The woman came to Saul, and saw that he was very troubled, and said to him, “Behold, your servant has listened to your voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.
Parallel Translations
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The woman came to Saul, and saw that he was very troubled, and said to him, “Behold, your servant has listened to your voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.
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And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.
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And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore affrighted, and said unto him: 'Behold, thy handmaid hath hearkened unto thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spokest unto me.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to 1 Samuel 28:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Judges 12:3 When I saw that you didn’t save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Yahweh delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me today, to fight against me?”
- 1 Samuel 19:5 for he put his life in his hand, and struck the Philistine, and Yahweh worked a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”
- Job 13:14 Why should I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain I have ventured my life.
I have ventured my life.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Sa 28:21 And the woman came unto Saul, and…
1Sa 28:21 And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.
Ver. 21. And the woman came unto Saul.] Though she were a wicked woman, yet she was not without pity and humanity, as some savages are.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The woman came unto Saul; from whom she departed,…
The woman came unto Saul; from whom she departed, when she had brought him and Samuel together, that they might more freely converse together, as being alone.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the woman came unto Saul,.... Having left him…
And the woman came unto Saul,.... Having left him and the apparition in a room by themselves to converse together, and perhaps on hearing him fall to the ground came in:
and saw that he was sore troubled: by his lying on the ground, and the agonies he seemed to be in, and the uneasiness that sat upon his countenance:
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and said unto him, behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice; in divining by her familiar spirit for him, and in bringing up Samuel to him, as he desired:
and I have put my life in my hand; exposed it to the utmost danger, since a person of her profession, and token in the exercise of it, was punishable with death; and especially she was in the greater danger, as it was Saul himself, who had by an edict expelled all such persons from his dominions, who now employed her, as she perceived:
and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me: to the oath he had taken, that no hurt should come to her, which she confided in, and relied upon, and to what he bid her do, according to her art of divination.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Came to Saul - From whom she departed, when…
Came to Saul - From whom she departed, when she had brought him and Samuel together, that they might more freely converse together.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Hand, in the most imminent danger. See Judges xii.…
Hand, in the most imminent danger. See Judges xii. 3.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 21. The woman came unto Saul — During the…
21. The woman came unto Saul — During the interview she had been standing at a distance from him, not out of sight, or in an adjoining room, as some have supposed, but a little removed from the king’s presence, so as to be less liable to detection in her arts.
Saw that he was sore troubled — Saw how completely her oracles had overwhelmed him with terror and excitement.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 21. I have put my life in my hand]…
21. I have put my life in my hand] By doing that which rendered her liable to the punishment of death. Cp. 1Sa_19:5.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (21) And the woman.—The story is completed in these…
(21) And the woman.—The story is completed in these few concluding verses (1Sa_28:21-25) in a most natural and unaffected style. The witch, though a grievous sinner, is struck with a woman’s pity for the stricken king, and with kind words and still kinder acts does her best to recover him from the death-like swoon into which the hapless Saul had fallen. Her whole behaviour contradicts the supposition that she was moved by a bitter hatred against Saul (see Excursus L at end of this Book) to desire the appearance of Samuel, and to imitate his voice by means of ventriloquism. Firstly, she was herself terrified at the apparition; and secondly, she was saddened by the effect of the dead seer’s words on the king, and did her poor best to restore him to composure and strength again. We read in the next verse how the woman, with Saul’s servants, used even a gentle compulsion to induce the king to take the nourishment he was so sorely in need of.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.