Servants: in the present context this probably does not refer to household servants but to “officers” (Contemporary English Version) or “courtiers” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). See the comments on 8.14.

The word rendered medium is literally “mistress of the spirit” or “mistress of the ghost.” On the word medium see the comments at verse 3. The words inquire of her may be translated “that I may consult the dead through her” (so Fox, who places the words “the dead” in parentheses to show that they are not written in the Hebrew).

Behold: the focusing particle here fixes attention on the location of the kind of person that Saul was looking for.

The town of Endor (mentioned in Josh 17.11) was located in the territory of Manasseh a short distance northeast of the Philistine camp, so Saul had to cross territory under Philistine control to go to Endor.

The direct quotations of this verse may be made indirect as follows:

• Then Saul told his officers to find a woman who was able to communicate with the dead so that he could go to her in order to ask some questions. And his officers told him that there was such a person in the town of Endor.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .