.[11] It concludes,
Oh the road to En-dor is the oldest road
And the craziest road of all!
Straight it runs to the Witch’s abode,
As it did in the days of Saul,
And nothing has changed of the sorrow in store
For such as go down on the road to En-dor!
Willa Cather used this to express her young hero's feelings in A Lost Lady in 1923.
A British cutter with the name Witch of Endor is commandeered by Captain Horatio Hornblower during his escape from France in Flying Colours (1938), a novel by C.S. Forester set in the Napoleonic Wars.
The poet Howard Nemerov wrote a one act drama entitled "Endor" (1961) in which Saul visits the Witch of Endor.
The mother of the witch Samantha on the TV sitcom Bewitched was named Endora.
In the book series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, the Witch of Endor is a secondary character.
"In Endor" by Shaul Tchernichovsky, describing King Saul's encounter with the Witch of Endor, is considered a major work of modern Hebrew poetry. Tchernichovsky particularly identified with the character of Saul, perhaps due to his own name, and the poem expresses considerable empathy to this King's tragic fate.
The Israeli Kibbutz Ein Dor derives its name from the Biblical witch's place of residence.
"The Witch of Endor" is the title of a song by artist Moondog.
References
- ^ Geza Vermes (2008) The Resurrection. London, Penguin: 25–6
- ^ Emil G. Hirsch Jewish Encyclopedia 1911 Endor, the witch of
- ^ Blueletterbible.org
- ^ The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia p307 ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley – 1959 "... of 'ob (RSV "medium"). According to one view it is the same word that means a "bottle made out of skins" ("wineskin," Job 32:19). The term would then refer to the technique of ventriloquism or, more accurately, "belly-talking".
- ^ Hans-Josef Klauck, Brian McNeil Magic and paganism in early Christianity: the world of the Acts of the Apostles p66 2003 "A classical example is King Saul's visit to the 'witch' of Endor. The Septuagint says once that the seer engages in 'soothsaying' and three times that she engages in 'ventriloquism' (1 Sam 28:6–9)."
- ^ Milian Lauritz Andreasen Isaiah the gospel prophet: a preacher of righteousness 2001 p345"The Septuagint translates: They "burn incense on bricks to devils which exist not."
- ^ Yalḳ, Sam. 140, from Pirḳe R. El.
- ^ Emil G. Hirsch Jewish Encyclopedia 1911 Endor, the witch of
- ^ "Necromancy". Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 5 Sep 2012.
- ^ J. M. Buckley – Faith Healing, Christian Science and Kindred Phenomena p221 2003, "The witch of Endor – The account of the "Witch of Endor is the only instance in the Bible where a description of the processes and ... Luther held that it was "the Devil's ghost"; Calvin that "it was not the real Samuel, but a spectre. "
- ^ Tonie Holt, Valmai Holt My boy Jack: the search for Kipling's only son – 1998 p. 234 "Desperate as they were, there is no evidence that Rudyard and Carrie ever contemplated trying to reach John in this way and Rudyard's scorn for those who did was expressed in the poem En-dor, written the following year."
External links
- Medium of Endor: From the Jewish Encyclopedia