THE MEDIUM OF ENDOR AND SAUL:

ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY VIEWS

DAVID J. ZUCKER

The medium of Endor is one of the Bible’s more intriguing figures. In the context of I
Samuel 28, at Saul’s request she performs a séance that is expressly forbidden by Torah
law. You shall not tolerate a sorceress (m ,khasheifa; Ex. 22:17). Elsewhere we read, A
man or a woman who has a ghost [ov] or a familiar spirit shall be put to death (Lev.
20:27). When you enter the land ... Let no one be found among you ... who is an augur
(!qoseim q ,samim) ...a sorcerer (m ’khasheif) ...or who consults ghosts (shoeil ov; Deut.
18:911‫)־‬. “Biblical monotheism ... ruthlessly and relentlessly fought to extirpate such
beliefs and practices.”1
Given the biblical antipathy towards those who consult ghosts, this article considers
how the medium is presented in Samuel, and in two other ancient sources, Josephus’
Judean Antiquities and Pseudo-Philo’s Biblical Antiquities - L.A.B. [Liber Antiquitatum
Biblicarum]. Is she condemned or is she portrayed as a sympathetic character? What do
contemporary scholars say about her? Further, by what terminology is she referred to in
contemporary Bible translations, and what does that mean? In like manner, how is Saul
regarded and presented in the book of Samuel, in Judean Antiquities, and in Biblical
Antiquities? What do contemporary scholars say about Saul?
Early in I Samuel 28, to his credit, Saul had forbidden [recourse to] ghosts and famil-
iar spirts (heisir ha-ovot v’et ha-yidonim; I Sam. 28:3). Yet when he is unable to access
God’s direction using dreams, Urim, or prophets (v. 6), he asks his aides to find a woman
who can traffic with ghosts (eishet ba-alat ον; I Sam. 28:7, twice). In its context, such
knowledge may well have been reliable but the “law nevertheless insisted that God and
his messengers must be the exclusive transmitters of prophetic knowledge.”2 Although

David J. Zucker, PhD, before retiring, served as Rabbi/Chaplain and Director of Chaplaincy Care
at Shalom Park in Aurora, Colorado. He led North West Surrey Synagogue, Weybridge, Surrey, UK
as their interim rabbi 2014-2017. His recent publications include The Bible's Prophets: An Intro-
duction for Christians and Jews (Wipf and Stock: 2013); The Bible’s Writings: An introduction for
Christians and Jews (Wipf and Stock: 2013); and [with Moshe Reiss, z‫״‬l] The Matriarchs of Gene-
sis: Seven Women, Five Views (Wipf and Stock: 2015. His latest book is American Rabbis: Facts
and Fiction, Second Edition, (Wipf and Stock, 2019).
236 DAVID. J. ZUCKER

biblical religion fought against such beliefs and practices, according to the narrative in
Samuel it is patently clear that the medium did what she was asked to do. Not only does
Saul ask for the woman to practice her craft, but she successfully raises the deceased
figure of Samuel, who then converses with Saul (w. 1519‫)־‬.
How the woman is described is a crucial matter. In this article, unless it comes in a di-
rect quote, I avoid the term “witch” of Endor, employing instead the term 44medium.”
Cheryl Anne Brown explains that the woman is not a witch 44for a witch practices black
magic, that is, attempts to influence the future rather than just divine it. The [woman] of
Endor is more properly a medium or necromancer (one who divines by means of the
dead).”3

I SAMUEL 28

In the Bible, when Saul first approaches the medium he does so humbly and with re-
spectful words. There is no sense of a power imbalance here. He politely says to her in v.
8, qasami-na li bov ... “please divine for me a ghost." A few verses on he swears to her
by God’s name that she is not in danger (v. 10). When she is upset at seeing the figure of
Samuel, Saul comforts her,44do not be afraid" (v. 13). Saul seeks her counsel as a suppli-
cant, he does not reflect his status as king of Israel. He certainly does not command her to
bring up Samuel’s spirit, rather he pleads with her to do so.
Contemporary scholars explain that the medium of Endor is part of the women necro-
mancers living in Israel who are paired with a male group, the wizards. Vanessa Love-
lace explains that the ‘4necromancer is not condemned by Dtr [the Deuteronomist, the
Deuteronomic Historian(s)] here.” Lovelace refers to Esther Hamori who contends that
contrary to those interpreters who have referred to the Endor woman as a foreigner or
idolater, that there is 44no indication in the text that she is anything other than a Yahwistic
diviner providing her services of religious access to the king.”4 Auld suggests that she
“is presented very sympathetically. She is an engaging character.”5 Terming her as a
“ghostwife” P. Kyle McCarter explains that it 44is assumed that the deceased have access
to information about the divine plans.”6
David Jobling points out that necromancers and wizards are in “business ... to call up
the dead.” He also notes that her presentation is absent of any negative overtones. “The
Medium of Endor is a minister of religion, and a good one. She understands the need of
the one who comes to her, she takes charge of the situation, she does what she can for
him ... All this she does for her bitter enemy, the one who would expel her and her col-

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MEDIUM OF ENDOR AND SAUL: ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY VIEWS 237
leagues from home and livelihood.”7 This non-judgmental approach in the book of Sam-
uel is surprising given that later Saul is reviled for his turning to the medium (I Chr.
10:1314‫)־‬. Still, not all scholars are so positive. Paul Evans terms her a charlatan and
‘‘suggests that she did not achieve these ... results.”8 On the other hand, Uriel Simon
points out that in talmudic literature, the rabbis “accepted the testimony of the verses as
given and did not question the ability of Mediums to create a real link with the dead.”9 In
any case, the “woman’s efforts [to] produce an apparition that turns out to be the shade of
Samuel himself... offers no more hope to Saul than he did in life. His words are no less
dour and no more comforting than at the last meeting of the two men at the altar in Gil-
gal.”10 The narrative concludes with the empathetic and kindhearted response of the me-
dium of Endor, offered to a hopelessly distraught Saul.11
The Bible’s Saul is a tragic figure in this chapter. “He has no future, only a past. . . He
is simply a frantic man with no resources ... He is a failed, pitiful character ... All of
Saul’s nobility is gone, robbed by forces beyond him.” He is rightfully fearful of the
coming day’s battles. He feels forsaken and deserted. That he himself is responsible for
this sad state of affairs only magnifies his feelings of helplessness. Saul is described as a
“convinced Yahwist ... [who turns to YHWH] for guidance and assurance (v. 6.)
[YHWH’s] heaven is, however closed to him ...Saul is abandoned [and] ... becomes
more desperate ... Saul, when approved religion will not reassure, goes elsewhere
(v.7).”12 As the chapter closes, the “now-broken king [is] ... left speechless to the point
of collapsing on the ground, physically debilitated by Samuel’s merciless doomsaying”
as well as his having failed to eat that day.13

ANCIENT VIEWS

The document we now regard as the Bible was not the only version of “Scripture” in
the period of the Late Second Temple and for some time thereafter. Before the first cen-
tury in the Common Era there was a “textual plurality among Jews, with multiple text
forms conceived of as ‘the Bible,’ or Scripture, including the Hebrew source upon which
the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (LXX), was built.”
Before that time “only the proto-rabbinic (Pharisaic) movement made use of MT.”14
Two works which address the Medium of Endor and Saul are Flavius Josephus’ Judean
Antiquities (The Antiquities of the Jews) and the pseudepigraphic work, Biblical Antiqui-
ties (Pseudo-Philo - Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum [L.A.B.])

Vol. 48, No. 4, 2020

238 DAVID. J. ZUCKER

JUDEAN ANTIQUITIES
In Judean Antiquities, Josephus writes a history and introduces midrash-like elements
within that framework. Josephus may have consulted the Septuagint [LXX], but we
‘"must not discount the possibility that he is perhaps following a tradition independent of
both the MT and the LXX.”15
Put another way ‫‘־‬Josephus preserves material that is or was ‫־‬biblical’ but that no longer
appears in our contemporary Bibles. That is, when the text of Josephus is compared with
contemporary Bibles ... there are words, phrases, ideas and even an entire passage that
prima facie could seem classifiable as 4non-biblical’... They were, however, biblical for
Josephus, and he had actually derived them from a ‘biblical text.’”16
Josephus essentially follows the biblical version of I Samuel 28. Yet, as is his wont, he
enhances the text. The medium of Endor and Saul section is found in book 6.327342‫־‬.
“in contrast to his generally negative attitude toward women ... Josephus portrays the
witch [sic] of Endor ... as an extraordinarily positive character ... The historian devotes
to the witch [sic] a tribute {Ant. 6:340-42) in which he highlights her friendly readiness to
help Saul, despite the fact that Saul himself has outlawed necromancy and is a stranger to
her. Moreover, he emphasizes her outstanding generosity in offering to the king her only
possession (her calf); her absolute selflessness, expecting no reward for her action; and
her loyalty to the king, though at first she is determined not to violate the king’s prohibí-
tion.”17
Josephus goes into a detailed description of the role of necromancers, describing them
as a 4‫־‬class of ventriloquists [who] bring up the souls of the dead, and through them they
foretell what will occur to those who ask” (6.330). No such details are in the Bible. The
medium’s clear concern for Saul’s wellbeing is important for Josephus. He stresses her
44exemplary character trait that he desires that his audience emulate (parenetic value) and
... also presents the Jews in a positive light to non-Jews (apologetic value).”18
Following Saul’s fainting spell at the conclusion of Samuel’s remarks, he revives. The
medium 4‫־‬appealed to him to [to permit her] to set a table with food for him” so that he
would have the strength to return to his camp. Initially Saul resists her request, but then
capitulates (6.338). Josephus adds sympathetic details about the personal life of the me-
dium, and her state of poverty. 44She had a single tame calf that she had undertaken to
look after and feed in her house - for the woman was a day-laborer and had to be satis-
fled with this as her only possession” (6.339). 4‫־‬Josephus may be alluding to Nathan’s
parable [his cautionary image years later to then King David] of the poor man and his

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MEDIUM OF ENDOR AND SAUL: ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY VIEWS 239
lamb, which is slaughtered by a rich man to provide a meal for a traveler (II Sam. 12:3‫־‬
4).”19 Josephus’ sympathetic description of the medium even exceeds the benevolent
view of her in Samuel.
Perhaps as a former general himself, Josephus displays considerable sympathy for Saul.
He devotes more space to him than does the Bible. Josephus’ Saul displays three of the
Greek cardinal virtues, “great-souled,” “greatly daring,‫ ״‬and “despisers of terrors.” (See
6.34320.(350‫ ־‬In Judean Antiquities Saul becomes anxious and loses heart “foreseeing an
inescapable calamity since the Deity was not present to support him” (6.329). This evalu-
ation of Saul’s feelings is added by Josephus.
In Josephus the medium’s remarks are more detailed than that in the MT. Samuel is
angry at being disturbed, and he not only criticizes Saul, he tells the monarch that he will
die on the next day. Saul is devastated. Josephus suggests that Saul loses consciousness
and “lay immobile, like a corpse” (6.337).
As Josephus’ medium is drawn even more sympathetically than in Samuel, so his Saul
is a noble figure caught up in forces beyond his own ability to control.

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES {PSEUDO-PHILO - LIBER ANTIQUITA TUM BIBLICARUM [L.A.B.])

Biblical Antiquities {Pseudo-Philo - Liber Antiqnitatum Biblicarum [L.A.B.]) [hereafter
abbreviated as Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.)] was likely written down somewhere between
the Roman Army’s destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, and 150
CE. It is falsely attributed to Philo of Alexandria. Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) “is closer
to Midrash in method, particularly in its propensity to quote verses from other portions of
the Bible while expounding and expanding on a given passage.”21 Both Biblical Antiqui-
ties (L.A.B.) and Josephus focus on great leaders, but “the former is a popular history
intended for Jews, whereas the latter is writing a history for a primarily non-Jewish audi-
ence, with a strong streak of the apologetic.”22
Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) refers to the medium of Endor in chapter 64, the penulti-
mate chapter of that work. “Although Pseudo-Philo follows the structure of the biblical
text... his version deviates considerably and becomes virtually a new story.”23
As with the MT, so here also Saul is frustrated at his inability to discern divine direc-
tion. In I Samuel 28 Saul speaks to his courtiers or his servants, presumably trusted advi-
sors. He tasks them with finding a woman who consults ghosts so that he might make
inquiry through her (v. 7). Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) features Saul’s search differently.
He addresses “the people.” He says, “Let us seek out some diviner and inquire of him

Vol. 48, No. 4, 2020

240 DAVID. J. ZUCKER

what I should plan64.3) ‫)״‬. Saul’s assumption is that the medium will be a man. The text
explains that at an earlier point Saul publicly staked his reputation on ridding Israel of
mediums. “Saul thought and said, Tf I remove the wizards from the land, Israel will re-
member me after my death”' (64.1). Now his seeking a medium shows him to be a hypo-
crite. The author of Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) paints a negative picture of the king. In
that selfsame verse, in an aside God notes that Saul while rid the country of necromances,
he had done this not out of fear of God, but to make “a name for himself.” Consequently
God predicts that Saul will end up going to those whom he has dispersed to seek “divina-
tion from them, because he has no prophets.” The Bible explains that Saul sees the Philis-
tine’s army and so he is fearftil (I Sam 28:5). Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) offers a differ-
ent explanation, one which is more personal. “When Saul saw that Samuel was dead and
David was not with him, he grew despondent” (64.3).
In the Bible the medium is anonymized, but here she is named. She is Sedecla, “the
daughter of the Midianite diviner who led the people of Israel astray with sorceries”
(64.3). That the people who speak of her to Saul frame their answer in a negative manner,
that Sedecla’s Midianite father led many Israelites astray, suggests that they do not ap-
prove of Saul’s request. In the Bible Saul asks the medium to bring up someone whom he
shall name. She then retorts that the king has forbidden such activity, and suggests that
her visitor is trying to entrap her. Saul then swears by God, “an ironic contrast with spir-
its of the dead he wanted to invoke-that no guilt would accrue to the woman because of
her actions.”24 At that point Saul names Samuel as the figure he wishes to see (w. 8-
11). In Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) Saul tells the medium directly to bring up Samuel,
and she responds by saying that she fears King Saul. He then promises her that she will
not suffer harm by Saul in this matter. Next, Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) offers totally
new material, matters only found there.
Saul said to himself, “When I was king in Israel, even people who had not seen me,
they knew nevertheless that I was Saul.” Saul then asked the woman, saying, “Have you
ever seen Saul?” She said, “I have seen him often.” Saul went outside and wept and said,
“Behold now I know that my appearance has changed, the glory of my kingship has
passed from me” (64.4).
It is likely that Saul’s statement about his appearance is an allusion to the idea that the
face of the king shone. “Saul means that the radiance that had marked his face is no
longer present. As this radiance is said to have been of celestial origin ... Saul recognizes
that he has lost God’s favor.”25

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MEDIUM OF ENDOR AND SAUL: ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY VIEWS 241
The medium explains to Saul that for four decades she has successfully raised spirits
for the Philistines. Nonetheless, never has a sign been seen like this, nor will it in the
future (64.5). Nothing like these words are found in the Bible. In her description of the
figure raised, she explains: his '4appearance is not that of a man. He is clothed in a white
robe with a mantle placed over it and two angels are leading him.” (64.6).
Samuel is upset at being disturbed. He clearly tells Saul and the medium that it was not
she who brought him up, but rather God who had told Samuel while he was still living
that he would come up to tell the monarch that he had doubly sinned against God. Fur-
thermore he tells Saul that he and his sons would be delivered into the hands of the Phil-
istines and die. At the close of the chapter Saul acknowledges that he will die the next
day, and he states that he hopes that his death 44will be an atonement for my wickedness”
(64.9).26
In Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) both the figures of the medium and of Saul are more
negatively drawn than in the Bible, and considerably more disapprovingly than in Jose-
pirns’ work.

MEDIUM, NECROMANCER, OR WITCH? WHAT’S IN A NAME? QUITE A BIT.

Bible translations as well as scholarly articles differ on how most accurately to refer to
the occupation of this woman in verse 7. NJPS employs the term 44consults ghosts.” A
number of standard Bible translations such as the New International Version (NIV), the
Roman Catholic New American Bible (NAB), and the Roman Catholic Jerusalem Bible
(JB) offer explanatory descriptions prior to certain sections. All three refer to the 44witch”
of Endor. The word 44witch” also is used in scholarly works such as in the Josephus sec-
tion in the Jewish Publication Society’s multi-volume, Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish
Writings Related to Scripture. As mentioned earlier in this article, a witch 44practices
black magic, that is, attempts to influence the future rather than just divine it. The [worn-
an] of Endor is more properly a medium or necromancer (one who divines by means of
the dead).” The term 44witch” is used as a pejorative. Yet as noted earlier, in her role the
44Medium of Endor is a minister of religion, and a good one.” The editors of these various
Bible translations and scholarly works felt that they had some discretion as to the word-
ing of the titles for the subsections. In the actual text translations they were much more
circumspect. NIV and NAB employ the word medium; and JB, necromancer. The New
English Bible (NEB) translates that as a woman who has a familiar spirit, (v. 7). In v. 9
when the woman herself addresses Saul she uses the term one who uses ghosts andfamil­

Vol. 48, No. 4, 2020

242 DAVID. J. ZUCKER

iar spirits (ha-ovot v'et ha-yidoni - NJPS). NIV has mediums and spiritists; NAB uses
mediums and fortune-tellers; JB features necromancers and wizards. NEB features those
who call up ghosts and spirits. NRSV translates these words as mediums and wizards.
Nowhere in the translations from the Hebrew do these sources use the word ‘‘witch.”

CONCLUSION

As David will later lament, “How the mighty have fallen” (II Sam. 19:25, 27). Saul,
once the hope of Israel comes to a bitter end. In his final days, through his own actions he
is cut off from divine support. He finds it necessary secretly to seek out the counsel of a
necromancer. When she brings up the spirit of Samuel, he learns of his own tragic fate on
the coming day. The episode of the encounter between Saul and medium of Endor is as
dramatic as it is sad. For someone whose livelihood is thoroughly condemned by biblical
law, the presentation of the necromancer is surprisingly sympathetic in the Masoretic
Text, especially in light of the clear condemnation of Saul in the later book of Chronicles
(IChr. 10:1314‫)־‬.
In the early years of the first millennium of the Common Era, two sources,
Flavius Josephus’ Judean Antiquities, and the pseudepigraphic work, Biblical
Antiquities (Pseudo-Philo - Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum [L.A.B.]) each offers
a variation of this powerful narrative. Josephus both admires and praises Saul,
and devotes more space to him than is found in the book of I Samuel. Josephus,
often characterized as misogynistic in his descriptions and treatments of women
figures, is surprisingly complimentary and sympathetic to the medium. The
pseudepigraphic work Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) adds, embellishes, and revis-
es the narrative in I Samuel 28. The medium is given a name, Sedecla. Where
Saul is treated sympathetically in Josephus, his figure in Biblical Antiquities
(L.A.B.). is not heroic, and his hypocrisy is highlighted. Samuel’s condemnation
of Saul in this latter work is even more dismal and dark than in either Josephus
or the Bible.
Contemporary scholars comment on the figures of the medium of Endor and Saul. As
Halbertal and Holmes point out, while such knowledge [by the medium of Endor] may
well have been reliable, nevertheless biblical religion insisted that God and his messen-
gers must be the exclusive transmitters of prophetic knowledge. Simon suggests that the
rabbis “accepted the testimony of the verses as given and did not question the ability of
Mediums to create a real link with the dead.” In the view of contemporary writers, Saul is

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MEDIUM OF ENDOR AND SAUL: ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY VIEWS 243
described as a man broken, abandoned and rejected by God. He collapses to the ground,
debilitated by the news of his impending death the next day. He is a tragic figure, and
like the medium herself, Saul deserves our empathy.

NOTES
1. Nahum M. Sama, The JPS Torah Commentary - Exodus, (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication
Society, 1991), 136
2. Moshe Halbertal and Stephen Holmes. The Beginning of Politics: Power in the Book of Samuel.
(Princeton: Princeton University, 2017), 63-64.
3. Cheryl Anne Brown, No Longer Silent: First Century Jewish Portraits of Women. (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox, 1992), 206. In William Whiston’s 18th century translation of Josephus he
terms her a necromancer. Likewise see T. W. Overholt,
https://iwa.org/encvclopedia/article/medium-of-endor-bible. Janice Nunnally-Cox, Foremothers:
Women of the Bible. (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1981), 65-66, as well as Ralph W. Klein, /
Samuel. (Word Bible Commentary. Waco: Word Books, 1983), 270.
4. Venessa Lovelace “Intersections of Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Nation.” The Hebrew Bible:
Feminist and Intersectional Perspectives. Gale Yee, (Ed.) (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2018), 96 [75‫־‬
104]. Lovelace refers to Esther J. Hamori, Women’s Divination in Biblical Literature: Prophecy,
Necromancy, and Other Arts of Knowledge, Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. (New Haven:
Yale University, 2015), 113-14.
5. A. Graeme Auld, I and II Samuel: A Commentary, OTL, (Louisville: Westminster John Knox,
2011), 329.
6. P. Kyle McCarter Jr. I Samuel, Anchor Bible, (Garden City: Doubleday, 1980), 420, 421.
7. David Jobling, / Samuel, Berit Olam, (Collegeville, MN: Michael Glazier/Liturgical, 1998), 186,
189.
8. Paul S. Evans. 1-2 Samuel. The Story of God Bible Commentary. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2018), 282.
9. Uriel Simon. Reading Prophetic Narratives. Lenn J. Schramm, trans. (Bloomington: Indiana
University, 1997), 287, n. 7. TB Shabbat 152b end takes at face value that the necromancer brought
up Samuel’s ghost. See likewise Leviticus Rabbah 26.7; Tanhuma Leviticus (Buber) 8.4, 21.1 ff Part
IV.
10. McCarter, 422.
11. Halbertal and Holmes, 65.
12. Walter Brueggemann, First and Second Samuel. (Louisville: John Knox, 1990), 192, 193, 195,
192.
13. Halbertal and Holmes, 64.
14. Emanuel Tov, “The Bible and the Masoretic Text”, The (Proto-)Masoretic Text:
A Ten-Part Series, (2017). TheTorah.com. http://thetorah.com/proto-masoretic-text/
15. Louis H. Feldman, “Josephus and His Writings. Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings
Related to Scripture, Vol. 1. Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H. Schiffman, (Eds.)
(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2013), 21.
16. Eugene Ulrich, “Josephus’ Biblical Text for the Books of Samuel.” Josephus, the Bible, and
History. Louis H. Feldman and Gohei Hata, Eds. (Detroit: Wayne State, 1989), 82.

Vol. 48, No. 4, 2020

244 DAVID. J. ZUCKER
17. Silvia Castelli, “The Witch of Endor.” Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to
Scripture, Vol. 2. Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H. Schiffman, (Eds.)
(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2013), 1263.
18. Brown, 199-200.
19. Castelli, “The Witch of Endor,” 1267, n. 399.
20. “More space”: Silvia Castelli, “God Rejects Saul.” Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings
Related to Scripture, Vol. 2. Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H. Schiffman, (Eds.)
(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2013), 1258. “Cardinal virtues,” Begg, Flavius Josephus,
Judean Antiquities Books 5-7, 195. The Josephus quotations in this section come, with minor
modifications, from Flavius Josephus, Judean Antiquities Books 5-7. Trans, and commentary by
Christopher Begg. (Leiden: Brill, 2005).
21. Louis H. Feldman, “Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities and Pseudo-Philo’s Biblical Antiquities” Jo-
sephus, the Bible, and History, Louis H. Feldman and Gohei Hata, Eds. (Detroit: Wayne State,
1989), 61. The translation used here is by Howard Jacobson, A Commentary on Pseudo-Philo's
Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum. 1996.
22. Feldman, “Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities/Pseudo-Philo’s Biblical Antiquities,” 73-74.
23. Brown, 183.
24. Klein, 271.
25. Howard Jacobson, “Pseudo-Philo, Book of Biblical Antiquities.” Outside the Bible: Ancient
Jewish Writings Related to Scripture, Vol. 1. Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H.
Schiffman, (Eds.) (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2013), 608. In terms of the king’s face
shining, Jacobson refers to a parallel thought in the Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, chapter 16 (end), a work
which was codified in Talmudic Israel/Babylon (c. 630 - c. 1030 CE).
26. This explanation, death-as-atonement contrasts with Josephus’ understanding. There “Saul’s
motive in meeting death at the hands of the Philistines is his desire for sheer glory and renown
thereafter, reminiscent... of an Achilles or a Hector in Homer’s Iliad. ” Feldman, “Josephus’ Jewish
Antiquities/Pseudo-Philo’s Biblical Antiquities”, 73. Although this final statement by Saul about
atonement has no basis in the Bible, it is also referred to in the Midrash collection, Pirke de Rabbi
Eliezer, chapter 33.

JEWISH BIBLE QUARTERLY

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