The nations that surrounded Judah rushed in with the sole intention of destroying the kingdom of Judah and of removing the sons of the kingdom from its midst. So too with their corruption they corrupted the high priests, scribes and Pharisees—and even the heretics. They forbade the sons of the kingdom (certainly, a reference to the leaders of that kingdom) from preaching or worshiping the grace of the Holy Spirit in their sincere heart. That is the meaning of their striking down Jonathan, "the gift of the dove." They forbade praising the Father through a worthy confession, who made us his sons not by nature but by adoption. The death of Abinadab pointed to this, for his name means "Father of his own volition." They resisted so that they would not believe in the salvation that was coming into the world through Christ‘s kingdom. The death of Malchishua pointed to this, since his name means "My king is my salvation." I believe that the philosopher who seduced Arius killed Malchishua, as it were, just as the one who seduced Macedonius killed Jonathan, and the one who seduced Mani killed Abinadab. I say that because the master of corruption taught Arius to deny the omnipotence of Christ the king, Macedonius to detract from the gift of the Holy Spirit, and Mani to blaspheme the goodness of our great God―Bede

Why, even now the followers of Simon [Magus] (Acts 8) are so confident of their art that they undertake to bring back the souls of the prophets from hell. And this, I believe, because their power lies in their ability to deceive. This power was actually granted to the witch of Endor, who brought back the soul of Samuel after Saul had consulted God in vain. Apart from that case, God forbid we should believe that any soul, much less a prophet, could be called forth by a demon. We are told that "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" (2 Cor 11:14)—and more easily into a man of light—and that at the end he will work marvelous signs and show himself as God, so much so that, "if possible, he will deceive even the elect." (Mt 24:24) He hardly hesitated to declare to Saul that he was the prophet [Samuel] in whom the devil was then dwelling.

So, you must not think that the spirit which created the apparition was different from the one who made Saul believe in it; but, the same spirit was in the witch of Endor and in the apostate [Saul], and so it was easy for him to suggest the lie that he had already made Saul believe. Saul‘s treasure, indeed, was then where his heart was (Mt 6:21), where God most certainly was not. Thus, he saw only the devil, through whom he believed he would see Samuel, for he believed in the spirit who showed him the apparition―Tertullian

That souls survive I have shown to you from the fact that the soul of Samuel was called up by the witch, as Saul demanded. It appears also that all the souls of similar righteous people and prophets fell under the dominion of such powers, which is certainly to be inferred from the very facts in the case of that witch. For this reason God, by his Son, also teaches us—for whose sake these things seem to have been done—always to strive earnestly and at death to pray that our souls may not fall into the hands of any such power—Justin Martyr

Also, some can be sent to the living from the dead, just as in the opposite direction divine Scripture testifies that Paul was snatched from the living into paradise (2 Cor 12:2). Samuel the prophet, although dead, predicted future events to King Saul, who was alive, although some think that it was not Samuel himself who was able to be called forth by some magic, but that some spirit so allied with evil works had feigned a likeness to him—yet the book of Ecclesiasticus, which Jesus the son of Sirach is said to have written, but because of some similarity of style is thought to be the work of Solomon, contains in praise of the fathers the fact that Samuel prophesied even though dead (Sir 46:16–20). If there is objection to this book on the ground that it is not in the canon of ancient Hebrew Scripture, what are we going to say of Moses, who in Deuteronomy is certainly recorded as dead and again in the Gospel of Matthew is reported to have appeared to the living along with Elijah who did not die—St Augustine

David had two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite, and Abigail, whom he took later. The first was somewhat severe, the other full of mercy and graciousness, a kindly and generous soul who saw the Father with face unveiled, gazing on his glory. She received that heavenly dew of the grace of the Father, as her name is interpreted. What is the dew of the Father but the Word of God, which fills the hearts of all with the waters of faith and justice?

Beautifully does the true David say to this soul what was said to Abigail: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your customs." And again he says to her, "Go in peace into your house, behold now I have heard your voice and have honored your face." In the Canticles, too, these are the words of the bridegroom to his bride: "Show me your face and let me hear your voice." (Song 2:14)

Then she was sent away, since she had another husband who was called, in Hebrew, Nabal, which, in Latin, means foolish, harsh, unkind, ungentle, ungrateful, for he did not know how to show gratitude. Later, when her husband died, David the prophet took her as his wife, since she was set free from the law of her husband. Through this union is signified the mystery of the church of the Gentiles which would believe, for, after losing her husband to whom she was at first united, she made her way to Christ, bringing a dowry of piety, of humility and of faith, and enriched with the heritage of mercy―St Ambrose of Milan