1 Samuel 28:25
ESV
and she put it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.
NIV
Then she set it before Saul and his men, and they ate. That same night they got up and left.
NASB
She then served it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and left that night.
CSB
She served it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Afterward, they got up and left that night.
NLT
She brought the meal to Saul and his advisers, and they ate it. Then they went out into the night.
KJV
And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night.
NKJV
So she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.
What does 1 Samuel 28:25 mean?
Saul eats what is likely the final meal of his life. He is with two servants in the home of a medium: someone who attempts to contact the spirits of the dead. Saul has just learned that he and his sons will die the next day (1 Samuel 28:19). The medium has persuaded him to eat so that he will have the strength to travel (1 Samuel 28:23) She prepares and serves the meal quickly, and the three men are able to leave her house before morning. The text doesn't describe it, but Saul would have had to travel back to the camp of the Israelites in disguise once again by making his way around the camp of the Philistine army (1 Samuel 28:8).Saul has consistently disobeyed God since early in his reign as king. He sacrificed when he should have waited for Samuel (1 Samuel 13:8–13). He kept the livestock and the king of the Amalekites alive when God told him to destroy them all (1 Samuel 15:4–9). Because of his sins, Samuel had to tell Saul that God was taking the throne from his family and His Spirit from his heart (1 Samuel 13:14; 15:28; 16:13–14).
Despite his stunning refusal to obey God in warfare, Saul still desperately wants God's guidance as he faces an unbeatable Philistine army. Saul should have known God wasn't answering because of Saul's disobedience. Tomorrow, His judgment will be complete. Saul and three of his sons, including Jonathan, will fall in battle (1 Samuel 28:15–19). Saul collapses to the ground in despair, and the medium hurries to his aid. She forces him to eat some bread while she fixes a meal. Now, Saul and his servants share one last dinner before battle (1 Samuel 28:20–24).
In a strange course of events only God could orchestrate, David is currently on the Philistine side. The king of Gath had agreed to protect David, his 600 men, and their families from Saul (1 Samuel 27:1–4). In exchange, the king has ordered them to fight their own people (1 Samuel 28:1–2). This very night, the other Philistine commanders refuse to fight with David, the warrior said to have struck down "ten thousand" Philistines (1 Samuel 29).
David and his men will head home the morning of the battle. When they arrive, they will find the Amalekites have burned their city and taken their wives and children. While David recovers everything he lost, he won't know that his king and his best friend are dead (1 Samuel 29).
