En-dor

En-dor, a Canaanite city where Saul consulted a medium before his final battle with the Philistines.

En-dor was a Canaanite city located in the territory allotted to the tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 17:11). However, the Manassites failed to drive out the Canaanites from En-dor, so they continued to live among the Israelites.

The city is most notable as the place where King Saul sought the counsel of a medium on the eve of his final battle against the Philistines (1Sa.28.7). Desperate for guidance, Saul disguised himself and visited the medium, requesting her to conjure up the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel. The medium succeeded, and Samuel's spirit informed Saul that he and his sons would die in battle the next day.

Psalm 83:10 mentions En-dor in the context of a prayer for God's judgment against Israel's enemies, referring to the defeat of Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River near En-dor (Judges 4-5). The city's exact location is uncertain, but it was likely situated in the Jezreel Valley, north of Mount Gilboa.

Fountain of Dor; i.e., “of the age”, a place in the territory of Issachar (Josh. 17:11) near the scene of the great victory which was gained by Deborah and Barak over Sisera and Jabin (comp. Ps. 83:9, 10). To Endor, Saul resorted to consult one reputed to be a witch on the eve of his last engagement with the Philistines (1 Sam. 28:7). It is identified with the modern village of Endur, “a dirty hamlet of some twenty houses, or rather huts, most of them falling to ruin,” on the northern slope of Little Hermon, about 7 miles from Jezreel.