Are the dead alive? Saul & the Witch of Endor

The story of Saul and the witch of Endor is frequently cited to support the idea that the dead continue as conscious, disembodied “souls” or “spirits” capable of communication with the living. However, a careful examination of the passage in its broader scriptural context points strongly in the opposite direction.

1 Samuel 28:8 says that Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing and left, accompanied by two of his men. They came to the woman at night and said, “Use your ritual pit to conjure up for me the one I tell you.” 9 But the woman said to him, “Look, you are aware of what Saul has done; he has removed the mediums and magicians from the land! Why are you trapping me so you can put me to death?” 28:10 But Saul swore an oath to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not incur guilt in this matter!” 11 The woman replied, “Who is it that I should bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up for me Samuel.” 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly. The woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” 13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What have you seen?” The woman replied to Saul, “I have seen one like a god coming up from the ground!” 14 He said to her, “What about his appearance?” She said, “An old man is coming up! He is wrapped in a robe!” Then Saul realized it was Samuel, and he bowed his face toward the ground and kneeled down. 15 Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul replied, “I am terribly troubled! The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He does not answer me – not by the prophets nor by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what I should do.”

Later, 1 Chronicles 10:13–14 states explicitly that Saul died “because he was unfaithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord’s instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits.”

The NET Study Bible notes:

The text alludes to the incident recorded in 1 Sam 28. The Hebrew term אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַּעֲלַת־אוֹב (ba’alat-’ov, “owner of a ritual pit”).

This underscores the fact that Saul turned to forbidden occult means rather than to Yahweh, highlighting his unfaithfulness. In his desperation he was deceived by someone (or something) he believed was the dead Samuel, but in reality it was an elohim, a “god” (a title sometimes used for demons; see Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 95:5 LXX; cf. 1 Corinthians 10:20).

The Old Testament consistently portrays death as a state of unconscious sleep and silence, where the dead know nothing of earthly affairs, no longer praise God, and do not engage in activity (Psalm 6:5; 115:17; Ecclesiastes 9:5–6). Of note is Psalm 88:10–12, emphasizing the forgotten state of the rephaim (a word associated with “departed spirits,” demons in Isaiah 14:9; 26:14, 19). These are said to be in Abaddon; here it functions as a parallel concept to the pit or grave, i.e., Sheol—the destructive realm of death where God is no longer praised.

These texts rule out the possibility that the dead Samuel appeared as a conscious, disembodied spirit or soul from the grave.

Moreover, Yahweh repeatedly and severely prohibits necromancy and consulting mediums (Leviticus 19:31; 20:6; Deuteronomy 18:10–12, which lists such practices as abominations that defile the land; Isaiah 8:19–20, which urges people to seek God’s law and testimony rather than mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, as any word contrary to Scripture is darkness).

Given these clear prohibitions, it is theologically inconsistent for God to authorize or participate in such a condemned practice as a legitimate means of revelation—especially to a king already rejected for disobedience (1 Samuel 15:23, 26).

The narrative details in 1 Samuel 28 fit far more naturally with occult deception—likely demonic impersonation—than with a genuine, God-ordained prophetic encounter. The apparition rises “out of the earth” (v. 13), claims to be disturbed from the “rest” of the dead (v. 15), delivers a message of doom without hope or mercy (in contrast to God’s typical prophetic call to repentance and restoration), and aligns with Saul’s desperate rebellion rather than divine endorsement.

The story illustrates the peril of disobeying Yahweh and seeking the occult instead. Scripture consistently teaches that true revelation comes from God alone (Isaiah 8:20), that the dead await resurrection in unconscious rest (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28–29), and that any apparent contact with dead human persons is a dark delusion, contrary to God’s explicit commands.

Let us heed the warning: seek the living God, not the dead, with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus himself as the ultimate example:

Luke 24:1 At dawn on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices they had prepared. 2 They discovered that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb entrance, 3 so they went in, but they did not find the body of the lord Jesus. 4 As they were bewildered about this, suddenly two men in dazzling white clothes appeared. 5 The women were terrified and bowed down with their faces to the ground. They said to the women, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?"

Luke 20:37 As to whether the dead will be raised, even Moses proved this at the burning bush when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38 He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.”

Jesus is what the word became

“The logos of the prologue became Jesus; Jesus was the logos become flesh not the logos as such.” Leonhard Goppelt, The Theology of the NT (Eerdmans, 1992), Vol. 2, 297.

Literal preexistence Christology claims that in John 1:1 “the Word” is a second divine Person — the Son — who existed “with God” the Father and who later became a man. English translations continue to assume this reading by capitalizing “Word,” followed by personal pronouns like “he” and “him,” as if John were describing an already existing Person called “the Word of God.” But if “the Word” was a Person, then John 1:14 would mean that that Person “became flesh” — that is, became another person, a human being. Yet neither John nor any other NT writer ever says that a divine person was incarnated “as a man.” The text simply says that God’s “word became flesh.”

In the Old Testament, “the word of the LORD” is never a second divine Person alongside Yahweh. It is His speech, His creative power, His promise and purpose going out from Him and achieving His will.

“By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host…For He spoke, and it was; He commanded, and it stood” (Psalm 33:6, 9).

This word comes to the prophets as a message, not as a visiting second Person:

“Now the word of Yahweh came to me, saying…” (Jeremiah 1:4; cf. 1 Samuel 3:1).

And Isaiah tells us that this word is God’s plan and promise, just as rain waters the earth, “so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I delight” (Isaiah 55:11).

This is the Hebrew background John 1 has in mind. John is telling us that God’s creative, saving word — His plan and promise described as life and light — has now taken concrete, human form.

“The word became flesh and tabernacled among us” (John 1:14).

God’s own self-expression has become embodied in a unique human person, “the man Messiah Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). God, who “in many parts and in many ways spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets,” has “in these last days spoken to us in a Son” (Hebrews 1:1–2). The Son is the climactic way God speaks, not some eternal second Person who has always existed “with God.” That would be polytheism — two Gods!

Simply put, Jesus is what the word of God became.

The New Testament never records Jesus saying, “I am the Word," i.e., "the preexistent Word who became flesh.” Instead, he consistently presents himself as the agent of God’s words.

“But now you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God” (John 8:40).

“My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me” (John 7:16).

He prays to the Father, “the words which You gave me I have given to them” (John 17:8). And he sharply distinguishes between himself and the message he carries:

“The person who does not love me does not obey my words. And the word you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me” (John 14:24).

John’s own first letter says that the apostles “heard,” “saw,” and “touched” “the word of life” (1 John 1:1) — that is, the life of the coming age as embodied in the human Jesus. The “word” there is not a second eternal Person, but the life-giving message now manifested in a human person. A "which" or "what was from the beginning," (1 John 1:1) not "he" or "who was from the beginning."

When we let the Hebrew Scriptures define “the word of God,” John 1 no longer supports a literal preexistence Christology. Instead, it harmonizes beautifully with the rest of the New Testament. The one God speaks, His word goes out, and in the fullness of time that word comes to expression in a uniquely procreated human Son in the womb, not from outside the womb (see Matthew 1:18–20; Luke 1:30–35). He now perfectly reveals the Father’s character and purpose.

Rather than reading later literal preexistence incarnation theories back into John 1, let us carefully read and understand John, who repeatedly echoes the unitary creed known as the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4).

John 5:44 “How can you possibly believe when you accept praise from one another, and you fail to seek the praise which comes from the only One who is God?” 

John 8:41–42 They said, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father – God.” Jesus said to them, “If God really was your Father, you would love me, because I came from God… I did not come on my own, but He sent me.” 

John 17:3 “This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus the Messiah whom you sent.” 

John 20:17 “I ascend to my Father and your Father and my God and your God.” 

1 John 5:19–20 “We know that we are from God and belong to God… And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding to know Him who is true. We are in Him who is true… This One is the true God and is the life of the age to come.”