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to inquire as if at an oracle. 2.6 And when the very worst of servants immediately informed on the frantic woman, Saul, without delay, disguised himself and changing the clothes of his attire, went off at a run, having abandoned his army. And when he arrived to her along with two men by night, he then made demands to her, saying, “Divine for me now,” by ventriloquism, “and bring up for me,” he says, “whomever I tell you.” 2.7 Therefore, if Saul asked to have a divination through the ventriloquist, one might say his words were true. But is there anyone who is ignorant that he was driven by a demon with savage passions, having turned to incurable divinations and diabolical energies of fables? 2.8 For what? Is not God more trustworthy, who put the words into the mouth of Balaam, and allowed Moses to write explicitly in Numbers: “For there is no omen in Jacob, nor divination in Israel”? 2.9 If, therefore, such things have been established as forbidden, being foul abominations and causes of the most hateful idolatry, how could a witness be reliable who attempted to use these things most unholily? But we shall speak of these things more completely a little later when we take them up again; but we must return again to the history of the scripture.

3.1 When, therefore, the woman saw the frenzied Saul, pretending not to know the

ruler, she retorted that he himself would know better what Saul had done to those skilled in these things, “how he exterminated the ventriloquists,” she said, “and those who speak from the earth.” 3.2 And on account of this, she said that her soul was being ensnared by him unto death. But when, having assured her by an oath, he affirmed that she would suffer nothing untoward, the woman, strengthened again in her wickedness, of course replies more boldly: “Whom,” she says, “shall I bring up for you?” 3.3 Of what country and of what kind and who was this wretched old woman, that she should promise to raise Samuel from the dead? And indeed, if we must speak putting aside the question of worth, she was in no way able to raise a prophetic soul, nor indeed that of any ordinary person at all, nor even that of an ant or a flea. For demons do not have authority over spirits and souls, but God who is master of all things together; so that it must be granted to the divine nature alone to summon and recall souls again from Hades. 3.4 But the clever Origen, wishing to introduce into the choir of the church the instruments of idolatry and the devices of necromancy, falsifies the divine scripture. For although the scripture itself openly exclaims that the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”, this man, twisting it to the contrary, said that the person of the Holy Spirit had said these things. 3.5 Then, being carried away, he strayed so much that he does not blush to attribute to the Holy Spirit the words of the frantic woman; and blaspheming such things with a more naked tongue, he refers the whole thing to the Holy Spirit, trying to shame his hearers with a trustworthy name. 3.6 So, as I said, the woman asked, and as if having authority to summon the dead, she cries out: “Whom,” she says, “shall I bring up for you?” And when the one seeking divination said for Samuel to be brought up, she adds again: “and the woman saw Samuel,” she said, “and she cried out with a loud voice and said” to the ruler, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.” 3.7 And when the king said to her, “Do not be afraid,” and added, “What have you seen?”, the pythoness, retorting again in turn, said: “I have seen gods ascending from the earth.” And when finally the ruler asked, saying “What did you recognize?”, she immediately retorted again in a word, “An old man ascending from the earth, and he is wrapped in a double cloak.” 3.8 What, then, does the divine scripture declare concerning these things? “And Saul knew that this was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did obeisance to him.” It appears, therefore, that the version of the divine scripture nowhere at all said that Samuel was brought up through the

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πευσόμενος ὡς ἐν μαντείῳ. 2.6 τῶν δὲ δὴ χειρίστων ὑπηρετῶν αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα καταμηνυσάντων τὴν ἔμπληκτον, ὁ μὲν Σαοὺλ ἀμελλητὶ μετασχηματίσας ἑαυτὸν καὶ τὰ τὴς ἐσθῆτος ἀμείψας ἐνδύματα δρομαῖος ᾤχετο, τὴν στρατιὰν ἐκλιπών. ὡς δὲ ἀφίκετο πρὸς αὐτὴν ἅμα δυοῖν ἀνδράσι νύκτωρ, ἀξιώσεις αὐτῇ προσεφέρετο τηνικαῦτα, «μάντευσαι δή μοι» λέγων «ἐν τῷ ἐγγαστριμύθῳ καὶ ἀνάγαγέ μοι» φησὶν «ὃν ἂν εἴπω σοι». 2.7 τοιγαροῦν, εἴπερ ὁ Σαοὺλ ἐδεῖτο διὰ τῆς ἐγγαστριμύθου μαντεύσασθαι, φαίη τις ἂν ἀληθεῖς εἶναι τὰς ἐκείνου φωνάς. ἀλλ' ἔστι τις ἀγνοῶν ὡς ἐκεῖνος ὑπὸ τοῦ δαίμονος ἀγρίοις ἠλαύνετο θυμοῖς, εἰς ἀνηκέστους ἐκτραπεὶς μαντείας καὶ διαβολικὰς μύθων ἐνεργείας; 2.8 τί γάρ; οὐκ ἀξιόπιστος μᾶλλόν ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς ὁ τοὺς μὲν λόγους εἰς τὸ στόμα τοῦ Βαλαὰμ ἐμβαλών, ἐπιτρέψας δὲ Μωσεῖ γράψαι ῥητῶς ἐν τοῖς Ἀριθμοῖς· «οὐ γάρ ἐστιν οἰωνισμὸς ἐν Ἰακώβ, οὐδὲ μαντεία ἐν Ἰσραήλ»; 2.9 εἰ τοίνυν ἀπαγορευτέα τὰ τοιάδε καθέστηκεν, οἷα δὴ βδελύγματα μυσερὰ καὶ τῆς ἐχθίστης εἰδωλολατρείας αἴτια, πῶς ἂν εἴη φερέγγυος [ὁ] μάρτυς ὁ τούτοις ἀνοσιώτατα χρήσασθαι πειραθείς; ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὀλίγον ὕστερον ἐπαναλαβόντες ἐντελέστερον ἐροῦμεν· ἐπανιτέον δὲ πάλιν εἰς τὴν τοῦ γράμματος ἱστορίαν.

3.1 Ὡς οὖν ἡ γυνὴ τὸν ἔκφρονα Σαοὺλ ἐθεάσατο, πλαττομένη μὴ εἰδέναι τὸν

δυνάστην ἀνθυπέφερεν ὡς αὐτὸς ἄμεινον ἂν εἴη γινώσκων ὅσα πεποιήκει τοῖς περὶ ταῦτα δεινοῖς ὁ Σαούλ, «ὡς ἐξωλόθρευσε τοὺς ἐγγαστριμύθους» ἔφη «καὶ τοὺς ἐκφωνοῦντας ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς» 3.2 ἕνεκα δὲ τούτου παγιδεύσασθαι πρὸς αὐτοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν ἔφασκεν εἰς θάνατον. ἐπειδὴ δὲ πιστωσάμενος ὅρκῳ διεβεβαιώσατο μηδὲν αὐτὴν ὑποστῆναι σκαιόν, αὖθις ἐπιρρωσθεῖσα τῇ κακίᾳ παρρησιέστερον ἀποκρίνεται δήπουθεν ἡ γυνή· «τίνα» φησὶν «ἀναγάγω σοι;» 3.3 ποταπὴ καὶ ὁποία καὶ τίς ἡ κακοδαίμων ἐτύγχανεν αὕτη γραῦς, ἵνα ὑπόσχηται τὸν Σαμουὴλ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάξαι; καὶ μήν, εἴ γε δεῖ τὸ τῆς ἀξίας ὑπερθεμένους εἰπεῖν, οὐχ ὁπωσοῦν ἠδύνατο προφητικὴν ἀνάξαι ψυχήν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων οὐδενὸς οὐδ' ὅλως, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ μύρμηκος ἢ ψύλλης. οὐ γὰρ οἱ δαίμονες ἐξουσίαν ἔχουσιν πνευμάτων τε καὶ ψυχῶν, ἀλλ' ὁ πάντων ὁμοῦ δεσπόζων θεός· ὥστε τῇ θείᾳ δοτέον φύσει μόνῃ ἐξ ᾅδου μεταπέ μπεσθαι καὶ πάλιν ἀνακαλεῖσθαι ψυχάς. 3.4 ἀλλ' ὁ κομψὸς Ὠριγένης, εἰδωλολατρείας ὄργανα καὶ νεκυομαντείας εὑρήματα τῷ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐθέλων ἐπεισκυκλῆσαι χορῷ, τοῦ θείου καταψεύδεται γράμματος. αὐτῆς γάρ τοι τῆς γραφῆς ἀναφανδὸν ἐκβοώσης ὡς εἶπεν ἡ γυνὴ «τίνα ἀναγάγω σοι;», τοὐναντίον ἀντιστρέψας οὗτος, τὸ πρόσωπον ἔφη ταῦτα εἰρηκέναι τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος. 3.5 εἶτα τοσοῦτον ἐξετράπη παρασυρείς, ὥστε οὐκ ἐρυθριᾷ τῷ ἁγίῳ περιτιθέναι πνεύματι τὰ τὴς ἐπιλήπτου ῥήματα· τοιαῦτα δὲ γυμνοτέρᾳ τῇ γλώττῃ βλασφημῶν, εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἀναφέρει τὸ πᾶν, ἀξιοπίστῳ τοὺς αὐτηκόους ὀνόματι καταιδέσαι πειρώμενος. 3.6 ἤρετο μὲν οὖν, ὡς ἔφην, ἡ γυνή, καὶ καθάπερ ἐξουσίαν ἔχουσα τοῦ μεταπέμπεσθαι τοὺς νεκροὺς ἐκφωνεῖ· «τίνα» φησὶν «ἀναγάγω σοι;». τοῦ δὲ μαντευομένου φήσαντος ἀναχθῆναι τὸν Σαμουήλ, αὖθις ἐπιφέρει· «καὶ εἶδεν ἡ γυνὴ τὸν Σαμουὴλ» ἔφη «καὶ ἐβόησεν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ εἶπεν» τῷ δυνάστῃ «διὰ τί παρελογίσω με; καὶ σὺ εἷ Σαούλ». 3.7 ὧς δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἔφησεν αὐτῇ «μὴ φοβοῦ» καὶ τὸ «τί ἑόρακας;» ἐπάγει προσθείς, αὖθις ἀνθυπενέγκασα πάλιν ἡ πυθόμαντις ἔφη· «θεοὺς ἑόρακα ἀναβαίνοντας ἐκ τῆς γῆς». ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον ὁ δυνάστης ἤρετο, «τί ἔγνως;» εἰπών, αὐτίκα πάλιν ἀθυπήνεγκε πρὸς ἔπος «ἄνδρα ὄρθιον ἀναβαίνοντα ἐκ τῆς γῆς, καὶ οὗτος ἀναβεβλημένος διπλοΐδα». 3.8 τί οὖν ἐπὶ τούτοις ἡ θεία διαγορεύει γραφή; «καὶ ἔγνω Σαοὺλ ὅτι Σαμουήλ ἐστιν οὗτος, καὶ ἔκυψεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γὴν καὶ προσεκύνησεν αὐτῷ.» φαίνεται τοίνυν ὡς οὐδαμοῦ τὸ παράπαν ἡ τοῦ θείου γράμματος ἔφησεν ἐκδοχὴ τὸν Σαμουὴλ ἀνῆχθαι διὰ τῆς