a city in the tribe of Manasseh, where the witch resided whom
Saul consulted a little before the battle of Gilboa, Joshua xvii, 11; 1
Sam. xxviii, 13. Mr. Bryant derives Endor from En-Ador, signifying _fons
pythonis_, “the fountain of light,” or oracle of the god Ador: which
oracle was probably founded by the Canaanites, and had never been
totally suppressed. The ancient world had many such oracles: the most
famous of which were that of Jupiter-Ammon in Lybia, and that of Delphi
in Greece: and in all of them, the answers to those who consulted them
were given from the mouth of a female; who, from the priestess of Apollo
at Delphi, has generally received the name of Pythia. That many such
oracles existed in Canaan, is evident from the number which Saul himself
is said to have suppressed; and such a one, with its Pythia, was this at
Endor. At these shrines, either as mock oracles, contrived by a crafty
and avaricious priesthood, to impose on the credulity and superstition
of its followers; or, otherwise, as is more generally supposed, as the
real instruments of infernal power, mankind, having altogether departed
from the true God, were permitted to be deluded. That, in this case, the
real Samuel appeared is plain both from the affright of the woman
herself, and from the fulfilment of his prophecy. It was an instance of
God’s overruling the wickedness of men, to manifest his own supremacy
and justice.
Saul consulted a little before the battle of Gilboa, Joshua xvii, 11; 1
Sam. xxviii, 13. Mr. Bryant derives Endor from En-Ador, signifying _fons
pythonis_, “the fountain of light,” or oracle of the god Ador: which
oracle was probably founded by the Canaanites, and had never been
totally suppressed. The ancient world had many such oracles: the most
famous of which were that of Jupiter-Ammon in Lybia, and that of Delphi
in Greece: and in all of them, the answers to those who consulted them
were given from the mouth of a female; who, from the priestess of Apollo
at Delphi, has generally received the name of Pythia. That many such
oracles existed in Canaan, is evident from the number which Saul himself
is said to have suppressed; and such a one, with its Pythia, was this at
Endor. At these shrines, either as mock oracles, contrived by a crafty
and avaricious priesthood, to impose on the credulity and superstition
of its followers; or, otherwise, as is more generally supposed, as the
real instruments of infernal power, mankind, having altogether departed
from the true God, were permitted to be deluded. That, in this case, the
real Samuel appeared is plain both from the affright of the woman
herself, and from the fulfilment of his prophecy. It was an instance of
God’s overruling the wickedness of men, to manifest his own supremacy
and justice.