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The use of this kind of power is dangerous and puts the user not under the power of God but of Satan. We are the temple of God and not to take any unclean things into this temple, yet many will play with the power of Satan. 1 Cor 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

en-chant'b4ment: The occult arts, either supposedly or pretentiously supernatural, were common to all oriental races. They included enchantment, sorcery, witchcraft, sooth-saying, augury, necromancy, divination in numberless forms, and all kinds of magic article Nine varieties are mentioned in one single passage in the Pentateuch (Dt 18:10, 11); other varieties in many passages both in the Old Testament and New Testament, e.g. Lev 19:26, 31; Isa 2:6; 57:3; Jer 27:9; Mic 5:12; Acts 8:9, 11; 13:6, 8; Gal 5:20; Rev 9:21. The extent of the magic arts (forbidden under Judaism and Christianity) may incidentally be seen
from the fact that the Scriptures alone refer to their being practiced in Chaldea (Dan 5:11), Babylon (Ezek 21:21), Assyria (2 Ki 17:17), Egypt (Ex 7:11), Canaan (Lev 18:3, 11; 19:26, 31), Asia (Ephesus, Acts 19:13, 19), Greece (Acts 16:16), Arabia also, as "customs from the East," etc. (Isa 2:6) indicates. These secret arts were prohibited by the laws of Moses (Dt 18:9-12), inasmuch as they constituted a peculiar temptation to Israel to apostatize. They were a constant incentive to idolatry, clouded the mind with superstition, tended and were closely allied to imposture (Mt 24:24). The term "enchantment" is found only in the Old Testament and its Hebrew originals indicate its varieties.

(1) íéèÄìÈ, laôtÖŒôm, and íéèÄä˜ìÀ, l^ehaôtÖŒôm "to wrap up," "muffie," "cover,"
hence, "clandestine," "secret." It was this hidden element that enabled the
magicians of Egypt to impose on the credulity of Pharaoh in imitating or
reproducing the miracles of Moses and Aaron; "They … did in like manner with
their enchantments" (Ex 7:11, 22). Their inability to perform a genuine miracle is
shown by Ex 8:18.

(2) Lç—ðˆ, naôhÖash, "to hiss," "whisper" referring to the mutterings of
sorcerers in their incantations. Used as a derivative noun this Hebrew word
means "a serpent." This involves the idea of cunning and subtlety. Although
employed in the wider sense of augury or prognostication, its fundamental
meaning is divination by serpents. This was the form of enchantment sought by
Balaam (Nu 24:1). Its impotence against the people of God is shown by Nu 23:23
m. Shalmaneser forced this forbidden art upon the Israelites whom he carried
captive to Assyria (2 Ki 17:17). It was also one of the heathen practices
introduced during the apostasy under Ahab, against which Elijah protested
(compare 1 Ki 21:20).

(3) Lç—ìÈ, laôhÖash, "to whisper," "mutter," an onomatopoetic word, like the
above, in imitation of the hiss of serpents. It is used of the offensive practice of
serpent charming referred to in Eccl 10:11, and as Delitzsch says, in the place
cited., "signifies the whispering of formulas of charming." See also Isa 3:3,
"skilful enchanter"; Jer 8:17, "serpents, cockatrices (the Revised Version (British
and American) "adders") … which will not be charmed"; Ps 58:4, 5, "the voice
of charmers (the Revised Version, margin "enchanters"), charming never so
wisely." Ophiomancy, the art of charming serpents, is still practiced in the East.

(4) øá–ç–, hÖebher, "spell," from øá—ç˜, hÖaôbhar, "to bind," hence, "to bind
with spells," "fascinate," "charm," descriptive of a species of magic practiced by
binding knots. That this method of imposture, e.g. the use of the magic knot for
exorcism and other purposes, was common, is indicated by the monuments of the
East. The moral mischief and uselessness of this and other forms of enchantment
are clearly shown in Isa 47:9, 12. This word is also used of the charming of
serpents (Dt 18:11; Ps 58:5).

(5) ïð‡òÈ, €aônan, "to cover," "to cloud," hence, "to use covert arts." This form
of divination was especially associated with idolatry (so Gesenius, Hebrew
Lexicon). Delitzsch, however, in a note on this word (Isa 2:6), doubts the
meaning "conceal" and thinks that it signifies rather "to gather auguries from the
clouds." He translates it "cloud-interpretive" (Mic 5:12). This view is not
generally supported. Rendered "enchanters" (Jer 27:9, the Revised Version
(British and American) "soothsayers"; so also in Isa 2:6). Often translated in the
Revised Version (British and American) "practice augury," as in Lev 19:26; Dt
18:10, 14; 2 Ki 21:6; 2 Ch 33:6; a form of magical art corresponding in many
respects to that of the Greek mañntis, who uttered oracles in a state of divine
frenzy. Septuagint êëçäïíßæïìáé, kleôdonŒñzomai, i.e. augury through the
reading or acceptance of a sign or omen. A kindred form of enchantment is
mentioned in the New Testament (2 Tim 3:13; Greek ãüçôåò, goñeôtes,
"enchanters," "jugglers," the original indicating that the incantations were uttered
in a kind of howl; rendered "seducers" the King James Version, "impostors" the
Revised Version (British and American); compare Rev 19:20). The New
Testament records the names of several magicians who belonged to this class of
conscious impostors: Simon Magus (Acts 8:9); Bar-Jesus and Elymas (Acts 13:6,
8); the slave girl with the spirit of Python ("divination," Acts 16:16); "vagabond
(the Revised Version (British and American) "strolling") Jews, exorcists" (Acts
19:13; compare Lk 11:19); also the magicians of Moses’ day, named Jannes and
Jambres (2 Tim 3:8).

These are the names of two magicians in ancient Egypt, who withstood
Moses before Pharaoh. This is the only place where the names occur in the New
Testament, and they are not mentioned in the Old Testament at all. In Ex 7:11, 22
Egyptian magicians are spoken of, who were called upon by Pharaoh to oppose
Moses and Aaron: "Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers:
and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their
enchantments." Jannes and Jambres were evidently two of the persons referred to
in this passage. It should be observed that the word translated here "magicians"
occurs also in Gen 41:8 in connection with Pharaoh’s dreams: Pharaoh "sent and
called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof." the Revised
Version margin reads for "magicians" "or sacred scribes." The Hebrew word is
hÖartÖummŒôm, and means sacred scribes who were skilled in the sacred writing,
that is in the hieroglyphics; they were a variety of Egyptian priests. Jannes and
Jambres were doubtless members of one or other of the various classes spoken of
in the passages in Exodus and Genesis, the wise men, the sorcerers, and the
magicians or sacred scribes.

Jannes and Jambres, one or both, are also mentioned by Pliny (23-79 AD), by
Apuleius (circa 130 AD), both of whom speak of Moses and Jannes as famous
magicians of antiquity. The Pythagorean philosopher Numenius (2nd century AD)
speaks of Jannes and Jambres as Egyptian hierogrammateis, or sacred
scribes.

Though the conceptions conveyed by the English word "witch" and its
cognates were unknown to the Hebrews of Bible times, yet the fundamental
thought involved in such terms was familiar enough to the ancient Hebrews and
to other nations of antiquity (Babylonians, Egyptians, etc.), namely, that there
exists a class of persons called by us magicians, sorcerers, etc., who have
superhuman power over living creatures including man, and also over Nature and
natural objects. This power is of two kinds: (1) cosmic, (2) personal. For an
explanation see MAGIC, II. it is in Assyrio-Babylonian literature that we have
the completest account of magical doctrine and practice. The words used in that
literature for the male and female magician are ashipu and ashiptu, which
correspond to the Hebrew m^ekhashsheôph and m^ekhashsheôphaôh in Dt 18:10
and Ex 22:18 (see 2, above) and are cognate to óMÜT, �ashshaôph (see Dan
1:20; 2:2, 10, etc.), which means a magician (the Revised Version (British and
American) "enchanter"). Other Babylonian words are kashshapu and
kashshaptu, which in etymology and in sense agree with the Hebrew terms
m^ekhashsheôph and m^ekhashsheôphaôh mentioned above. But neither in the
Babylonian or Hebrew words is there the peculiar idea of a witch, namely, one
who traffics with malicious spirits for malicious ends. indeed the magician was a
source of good (male and female) as conceived by the Babylonians, especially
the ashipu and ashiptu, to the state and to individuals, as well as of evil, and
he was often therefore in the service of the state as the guide of its policy. And
the same applies to the magician as the Hebrews regarded him, though the true
teachers and leaders in Israel condemned magic and divination of every sort as
being radically opposed to the religion of Yahweh (Dt 18:10 f). Of course, if a
Babylonian magician used his art to the injury of others he was punished as other
criminals, and in case of the death of the victim he was executed as a murderer. It
is, however, noteworthy in its bearing on "witchcraft" that the female magician
or sorceress played a larger part in ancient Babylonia than her male counterpart,
and the same is true of the Greeks and other ancient people. This arose perhaps
from the fact that in primitive times men spent their time in fighting and hunting;
the cooking of the food and the healing of the sick, wounded, etc., by magical
potions and otherwise, falling to the lot of the woman who stayed at home. In the
early history of the Hebrews inspired women played a greater role than in later
time; compare Miriam (Ex 15:20 f; Nu 12); Deborah (Jdg 5:12); Huldah (2 Ki
22:14 ff). Note also the äMÜàÄ äîÈëÈç’, �ishshaôh hÖaõkhaômaôh, or "wise woman"
of 2 Sam 14:2 ff; 20:16.

The first two sections of the Code of Hammurabi are as follows: "1. If a man
has laid a curse (kispu = íéôÄLÜkÀ, k^eshaôphŒôm) upon (another) man and it is
not justified, he that laid the curse shall be put to death. 2. If a man has put a spell
upon (another) man and it is not justified, he upon whom the spell is laid shall go
to the holy river; into the holy river shall he plunge. If the holy river overcome
him (and he is drowned), the man who put the spell upon him shall take
possession of his house. If the holy river declares him innocent and he remains
unharmed the man who laid the spell shall be put to death. He that plunged into
the river shall take possession of the house of him who laid the spell upon him."
Not a word is said here of a female that weaves a spell, but probably the word
"man" in the Babylonian is to be taken as including male and female (so Canon
C. H. W. Johns in a private letter, dated December 22, 1912).

In Gen 30:14 (Jahwist) we have an example of the belief in the power of
plants (here mandrakes) to stir up and strengthen sexual love, and we read in
Arabic literature of the very same superstition in connection with what is called
YabruhÖ, almost certainly the same plant. Indeed one of the commonest forms in
which magic appears is as a love-charm, and as this kind of magic was often
exercised by women, magic and adultery are frequently named together in the
Old Testament (see 2 Ki 9:22; Nah 3:4; Mal 3:5; and compare Ex 22:18 (17),
where the sorceress (the King James Version "witch") is to be condemned to
death). We have an instance of what is called sympathetic magic (for a
description of which see Jevons, Introduction to History of Religion, 28 ff, and
Frazer, Golden Bough², I, 49 ff) in Gen 30:37 ff. Jacob placed before the sheep
and goats that came to drink water peeled rods, so that the pregnant ones might
bring forth young that were spotted and striped. The teraphim mentioned in Gen
31:19 ff and put away with wizards during the drastic reforms of Josiah (2 Ki
23:24; compare Zec 10:2) were household objects supposed capable of warding
off evil of every kind. The Babylonians and Assyrians had a similar custom. We
read of an Assyrian magician that he had statues of the gods Lugalgira and
Alamu put on each side of the main entrance to his house, and in consequence he
felt perfectly impregnable against evil spirits (see Tallquist, Assyrian. Beach, 22).

In Isa 3:2 the kÖoôsÖeôm ("magician" or "diviner") is named along with the
knight warrior, the judge, prophet and elder, among the stays and supports of the
nation; no disapproval is expressed or implied with regard to any of them. Yet it
is not to be denied that in its essential features pure Yahwism, which enforced
personal faith in a pure spiritual being, was radically opposed to all magical
beliefs and practices. The fact that the Hebrews stood apart as believers in an
ethical and spiritual religion from the Semitic and other peoples by which they
were surrounded suggests that they were Divinely guided, for in other respects—
art, philosophy, etc.—this same Hebrew nation held a lower place than many
contemporary nations.

charm: Definition.—The word charm is derived from the Latin carmen, "a
song," and denotes strictly what is sung; then it comes to mean a magical formula
chanted or recited with a view to certain desired results. Charm is distinguished
from amulet in this, that the latter is a material object having as such a magical
potency, though it is frequently an inscribed formula on it that gives this object
its power (see AMULET). The word charm stands primarily for the incantation,
though it is often applied to an inscribed amulet.

(1) Written charms—Of these we have examples in the phylacteries and the
m^ezuôzaôh noticed in the article AMULET. In Acts 19:13-20 we read of written
charms used by the Ephesians, such as are elsewhere called (döÝóéá ãñÜììáôá,
epheñsia grañmmata). Such magical formulas were written generally on
leather, though sometimes on papyrus, on lead, and even on gold. Those
mentioned in the above passage must have been inscribed on some very valuable
material, gold perhaps, or they could not have cost 2,000 British pounds (=
50,000 drachmas). Charms of the kind have been dug up from the ruins of
Ephesus. In modern Egypt drinking-bowls are used, inscribed with passages from
the Koran, and it is considered very lucky to drink from such a "lucky bowl," as
it is called. Parts of the Koran and often complete miniature copies are worn by
Egyptians and especially by Egyptian soldiers during war. These are buried with
the dead bodies, just as the ancient Egyptians interred with their dead portions of
the Book of the Dead or even the whole book, and as the early Abyssinians
buried with dead bodies certain magical texts. Josephus (Ant., VIII, ii, 5) says
that Solomon composed incantations by which demons were exorcised and
diseases healed.

The uttering of the tetragrammaton (YHWH) was at a very early time (at latest
300 BC) believed to be magically potent, and hence, its ordinary use was
forbidden, so that instead of Yahweh, the Jews of the time, when the earliest part
of the Septuagint was translated, used for this Divine name the appellative
�aõdhoônaŒô = "Lord." In a similar way among the Jews of post-Biblical and
perhaps of even Biblical times, the pronunciation of the Aaronic blessing (Nu
6:24-26) was supposed to possess great efficacy and to be a means of certain
good to the person or persons involved. Evil spirits were exorcised by Jews of
Paul’s day through the use of the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 19:13). In the
Talmud (PesÖaôhÖŒôm 110a) it is an instruction that if a man meets a witch he
should say, "May a pot of boiling dung be stuffed into your mouth, you ugly
witch," and her power is gone.

(1) Turning now to the Old Testament, the instance which requires the most
careful treatment, because it holds the key to all the rest, is the narrative of Saul’s
visit to the Witch of Endor in 1 Sam 28:3-25. The Hebrew word �oôbh which is
usually translated "one who has a familiar spirit" (see list of passages at
beginning of article) occurs in this narrative four times (verses 3, 7 twice, 8).
According to the ordinary interpretation it is used in three different senses, two of
which occur here. These three senses are (a) a person who controls a spirit, (b)
the spirit controlled, (c) the power to control such a spirit. This meaning appears
to be altogether too broad. Omitting to translate the word we have: (verse 3)
"Saul had put away �oôbhoôth, and yŒôdh€oônŒômú"; (verse 7), a woman, a
mistress of an �oôbh; (verse 8) "Divine unto me … by the �oôbhú." It is extremely
unlikely that the same word should be used in two senses so far apart as "person
who has a spirit" and the "spirit itself" in the same context. In the last passage
mentioned (verse 8) there is a double indication that the word �oôbh cannot have
either signification mentioned. Saul says: "Divine unto me by the �oôbh and
bring me up whomsoever I shall name unto thee." The expression "divine by"
clearly points to some magical object used in divination. Control of a spirit
through some magical object is familiar enough. The rest of Saul’s statement
confirms this view. The result of the divination is the calling up of a spirit. A
spirit would hardly be used to call up another spirit. This conclusion is confirmed
by the etymology. The word �oôbh is supposed to mean "one who has a familiar
spirit," from its root-significance of hollow and its primary meaning of wineskin.
According to this derivation the word is applied to a necromancer on the
supposition that the spirit inhabits his body and speaks from within. The
transference to spirit is extremely unlikely and the explanation is not consistent
with primitive ideas on spirit manifestation (see Brown, Driver, and Briggs,
Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, áåà, end).

(2) We, therefore, hold with H. P. Smith (International Critical Commentary,
"Samuel" in the place cited.), though partly on different grounds, that the word
�oôbh has the same meaning in all the passages where it occurs, and that it refers
to a sacred object or fetish by which spiritistic divination was carried on.

The significance of this conclusion is that the misleading expression "familiar
spirit" disappears from the text, for Dr. Driver’s interpretation of the companion
word yidh€oônŒôm (see International Critical Commentary, Commentary on
Deuteronomy in the place cited.) will scarcely be maintained in the face of this
new meaning for �oôbhú. The prohibition contained in the law (Lev 20:27) against
�oôhboôth, and those using them, places them in the same catalogue of offense
and futility with idol-worship in general.

(b) In Isa 8:19 the �oôbhoôth and yidh€oônŒôm are spoken of as those who
"chirp and mutter." These terms refer to the necromancers themselves Septuagint
translates �oôbhoôth by eggastroñmuthoi = ventriloquists) who practiced
ventriloquism in connection with their magical rites. In Isa 29:4 it is said "Thy
voice shall be as an �oôbh, out of the ground." Here �oôbh is usually interpreted
as "ghost," but it is far more probable (see Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew
and English Lexicon of the Old Testament sub loc.) that it refers as in 8:19 to the
ventriloqustic tricks of those who utter their oracles in voices intended to
represent the spirits which they have evoked. They are stamped in these passages,
as in the Witch of Endor narrative, as deceivers practicing a fraudulent article. By
implication their power to evoke spirits with whom they were in familiar
intercourse is denied.

(2) In the King James Version the term devils is used in four Old Testament
passages (Lev 17:7; Dt 32:17; 2 Ch 11:15; Ps 106:37). In the Revised Version
(British and American) "devils" has disappeared from the text—the word he-
goats appears in Lev 17:7 and 2 Ch 11:15, while "demons" appears in Dt 32:17
and Ps 106:37. The translation of s^e€ŒôrŒôm as "he-goats" is literally correct, but
conveys an erroneous conception of the meaning. The practice reprobated is the
worship of Satyrs (see SATYR) or wood-demons supposed to be like goats in
appearance and to inhabit lonely places. The same word is used in Isa 13:21;
34:14. The word translated "demons" in the Revised Version (British and
American) is sheôdhŒôm, a term used only twice and both times in connection
with the rites and abominations of heathen worship. It is interesting to note that
the word shΘdu is applied to the beings represented by the bull-colossi of
Assyria (Driver, Dt in the place cited.). Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew and
English Lexicon of the Old Testament holds that the word sheôdhŒôm is an
Assyrian loan-word, while Briggs (ICC, Ps 106:37) holds that sheôdhŒôm were
ancient gods of Canaan. In either case the word belongs to heathenism and is
used in Scripture to describe heathen worship in its own terminology. The
interpretation of these beings as evil is characteristic of Biblical demonism in
general (see DEMON, etc.). The worship of idols was the worship of personal
beings more than man and less than God, according to Jewish and Christian ideas
(see Driver op. cit., 363). Septuagint translates both the above words by
daimoñnia.

wich: In 1 Sam 28:3-25, it is narrated how Saul, in despair of mind because
Yahweh had forsaken him, on the eve of the fatal battle of Gilboa, resorted in
disguise to "a woman that had a familiar spirit" (�obh: see DIVINATION;
NECROMANCY), at En-dor, and besought the woman to divine for him, and
bring him up from the dead whom he should name. On the woman reminding him
how Saul had cut off from the land those who practiced these arts—a proof of the
existence and operation of the laws against divination, witchcraft, necromancy,
etc. (Lev 19:31; Dt 18:9-14)—the king assured her of immunity, and bade her
call up Samuel. The incidents that followed have been the subject of much
discussion and of varied interpretation. It seems assumed in the narrative that the
woman did see an appearance, which the king, on her describing it, recognized to
bethat of Samuel. This, however, need be only the narrator’s interpretation of the
events. It is not to be credited that the saintly Samuel was actually summoned
from his rest by the spells of a professional diviner. Some have thought that
Samuel, by God’s permission, did indeed appear, as much to the woman’s
dismay as to the king’s; and urge in favor of this the woman’s evident surprise
and terror at his appearance (1 Sam 28:12ff), and the true prophecy of Saul’s fate
(1 Sam 28:16-19). It may conceivably have been so, but the more reasonable
view is that the whole transaction was a piece of feigning on the part of the
woman. The Septuagint uses the word eggastrΖmuthos ("a ventriloquist") to
describe the woman and those who exercised kindred arts (1 Sam 28:9). Though
pretending ignorance (1 Sam 28:12), the woman doubtless recognizes Saul from
the first. It was she who saw Samuel, and reported his words; the king himself
saw and heard nothing. It required no great skill in a practiced diviner to forecast
the general issue of the battle about to take place, and the disaster that would
overtake Saul and his sons; while if the forecast had proved untrue, the narrative
of the witch of En-dor would never have been written. Saul, in fact, was not
slain, but killed himself. The incident, therefore, may best be ranked in the same
category as the feats of modern mediumship.

fa-mil'b4yar: Is found as an adjective qualifying "friend" and "spirit."

(1) Used, in a number of Old Testament passages, of spirits which were
supposed to come at the call of one who had power over them. áBà, �oôbh,
literally, something "hollow"; compare áBà, �oôbh, "bottle" (Job 32:19 the King
James Version); because the voice of the spirit might have been supposed to
come from the one possessed, as from a bottle, or because of the hollow sound
which characterized the utterance, as out of the ground (Isa 29:4); or, as some
have conjectured, akin to áeà, �uôbh, "return" (íåêñüìáíôéò, nekroñmantis).
Probably called "familiar" because it was regarded as a servant (famulus),
belonging to the family (familiaris), who might be summoned to do the
commands of the one possessing it. The practice of consulting familiar spirits
was forbidden by the Mosaic law (Lev 19:31; 20:6, 27; Dt 18:11). King Saul put
this away early in his reign, but consulted the witch of Endor, who "had a
familiar spirit" (1 Sam 28:3, 7, 8, 9; 1 Ch 10:13). King Manasseh fell into the
same sin (2 Ki 21:6; 2 Ch 33:6); but Josiah put those who dealt with familiar
spirits out of the land (2 Ki 23:24).

It seems probable, however, that the practice prevailed more or less among
the people till the exile (Isa 8:19; 19:3). See "Divination by the �Oâb" in
Expository Times, IX, 157; ASTROLOGY, 1; COMMUNION WITH DEMONS.

(2) "Familiars," "familiar friend," from òãžéˆ, yaôdha€, "to know," hence,
"acquaintance," one intimately attached (Job 19:14); but more frequently of
�eõnoôsh shaôloôm, "man of (my or thy) peace," that is, one to whom the
salutation of peace is given (Ps 41:9; Jer 20:10; 38:22; also in Ob 1:7, rendered
"the men that were at peace with thee").

Since the ideas we attach to "witch" and "witchcraft" were unknown in Bible
times, the words have no right place in our English Bible, and this has been
recognized to some extent but not completely by the Revisers of 1884. The word
"witch" occurs twice in the King James Version, namely, (1) in Ex 22:18, "Thou
shalt not suffer a witch (the Revised Version (British and American) "a
sorceress") to live"; (2) in Dt 18:10, "or a witch" (the Revised Version (British
and American) "or a sorcerer"). The Hebrew word is in both cases the participle
of the verb (óMÙkÄ, kishsheôph), denoting "to practice the magical article." See
MAGIC, V., 2. In the first passage, however, the feminine ending (-ah) is
attached, but this ending denotes also one of a class and (on the contrary) a
collection of units; see Kautzsch, Hebrew Grammar²⁸, section 122,s,t.

The phrase "the witch of Endor" occurs frequently in literature, and
especially in common parlance, but it is not found in the English Bible. The
expression has come from the heading and summary of the King James Version,
both often so misleading. In 1 Sam 28, where alone the character is spoken of,
English Versions of the Bible translates the Hebrew �eôsheth ba€aõlath
�oôbh by "a woman that hath a familiar spirit." A literal rendering would be "a
woman who is mistress of an �oôbh or ghost," i.e. one able to compel the
departed spirit to return and to answer certain questions. This woman was
therefore a necromancer, a species of diviner (see DIVINATION, IV; ENDOR,
WITCH OF; FAMILIAR SPIRIT), and not what the term "witch" imports.

The word "witchcraft" occurs thrice in the King James Version in 1 Sam
15:23, "the sin of witchcraft" should be as in the Revised Version margin, "the
sin of divination," the latter representing the Hebrew word íñ–÷¬, kÖesÖem,
generally translated "divination". See DIVINATION, VII., 1.

The phrase "used witchcraft" (of Manasseh, 2 Ch 33:16) is properly rendered
in the Revised Version (British and American) "practised sorcery," the Hebrew
verb (óMÙkÄ, kishsheôph) being that whence the participles in Ex 22:18 and Dt
18:10, translated in the King James Version "witch," are derived (see above).
The word translated in the King James Version "witchcraft" in Gal 5:20
(öáñìáêåßá, pharmakeŒña) is the ordinary Greek one for "sorcery," and is so
rendered in the Revised Version (British and American), though it means literally
the act of administering drugs and then of giving magical potions. It naturally
comes then to stand for the magician’s art, as in the present passage and also in
The Wisdom of Solomon 12:4; 18:13; and in the Septuagint of Isa 47:9, where it
represents the Hebrew noun íéôÄLkÀ, k^eshaôphŒôm, translated "sorceries";
compare the Hebrew verb óMÙkÄ, kishsheôph; see above.

The plural "witchcrafts" (in the King James Version and the Revised Version
(British and American)) stands for the Hebrew noun just noticed (k^eshaôphŒôm)
in 2 Ki 9:22; Mic 5:12; Nah 3:4, but in all three passages a proper rendering
would be "sorceries" or "magical arts." "Witchcrafts" is inaccurate and
misleading.

The verb "bewitch" occurs in Acts 8:9, 11 the King James Version (of Simon
Magus bewitching the people) and in Gal 3:1 ("O foolish Galatians, who hath
bewitched you?"). In the first context the Greek verb is dîßóôçìé, exŒñsteômi,
which is properly rendered by the Revisers "amazed"; in 3:13 the passive of the
same verb is translated "he was amazed" (the King James Version "He
wondered"). In Gal 3:1, the verb is âáóêáßíù, baskaubaŒñnoô, which is used of
a blinding effect of the evil eye and has perhaps an occult reference, but it has
nothing whatever to do with "witch" or "witchcraft."

Though the conceptions conveyed by the English word "witch" and its
cognates were unknown to the Hebrews of Bible times, yet the fundamental
thought involved in such terms was familiar enough to the ancient Hebrews and
to other nations of antiquity (Babylonians, Egyptians, etc.), namely, that there
exists a class of persons called by us magicians, sorcerers, etc., who have
superhuman power over living creatures including man, and also over Nature and
natural objects. This power is of two kinds: (1) cosmic, (2) personal. For an
explanation see MAGIC, II. it is in Assyrio-Babylonian literature that we have
the completest account of magical doctrine and practice. The words used in that
literature for the male and female magician are ashipu and ashiptu, which
correspond to the Hebrew m^ekhashsheôph and m^ekhashsheôphaôh in Dt 18:10
and Ex 22:18 (see 2, above) and are cognate to óMÜT, �ashshaôph (see Dan
1:20; 2:2, 10, etc.), which means a magician (the Revised Version (British and
American) "enchanter"). Other Babylonian words are kashshapu and
kashshaptu, which in etymology and in sense agree with the Hebrew terms
m^ekhashsheôph and m^ekhashsheôphaôh mentioned above. But neither in the
Babylonian or Hebrew words is there the peculiar idea of a witch, namely, one
who traffics with malicious spirits for malicious ends. indeed the magician was a
source of good (male and female) as conceived by the Babylonians, especially
the ashipu and ashiptu, to the state and to individuals, as well as of evil, and
he was often therefore in the service of the state as the guide of its policy. And
the same applies to the magician as the Hebrews regarded him, though the true
teachers and leaders in Israel condemned magic and divination of every sort as
being radically opposed to the religion of Yahweh (Dt 18:10 f). Of course, if a
Babylonian magician used his art to the injury of others he was punished as other
criminals, and in case of the death of the victim he was executed as a murderer. It
is, however, noteworthy in its bearing on "witchcraft" that the female magician
or sorceress played a larger part in ancient Babylonia than her male counterpart,
and the same is true of the Greeks and other ancient people. This arose perhaps
from the fact that in primitive times men spent their time in fighting and hunting;
the cooking of the food and the healing of the sick, wounded, etc., by magical
potions and otherwise, falling to the lot of the woman who stayed at home. In the
early history of the Hebrews inspired women played a greater role than in later
time; compare Miriam (Ex 15:20 f; Nu 12); Deborah (Jdg 5:12); Huldah (2 Ki
22:14 ff). Note also the äMÜàÄ äîÈëÈç’, �ishshaôh hÖaõkhaômaôh, or "wise woman"
of 2 Sam 14:2 ff; 20:16.

The first two sections of the Code of Hammurabi are as follows: "1. If a man
has laid a curse (kispu = íéôÄLÜkÀ, k^eshaôphŒôm) upon (another) man and it is
not justified, he that laid the curse shall be put to death. 2. If a man has put a spell
upon (another) man and it is not justified, he upon whom the spell is laid shall go
to the holy river; into the holy river shall he plunge. If the holy river overcome
him (and he is drowned), the man who put the spell upon him shall take
possession of his house. If the holy river declares him innocent and he remains
unharmed the man who laid the spell shall be put to death. He that plunged into
the river shall take possession of the house of him who laid the spell upon him."
Not a word is said here of a female that weaves a spell, but probably the word
"man" in the Babylonian is to be taken as including male and female (so Canon
C. H. W. Johns in a private letter, dated December 22, 1912).

In the early and especially in the medieval church, the conception of the
Devil occupied a very important place, and human beings were thought to be
under his dominion until he was exorcised in baptism. It is to this belief that we
owe the rise and spread of infant baptism. The unbaptized were thought to be
Devil-possessed. The belief in the existence of women magicians had come down
from hoary antiquity. It was but a short step to ascribe the evil those women
performed to the Devil and his hosts. Then it was natural to think that the Devil
would not grant such extraordinary powers without some quid pro quo;
hence, the witch (or wizard) was supposed to have sold her (or his) soul to the
Devil, a proceeding that would delight the heart of the great enemy of good
always on the alert to hinder the salvation of men; compare the Faust legend. For
the conditions believed to be imposed by the Devil upon all who would be in
league with him see A. Lehmann, Aberglaube und Zauberei² (1908), 110 ff.