Brothers refuse the medium; then Samuel in Hades cascades
And indeed we know some of our brothers who have looked the Scripture in the face and say: “I do not believe the medium. The medium says she has seen Samuel—she lies.”
“Samuel was not brought up; Samuel does not speak. But just as there are some false prophets saying, ‘Thus says the Lord,’ and ‘the Lord has not spoken,’ so also this demon lies, promising to bring up the one Saul commands. ‘Whom shall I bring up?’ she says; ‘Bring Samuel up for me.’ And these things are said by those who claim this story is not true: Samuel in Hades? Samuel is brought up by a medium—the exceptional one among the prophets, the one dedicated to God from birth, the one said before birth to be in the temple, the one who at weaning put on the ephod and the double cloak and became a priest of the Lord, to whom while still a child the Lord gave oracles by speaking? Samuel in Hades? Samuel among the underworld—the one who succeeded Eli when he was condemned by providence for the children’s sins and lawlessness? Samuel in Hades, whom God heard at the time of wheat harvest and gave rain to come from heaven? Samuel in Hades—the one who spoke so boldly: Did he take anyone’s desire? He did not take the calf; he did not take the ox; he judged and condemned the people while remaining poor; he never desired to take anything from so great and so large a people.”
“Samuel—why in Hades? You see what follows from Samuel in Hades. Samuel in Hades? Why not also Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in Hades? Samuel in Hades? Why not also Moses, paired with Samuel according to what was said: ‘Not even if Moses and Samuel stood, not even of them…’? Samuel in Hades? Why not also Jeremiah in Hades, to whom it was said: ‘Before I formed you in the belly I know you, and before you came out of the womb I consecrated you’? In Hades also Isaiah, in Hades also Jeremiah, in Hades all the prophets, in Hades.”
Greek
Καὶ μὴν γοῦν ἴσμεν τινὰς τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀδελφῶν ἀντιβλέψαντας τῇ γραφῇ καὶ λέγοντας· οὐ πιστεύω τῇ ἐγγαστριμύθῳ. λέγει ἡ ἐγγαστρίμυθος ἑωρακέναι τὸν Σαμουήλ, ψεύδεται.
Σαμουὴλ οὐχ ἀνήχθη, Σαμουὴλ οὐ λαλεῖ. ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ εἰσί τινες ψευδοπροφῆται λέγοντες· «τάδε λέγει κύριος« καὶ «κύριος οὐκ ἐλάλησεν«, οὕτως καὶ τὸ δαιμόνιον τοῦτο ψεύδεται, ἐπαγγελλόμενον ἀνάγειν τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ Σαοὺλ προστασσόμενον. «τίνα γὰρ ἀναγάγω;« φησίν· «Σαμουὴλ ἀνάγαγέ μοι. καὶ ταῦτα λέγεται ὑπὸ τῶν φασκόντων τὴν ταύτην μὴ εἶναι ἀληθῆ· Σαμουὴλ ἐν ᾅδου; Σαμουὴλ ὑπὸ ἐγγαστριμύθου ἀνάγεται ὁ ἐξαίρετος τῶν προφητῶν, ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς γενέσεως ἀναδείμενος τῷ θεῷ, ὁ πρὸ γενέσεως ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ λεγόμενος ἔσεσθαι, ὁ ἅμα τῷ ἀπογαλακτισθῆναι ἐνδυσάμενος ἐφοὺδ καὶ διπλοΐδα καὶ ἱερεὺς γενόμενος τοῦ κυρίου, ᾡ παιδίῳ ἔτι ὄντι ἔχρημάτισεν ὁ κύριος λαλῶν; Σαμουὴλ ἐν ᾅδου; Σαμουὴλ ἐν τοῖς καταχθονίοις ὁ διαδεξάμενος Ἡλὶ διὰ τὰ τῶν τέκνων ἁμαρτήματα καὶ παρανομήματα καταδικασθέντα ὑπὸ τῆς προνοίας; Σαμουὴλ ἐν ᾅδου, οὗ ὁ θεὸς ἐπήκουσεν ἐν καιρῷ θερισμοῦ πυρῶν, καὶ ὑετὸν ἔδωκεν ἐλθεῖν ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ; Σαμουὴλ ἐν ᾅδου ὁ τοιαῦτα παρρησιασάμενος, εἰ ἐπιθύμημά | | τινος ἔλαβεν; οὐκ ἔλαβεν τὸν μόσχον, οὐκ ἔλαβεν τὸν βοῦν, ἔκρινεν καὶ κατεδίκασεν τὸν λαὸν μένων πένης· οὐδέποτε ἐπεθύμησεν λαβεῖν τι ἀπὸ τηλικούτου λαοῦ καὶ τοσούτου.
Σαμουὴλ ἴνα τί ἐν ᾅδου; ὁρᾶτε τί ἀκολουθεῖ τῷ Σαμουὴλ ἐν ᾅδου; Σαμουὴλ ἐν ᾅδου; διὰ τί οὐχὶ καὶ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ ἐν ᾅδου; Σαμουὴλ ἐν ᾅδου; διὰ τί οὐχὶ καὶ Μωσῆς ὁ συνεζευγμένος τῷ Σαμουὴλ κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον· οὐδὲ ἐὰν στῇ Μωσῆς καὶ Σαμουήλ, οὐδὲ ἐκείνων ; Σαμουὴλ ἐν ᾅδου; ἵνα τί μὴ καὶ Ἱερεμίας έν ᾅδου, πρὸς ὃν εἰρηται· «πρὸ τοῦ με πλάσαι σε ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἐπίσταμαί σε, καὶ πρὸ τοῦ σε ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ μήτρας ἡγίακά σε«; ἐν ᾅδου καὶ Ἡσαΐας, ἐν ᾅδου καὶ Ἱερεμίας, ἐν ᾅδου πάντες οἱ προφῆται, ἐν ᾅδου.
About this text
Origen, Homily on 1 Samuel 28 (the medium). Original English Translation from the Greek (Klostermann).
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.