{{Short description|none}} [[File:The Witch of Endor (William Blake) 2.jpg|thumb|William Blake's painting of Saul, the shade of Samuel and the Witch of Endor]]
Various forms of witchcraft and divination are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament), which are expressly forbidden.
==Prohibitions== Laws prohibiting various forms of witchcraft and divination can be found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. These include the following (as translated in the Revised JPS, 2023:
*Exodus 22:18 – "You shall not tolerate a sorceress <nowiki>[</nowiki>{{langx|hbo|מְכַשֵּׁפָ֖ה|mək̲aššēp̄ā}}]."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Exodus 22:17 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.22.17?ven=THE%20JPS%20TANAKH:%20Gender-Sensitive%20Edition&lang=en&with=Translations&lang2=en |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> *Leviticus 19:26 – "You shall not eat anything with its blood. You shall not practice divination or soothsaying [{{lang|hbo|תְנַחֲשׁ֖וּ וְלֹ֥א תְעוֹנֵֽנוּ}} ''tənaḥăšu wəlo t̲əʿonēnu'']."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leviticus 19:26 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Leviticus.19.26?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> *Leviticus 20:27 – "A man or a woman who has a ghost or a familiar spirit [{{lang|hbo|א֛וֹב א֥וֹ יִדְּעֹנִ֖י}} ''ob̲ o yiddəʿoni''] shall be put to death; they shall be pelted with stones—and the bloodguilt is theirs."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leviticus 20:27 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Leviticus.20.27?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> *Deuteronomy 18:10-11 – "Let no one be found among you who consigns a son or daughter to the fire, or who is an augur, a soothsayer, a diviner, a sorcerer, one who casts spells, or one who consults ghosts or familiar spirits, or one who inquires of the dead [{{lang|hbo|דֹרֵ֖שׁ אֶל־הַמֵּתִֽים}} ''dorēš el-hammēt̲im'']."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Deuteronomy 18:10 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.18.10?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref>
The forms of divination mentioned in Deuteronomy 17 are portrayed as foreign; this is the only part of the Hebrew Bible to make such a claim.<ref>{{cite book |title=Divination in Ancient Israel and its Near Eastern Environment: A Socio-Historical Investigation |last=Cryer |first=Frederick H. |publisher=A&C Black |date=1994 |pages=231–2}}</ref> According to Ann Jeffers, the presence of laws forbidding necromancy proves that it was practiced throughout Israel's history.<ref>{{cite book |title=Magic and Divination in Ancient Palestine and Syria |last=Jeffers |first=Ann |publisher=Brill |year=1996 |page=181}}</ref>
The exact difference between the three forbidden forms of necromancy mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:11 is a matter of uncertainty; ''yiddeʿoni'' ("wizard") is always used together with ''ov'' "consulter with familiar spirits",<ref>{{harvnb|Jeffers|1996|page=172}}</ref> and its semantic similarity to ''doresh el hametim'' ("necromancer", or "one who directs inquiries to the dead") raises the question of why all three are mentioned in the same verse.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} The Jewish tractate ''Sanhedrin'' makes the distinction that a ''doresh el hametim'' was a person who would sleep in a cemetery after having starved himself, in order to become possessed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.65b?lang=bi |title=Sanhedrin 65b |publisher=Sefaria |accessdate=12 November 2021}}</ref>
A prophetic passage in the Book of Micah states that witchcraft and soothsaying will be eliminated in the Messianic Age (Micah 5:12).
==Instances in Biblical narrative== * In the Book of Exodus, Egyptian magicians replicate several of the signs delivered to the Biblical Pharaoh by Moses and Aaron. * In 1 Samuel 28, Saul enlists the Witch of Endor to summon the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel, who rebukes him for using witchcraft.
==See also== * Ancient Jewish magic * Christian views on magic * ''Daemonologie'' * Halakha * Islam and magic * Jewish views on astrology * Mediumship * Practical Kabbalah * Semitic neopaganism
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/leviticus1722new0000unse/page/1686 |last=Milgrom |first=Jacob |year=2000 |title=Leviticus 17-22 |publisher=Doubleday |pages=1686–89|isbn=9780385412551 }}
{{The Bible}} {{Witchcraft}} {{Witch trials}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witchcraft And Divination In The Bible}} Category:Divination Category:Hebrew Bible topics Category:Judaism and paganism Category:Judaism and witchcraft