It is the same in the Bible with the tragedy of King Saul, the first King of Israel. He has turned his back on God, but continues to seek advice before battling against the Philistines. For help, he sees a medium, or witch, and asks her to summon the spirit of the recently deceased prophet-priest Samuel, who used to help Saul he was serving God. In the same way as the ghost wearing the Kingly cloak appears before the prince, a ghost in a priestly robe appears before Saul., and "Saul knew that it was Samuel." Saul asks this spirit for advice, becomes terrified, and takes his own life in the battle the next day. David, the new king, mourns the death of Saul, just as Fortinbras does with Hamlet. Yet, the Geneva Bible adds with the Corinthians: "It was Satan, who to blind his eyes took upon him the form of amuel as he can do of an Angel of light." Unfortunately, for Hamlet however, he does listen to this ghost -- be this spectral sighting truly his father or some demonical spirit here to cause him harm. Hamlet would most likely had known the story of Saul just as he did know the Corinthian warning that it may not actually be Soloman or his father. He also would know that in the Old Testament revenge is only for God and that a "just" ghost would not have asked him to seek revenge against God's will. Likewise, he would know that in the New Testament Hamlet would know that Jesus tells his followers not to make oaths. "

But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is the throne of God: Nor yet by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thine...

But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Despite all this, Hamlet and the ghost coerce Horatio and Marcellus to swear on Hamlet's sword, even after they have already promised not to tell anyone what they saw. In fact, Horatio and Marcellus have tried to do everything in their power, but the ghost insists that they swear on the sword. Does the ghost, then, "cometh of evil"? Finally, rather than listening to these warnings, the ghost's words in Hamlet's mind takes over. Hamlet avenges his father's murder but, at the same time, loses his life and his kingdom. Shakespeare's "Christian tragic heroes" each succumb to a temptation, one that they recognize and that they know could have terrible consequences. For Hamlet the temptation is listening to the counsel of the "dead."

Today, hundreds of years after Shakespeare wrote his plays -- if it was indeed even Shakespeare who wrote them (even this is not known for sure) -- there still remain so many questions about the symbolism within them. This uncertainty exists even without the added question about the religious element. Whether these plays, as noted above, are actually riddled with religious symbolism is still much contested. Perhaps, the concept of the ghost will always remain an inigma, just the way that Shakespeare may have wanted it to be. Perhaps, Shakespeare just produced a bloody and violently gory play just for the sake of entertaining the masses and today's scholars are seeing much more mystery and religious or anti-religious ghosts where there are none.