En dor
“Fountain of Dor (the dwelling)”
Summary
A town in Issachar possessed by Manasseh, famous as the residence of the medium whom Saul consulted before his final battle.
☩Location
En-dor was a town in the territory of Issachar that was possessed by Manasseh along with several other towns. It lay about four miles south of Mount Tabor on the slopes of the 'little Hermon.' The Israelites were unable to expel the Canaanites from it until a late period. The area has many caves, in one of which the medium probably practiced her incantations.
☩Historical Associations
En-dor is connected with the great victory of Deborah and Barak over Sisera and Jabin—Psalm 83 mentions that Sisera and Jabin 'perished at En-dor.' More infamously, it was the home of the medium whom King Saul consulted on the eve of his final battle against the Philistines, after God no longer answered him through legitimate means. The journey from Gilboa to En-dor was seven or eight miles over difficult ground, requiring Saul to pass near the Philistine camp in the darkness.
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "En-dor," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. III (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Endor," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).