The Witch of Endor, Sorceress or Goddess
by Rev. Carole Lunde
There are so many unnamed women of the bible, especially in the Hebrew Testament. Their mention is brief being used for a moral lesson and what is said about them is often cruel and insulting. Surely they deserve a deeper and more compassionate look without the negative veneer that has covered their true humanity.
In the Hebrew Testament there is nothing about the woman’s life save the interaction with King Saul in very strange circumstances. Who could she have been? Where did she come from? Did she really have the power to conjure the spirit of Samuel? It would seem not because she was aghast at whatever happened. If she was a sorceress why was she afraid and how did she avoid being imprisoned, stoned, or driven out of the land?
The word witch is not a biblical term. It is a modern label applied to add intrigue and horror to the event, a story that seems oddly out of place in the narrative of King Saul’s life.
In the genre of fiction, we can adventure into the time and ask questions that bring us closer to who this woman might have been. What were the many events of her life that brought her to where she briefly shows up in 1 Samuel 28.3?