The text leaves implicit the fact that the woman apparently did indeed cause Samuel to come into her presence so that she could actually identify him.

No reason is given in the text to explain how the woman recognized Saul after seeing Samuel. Any answer is simply speculation and should not be part of the translation of this verse.

The verbs cried out and said [to Saul] seem to refer to two different utterances. What the woman cried out is not specified, but it was very probably a shout of apprehension with no specific words. Her fear seems to be based not on the recognition of Samuel but on the fact that at the same time she realized that her visitor was really King Saul. Contemporary English Version makes two sentences: “… she screamed. Then she turned to Saul and said….”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .