Then he disguised himself: and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night, and he said to her: Divine to me by thy divining spirit, and bring me up him whom I shall tell thee.
וַיִּתְחַפֵּ֣שׂ שָׁא֗וּל וַיִּלְבַּשׁ֙ בְּגָדִ֣ים אֲחֵרִ֔ים וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ ה֗וּא וּשְׁנֵ֤י אֲנָשִׁים֙ עִמּ֔וֹ וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ אֶל־הָאִשָּׁ֖ה לָ֑יְלָה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר קסומי־קֽ͏ָסֳמִי־נָ֥א לִי֙ בָּא֔וֹב וְהַ֣עֲלִי לִ֔י אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־אֹמַ֖ר אֵלָֽיִךְ׃
2 Church Fathers comment on this verse
He instructs her, "spin me around"; abandoning prophecy, he resorts to divination. "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" (Psalm 13:1) Let us be cautious, dear brethren, so that we do not fall into folly, acknowledging God with our lips while denying Him through our actions.
What, then, is the rationale behind this? The adversary of humanity stands as the shared nemesis for all; he seeks to inflict lethal harm upon mankind through every thought and action. What could be a more damaging affliction for humanity than to be rejected by the life-giving Creator and, in turn, to willingly surrender to spiritual destruction? Consequently, while those focused on earthly desires may seek knowledge of what lies ahead—in hopes of evading troubles or attaining their wishes—they frequently divert their attention away from God.
In a state of deception, demonic forces have devised numerous methods for foretelling the future, including practices such as augury, sign interpretation, divination, examining animal entrails, invoking the dead, ecstatic visions, and various inspirations, among others. When any semblance of foreknowledge arises from such deceptions and is accepted as truth, the deceiving demon presents this to the misled as validation of erroneous beliefs. Thus, the demon crafts situations where the flight of an eagle inspires hope in those who observe it, while signs such as the fluttering of a liver, the movements within a swollen brain, or the rolling of eyes are all manipulated by the demon to mislead, causing individuals to stray from God and unwittingly serve demonic powers under the illusion that they possess this knowledge. Additionally, one form of this deception involved ventriloquists, who were misled into thinking their sorcery could summon the souls of the departed back to this realm. In one instance, when Saul lost all hope for salvation as the Philistines surrounded him with their formidable army, he thought that Samuel could reveal a path to deliverance. It was then that the demon, through the ventriloquist, morphed into various dark shapes before the woman, while Saul remained unaware of any visible presence.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS