John Gill Commentary 1 Samuel 28:16

"And Samuel said, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing Jehovah is departed from thee, and is become thine adversary?" — 1 Samuel 28:16 (ASV)

Then said Samuel, wherefore then do you, ask of me Whom you know to have been a prophet of the Lord, and therefore can say nothing more or less than what comes from him, and is according to his will, if anything at all; the "devil" representing Samuel, whom Saul had called for, and reasons in such language as might be thought to be his own, though sometimes he betrays himself:

seeing the Lord is departed from you ; as Saul himself owned: to which he adds,

and is become your enemy ; to make his case appear still more desperate; for his whole view is to lead him to despair, which shows what sort of spirit he was: though some understand this as spoken of David, and read the words, and "he is with your enemy" ^F9 ; is on his side, and favours his cause; so the Targum, "and he is for the help of a man, whose enmity you share in;" or who is at enmity with you, meaning David; but now the true Samuel would never have said this, or suggested it, that David was an enemy to Saul, for he was not.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F9: (Kre yhyw) "et est cum inimico tuo", Pagninus, Vatablus; so V. L.