page_title: Witch of Endor
hierarchical_section_title: Witch of Endor
caption_attribution_description: English: Witch of Endor (detail of "The Shade of Samuel Invoked by Saul" by D. Martynov Русский: Аэндорская волшебница (фрагмент картины Д. Мартынова)
context_page_description: In the Hebrew Bible, the Witch of Endor is a woman Saul consulted to summon the spirit of prophet Samuel in the 28th chapter of the First Book of Samuel in order to receive advice against the Philistines in battle after his prior attempts to consult God through sacred lots and prophets had failed. The witch is absent from the version of that event recounted in the deuterocanonical Book of Sirach.
  Later Christian theology found trouble with this passage as it appeared to imply that the witch had summoned the spirit of Samuel and, therefore, necromancy and magic were possible.
context_section_description: In the Hebrew Bible, the Witch of Endor is a woman Saul consulted to summon the spirit of prophet Samuel in the 28th chapter of the First Book of Samuel in order to receive advice against the Philistines in battle after his prior attempts to consult God through sacred lots and prophets had failed. The witch is absent from the version of that event recounted in the deuterocanonical Book of Sirach (46:19–20).
  Later Christian theology found trouble with this passage as it appeared to imply that the witch had summoned the spirit of Samuel and, therefore, necromancy and magic were possible.
caption: "The Endorian Sorceress Causes the Shade of Samuel" (Martynov, Dmitry Nikiforovich, 1857)
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