1 Samuel 28:22
ESV
Now therefore, you also obey your servant. Let me set a morsel of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way."
NIV
Now please listen to your servant and let me give you some food so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way."
NASB
So now you too, please listen to the voice of your servant, and let me serve you a piece of bread, and eat it, so that you will have strength when you go on your way.'
CSB
Now please listen to your servant. Let me set some food in front of you. Eat and it will give you strength so you can go on your way."
NLT
Now do what I say, and let me give you a little something to eat so you can regain your strength for the trip back.'
KJV
Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way.
NKJV
Now therefore, please, heed also the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.”
What does 1 Samuel 28:22 mean?
When new customers arrived at the medium's doorway, and especially when one was revealed to be King Saul, the medium was afraid for her life. She chose to believe the king when he said she'd be safe. She contacted the prophet Samuel for him (1 Samuel 28:8–14). Samuel's news for Saul is terrifying. The king and his sons will die in battle with the Philistines the next day. Saul is so overcome he collapses to the ground (1 Samuel 28:15–20).The woman realizes the king is more afraid than she is. While she feared he would kill her, he knows he is going to die. For now, though, he's in her home, under her hospitality. With the help of his two servants, she gets Saul to take just a little bit of bread. Then, she prepares a calf along with fresher bread. When their bellies are filled, the three men leave her in peace (1 Samuel 28:23–25).
Part of why Saul collapses is because he's been fasting. This isn't the first time; he once told his entire army they must not eat before they had won the battle. They won, but at the end, the men were so hungry they tore into the spoils without properly processing the meat (1 Samuel 14:24–35). Even at the end, Saul hasn't learned that God prefers obedience to ritualistic superstition (1 Samuel 15:22–23). Sometimes, fasting brings wisdom. But sometimes the very act is foolishness.
