1
The Contextual Meaning of כשפה, məḵaššēfâ ‘witch’ in Exodus 22:17
by
Paul Cookey
(PhD Candidate, TCNN)
Presented to Jos-Bukuru Theological Society, TCNN, 10-10-13
1
Preliminaries
1.1 Abstract
The aim of this paper is to discover the meaning of the term
in Exodus 22:17.1 In this
paper I address the issue of the meaning of
against the general traditional and African
interpretation of the term, and particularly the understanding of the term in Akwa Ibom State
of σigeria through the King James Version’s translation from the δatin of the term as
meaning ‘social destruction to life and property of people through mysterious powers
inherent in the subject’.2 This paper argues that the term
is a representational term used
by the redactor of Exodus 22:17 to reflect the semantic range of idolatrous practices
condemned by Yahweh among his chosen people and cited elsewhere in the Old Testament
which were already prevalent among them. At the root of the term is the practice of
necromancy, divination and magic. This understanding is made clear when the term is
understood as synonymous3 with other Old Testament related terms used within their context.
This paper is not a discussion on ‘witchcraft’ but rather seeks to clarify the apparent
ambiguity in the term
as used in Exodus 22:17, especially, as translated ‘witch’ within
the receptor contexts and used to justify the killing of suspected ‘witches’ even in our
contemporary society.
1.2 Methodology
I engage in analysing and comparing the term to establish its semantic range within the
context of Exodus 22:17 and against the τld Testament’s historical and cultural context.
Hence the theoretical framework governing this presentation is comparative and analytical
approach using the literary critical methodology.4 However, it is necessary to note that the
related terms referred to and discussed in this study can be roughly categorized under fields
which practice various forms of magic5 and divination,6 but unfortunately there are not
enough data to decisively establish semantic boundaries for these forms.
1
Most English versions, if not all, have this as Exodus 22:18. The present researcher prefers using the BHS
verse numbering and shall consistently use it except when making allusions to or direct quotations from other
versions or works referred to.
2
This is not peculiar to Africa alone or Akwa Ibom State, but it is a universal phenomenon and practice.
3
This is what Silva Moises calls ‘contiguous relations’ or ‘improper synonyms’ Moises Silva, Biblical Words
and Their Meaning: An Introduction to Lexical Semantics, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983, see also Grant
Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, Downers Grove,
Illinois: Inter Varsity Press, 1991, p. 85.
4
Tremper Longman III, Literary Approaches to Biblical Interpretation: Foundations of Contemporary
Interpretation, Volume 3, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Academie Books, Zondervan Publishing House, Leicester,
England: Apollos, 1987.
5
Many dictionaries and reference books classify “sorcery” and “witchcraft” under magic in their entry.
6
G André, ‘
– kashaph,’ in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Volume VII, edited by G Johannes
Botterweck, et al and translated by David E. Green, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1984, p. 365; André categorizes them into three groups: magic, divination and astrology.
2
1.3 Introduction
The traditional translation of Exodus 22:17, ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live’ (KJV) is
often quoted to justify the killing of suspected and accused ‘witches’ (including children).7 In
view of this, we shall consider the concept behind the use of the Hebrew word
within
the literary context under consideration and generally in the Old Testament. In other words,
this study is an examination of the meaning of the term
in the present literary form of
Exodus 22:17.
In common speech, witchcraft is the believed use of supernatural means for harmful, evil
ends. Witchcraft as the practice of weird, aberrant persons believed to possess an inherent,
mysterious power may be distinguished from sorcery as the work of ordinary persons using
commonly understandable techniques. In some societies witchcraft, often called white
witchcraft, is for socially beneficial aims such as healing the sick and protecting property.8
This paper equally examines whether this understanding was shared or practiced in Israel by
studying the word
within the general context of the Old Testament, the Torah and
particularly Exodus 22:17.
1.4 Definition of terms
Osborne notes that word studies has become the most popular aspect of exegesis.9 ‘Without a
context in a grammatical sentence, a word is meaningless.’10 Thus the meaning of a concept
involves not only syntax (that is, how words relate to each other within sentence), but also the
historical-cultural background behind the statements.11
2 Word Study
First of all let us consider the lexical meaning(s) of the word
.
occurs in the
Hebrew sentence,
(noun + negative + verb) and translated by the King James
Version as ‘Thou shall not suffer the witch to live.’12 The term is here considered outside its
grammatical and syntactical context.
2.1 Morphology
The word
comes from the root word
, and the cognate words like the verb form
means ‘to mutter magical words or incantations, ‘to practice sorcery,’13 ‘to practice magic.’14
is a participial feminine singular in the piel stem. This feminine form occurs only here
in Exodus 22:17.15 The root verbal term also signifies 'to mutter', and consequently 'to mutter
7
This happened in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe and is presently happening in different parts of the
world, mostly in Africa and particularly in different parts of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria.
8
‘Witchcraft 19:895’, in New Encyclopedia Britannica, (15th edition), (no date), p. 716.
9
Grant R. Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation,
Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter Varsity Press, 1991, p. 64.
10
Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral, p. 64.
11
See Osborne, p. 64 – 65.
12
Italics is mine for emphasis.
13
Terry A. Armstrong, Douglas L. Busby, and Cyril F. Carr, A Reader’s Hebrew – English Lexicon of the Old
Testament (Four Volumes in One), Grand Rapids, Michigan: Regency Reference Library, Zondervan Publishing
House, 1989, p. 41.
14
Todd S. Beall, William A. Banks, Colin Smith, Old Testament Parsing Guide (revised and updated edition),
(Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Academic, 2000), p. 68; See Feyerabend, Karl, Langenscheidt Pocket Hebrew
Dictionary (Hebrew – English), Germany: Langenscheidt (no date), p. 152.
15
Beall, Banks, Smith, Old Testament Parsing Guide (revised and updated edition), p. 68; Francis Brown, S. R.
Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, The New Brown – Driver – Briggs – Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon
3
charms' whilst cutting up herbs or drugs in order to produce a magic brew, a process which
may just as well refer to healing portions as well as to harmful concoctions. Some lexicons
note that
is ‘probably herbs shredded into a magic brew.’16 It has been strongly
contended that the Hebrew feminine term used in the full text of Exodus 22:17 and usually
translated 'sorceress', means either a mixer of drugs or a cutter up of poisons.17 In terms of
mood, tense and gender, it can also quite simply and effectively be translated 'a woman
practising magic,' The masculine forms שand
have been variously translated as
‘magician, sorcerer, incantation, sorcery’18 enchanter, witchcraft, wizard, soothsayer, diviner,
wonder worker, fortune teller, or spell caster.19
The Septuagint translation of
is φα α ου from φα α υ or φα α ο , masculine,
plural accusative (direct object) meaning ‘sorcerers, sorceries, one who uses drugs either for
sorcery or magic practices; and the Latin (Vulgate) translates it as maleficos which the King
James Version translates as ‘witch.’
2.2 Other References
The Pharaoh of the exodus had those who practiced
שvariety of the occult in his
entourage of advisers (Exod 7:11). They are grouped with the
‘wise men’ and
‘magicians.’20 In Deuteronomy 18:10 it is used once only in the participle (singular) as
substantive masculine
.21 Another occurrence of the participle (plural) is in Daniel 2:2
where King Nebuchadnezzar commanded his
שalong with his
‘magicians,’
‘ שenchanters’ and ‘ כשדChaldeans’ to tell and interpret his dream. Malachi saw these
שbeing judged in the end along with adulterers, liars, and oppressors of widows,
orphans, and foreigners (Mal 3:5).
Among the sins of King Manasseh was
(2 Chron 33:6). This is the only occurrence of the
finite verb form, ש. This is a verb in the piel stem and it is demonstrative, meaning
‘practice sorcery.’22
שanother masculine noun form occurs six times in the Old Testament, and always in the
plural form
‘ כשsorceries’ or ‘incantations’ (2 Kgs 9:22; Isa 47:9, 12; Mic 5:12 [Hebrew
verse 11]; Nah 3:4 twice).23 It is used in two ways: In Micah 5:11 it is used literally of
(with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic), Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1979, p.
506; Armstrong, Busby and Carr, p. 41
16
See BDB, 1979, p. 506; R. Laird Harris, Archer, Gleason L., Jr., & Waltke, Bruce K. (eds.), Theological
Wordbook of the Old Testament, Volume 1, Chicago: Moody Press, p. 458; cf. Cleon L. Rogers Jr., & Cleon L.
Rogers III, The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament, (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), p. 431, 649.
17
Donald J. Bretherton, "An invitation to murder? A re-interpretation of Exodus 22:18 'you shall not suffer a
witch to live'." Expository Times 116, no. 5 (February 1, 2005): 145-1η2. This may be related to the root ‘to cut
off, out, up’ and literally ‘to cut oneself’ (cf. 1 Kgs 1κμ2κ) see BDB, The σew Brown – Driver – Briggs –
Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon (with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic),.
18
Karl Feverabend, ibid. (no date), p. 152; William L. Holladay, (ed.), A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon
of the Old Testament, Grand Rapids, Michigan: E. J. Brill and Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988, p. 166.
19
Harris, R. Laird, Archer, Gleason L., Jr., & Waltke, Bruce K. (eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old
Testament, Volume 1, p. 458.
20
I consider these ones to be synonymous with כשפי.
21
(following
,
,
, and followed by
, ,
and
).
22
Piel perfect 3rd person masculine singular;
was a form of mantic practice identified with foreign
paganism (Deut 1κμ12ffν 2 Kgs λμ22), and it was a recurrent threat to Israel’s worship of Yahweh. 22 It appears
from the earliest to the latest period (Exod 7:11; Jer 27:9; 2 Chron 33:6; cf.
in Ezek 13:9).
23
R. Laird Harris, Archer, Gleason L., Jr., & Waltke, Bruce K. (eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old
Testament, Volume 1, Chicago: Moody Press, p. 458.
4
Israel.24 And in Isaiah 47:9, 12 it is used with suffix of Babylon.25 Secondly, it is used
figuratively of seductive and corrupting influences of Jezebel in 2 Kings 9:22 ( כש,‘her
sorceries’ and ּ her ‘harlotries’); also in Nahum 3:4 the word is used in the plural
‘her sorceries’ along with the word
‘her harlotries’ of Nineveh personified as harlot.26
In summary, the word study here shows the form and cognates of the term
as variously
translated as, ‘sorceress, magician, a woman who practices sorcery or magic or necromancy,
or divination, witch,27 giving insight into the potential meanings inferred from the word
. But the issue before us is the contextual meaning
has in Exodus 22:17.
3 The Literary Form and Context of Exodus 22:17
Exodus 22:17 belongs to the section known as the Covenant Code within the context of the
giving of the Ten Commandments and the constitution of Israel as a nation under Yahweh
(Exod 20 – 24). The section of the Covenant Code is generally divided into two major groups
as follows: (a) 21:2 – 22:20 – civil and criminal laws; (b) 20:23 – 26; 22:21 – 23:19 –
miscellaneous admonitions concerning social morality, and religious and cultic regulations.
The first division is generally well unified and systematically arranged. The second is quite
varied in its contents, and is not arranged systematically.28 It is the unanimous consensus of
modern critical and evangelical scholarship that the section of the Book of the Covenant is a
collection of varied materials put together and only unified under the assigned title without
any specific unit.29 Durham comments as follows:
That the collection expanded with the passage of time and with the emergence of new
contexts of need is suggested by the range of application of the laws contained in it,
as also by its somewhat layered and often arbitrary organization. The many attempts
to find unifying motifs in it or a logical or a theological sequence, have been generally
unconvincing.30
In Brevard Childs’ opinion, the fusion of the two halves of the Book of the Covenant
occurred at the literary stage. ‘The mishpatim were joined to the cultic laws which already
had received a place within the Sinai narrative.’31 He says that it is highly likely that the same
redactor rearranged his material and gave the altar law its present leading position.32
– ‘I will cut off sorceries from your hands’.
, ‘In spite of your many sorceries; In spite of the great power of your spells’ (v. 9);
–
‘Stand fast now in your spells; And in your many sorceries’ (v. 12) New American
Standard Bible - Updated Edition, (NASU ); it is important to note the context here, especially, relating to
influence by the use of the words ‘spells, astrologers, prophesy by star gazing, predictions by new moon’ –
Isaiah 47:9, 12 – 13.
26
‘All because of the many harlotries of the harlot, The Charming one, the mistress of sorceries, Who sells
nations by her harlotries, And families by her sorceries.’ NASU – Updated Edition
27
The implication of the translation ‘witch’ is being considered in the section of this paper “the social
implications of translating
by the Latin maleficos and English word ‘witch.’”
28
Hyatt notes that it can be divided into several subdivisions (Hyatt, p. 219).
29
John I. Durham, Exodus: Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 1, Waco, Texas: Word Books Publishers, 1987,
p. 315; Brevard S., Childs, The Book of Exodus: A Critical, Theological Commentary: Old Testament Library,
Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1974, p. 458; Noel D. Osborn & Howard A. Hatton, A Handbook on
Exodus, New York: United Bible Societies, 1999, p. 531.
30
Durham, 1987, p. 315.
31
Childs, p. 458.
32
However, Childs notes that without sufficient evidence it is idle to speculate on the shape of this material
prior to its combination (Childs, p. 458).
24
25
μ
5
Scholars are agreed that the unifying factor lies in its theology and present redaction form
which is not the work of one author or source as traditionally believed.33 Durham puts this
point clearly as follows:
The “Covenant Code” is held together not by a consistent literary form or style, not by
the organization of a single compiler or a single historical setting, but by the
theological assertions that these laws, as different as they are in form and application
and origin, are all Yahweh’s, and so are all expected of the people who reckon
themselves to be his.34
The first major section (Exod 21:1 - 22:16) is concerned with the casuistic laws but we shall
concern ourselves with the second division where our text and term under consideration lie.
The second major division (Exod 22:17 – 23:19) contains a miscellaneous group of
admonitions concerning social morality, and regulations concerning religion and the cult.
Within this group form-critics recognize another specific literary form which should properly
be called ‘apodictic’. It is categorical and unconditional, like the Hebrew participial form, but
it is in the second person (most often singular) and usually is a negative command or
prohibition, expressed by the strong Hebrew negative . This is the form recognized in the
Ten Commandments in chapter 20.35
Within the second major division Alfred Jepsen isolated a small group of religious and ethical
prohibitions, which he thinks are native Israelite and very old, though their precise date
cannot be determined.36 Each of these has a definite form: object of the verb + the negative
+ a single verb. Like our text of reference
, each has only three words in
Hebrew (though a little variation on this point can be observed).37 Albrecht Alt expressed the
opinion that the apodictic law was native Israelite law, and that the casuistic law was
borrowed from Canaanites.38
Subsequent studies have shown however, that the apodictic form conceived broadly is found
in other literatures outside Israel; for example, in the Hittite treaties, in Egyptian and
Mesopotamian wisdom literature, and sporadically even in the Near Eastern codes39
Given that
is used in the apodictic literary genre, it is possible that it may be Semitic,
but typically used in Israel to express outlawed practices. 40 G. André notes that the list of
terms used in Deuteronomy 18:9 – 14 clearly reflects the situation of the late monarchy.41 It
is therefore not out of place to conclude that there is a mixture of practices from the preMartin Noth, “Exodus, A Commentary”: Old Testament Library, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1962,
p. 18; Brevard S. Childs, The Book of Exodus: A Critical, Theological Commentary: Old Testament Library,
Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1974, p. 440 – 496; John I. Durham., Exodus: Word Biblical Commentary,
Volume 3, Waco, Texas: Word Books Publishers, 1987 p. 327; Donald E. Gowan, Theology in Exodus:
Biblical Theology in Form of a Commentary, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994 (See
especially p. x – xi; 178 – 183); cf. ABD, Volume 2, D – G, 2008, Section H, p. 694 – 695.
34
Durham, Ibid., 1987, p. 318.
35
Some scholars think the form was originally always negative, cf. Hyatt, p. 221.
36
Alfred Jepsen, Untersuchungen zum Bundesbuch (Stuttgart: 1927) cited by Hyatt, p. 221.
37
Alfred Jepsen, cited by Hyatt, p. 221.
38
Alt, 1989, p. 109; see also Hyatt, p. 221; This however remains unsubstantiated and for a more considerable
view on this see Durham, op. cit., Volume 1 (1987), p. 316 – 317.
39
Samuel Greengus, ‘Biblical and AσE δaw’ in Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (ABD), Volume 4, K – N, (eds.
David Freedman, et al, New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2008, p. 242 - 256), Volume 4, K – N,
2008, p. 245; (cf. Hammurapi Code, 36, 38 – 40; Middle Assyrian Laws, A, 40, 57 – 59; B, 6).
40
Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School, Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1972.
41
G. André, op. cit.; p. 364; see also G. von Rad, Deuteronomy, OTL (English translation, 1966).
33
6
monarchial and monarchial periods incorporated into this section of the Book of the
Covenant given the continuous activities of scribal work during and after the period of the
Monarchy, particularly on the section of the Torah.42 The redactor must have reflected the
prohibition of practices that were outlawed in Israel by using the word
to represent the
whole range of magical practices cited elsewhere all over the Old Testament.43 However, my
point is that this is the work of a redactor who used the word
to represent not just
sorcery but various forms of divination and magic especially practised by Israel’s neighbours
and were prevalent within Israel before, during and after the period of the Monarchy.44
The subject matter of Exodus 22:17 within its own genre and context, nevertheless, gives it a
consideration wider than the Pentateuch but into other Old Testament books which includes
the Historical Books as well as the Prophetic Books. By this I mean that the issue of
divination, sorcery, necromancy, magic, fortune-telling, soothsaying, spiritism, and the like
are clear recurrent issues that the prophets rebuked and are found in the three sections of the
Hebrew Scriptures
.45 Thus, it is likely that the term
as at the time of
redaction had a wider semantic meaning than its denotative meaning.
4 Paradigmatic Study of ( כשפהSynonymity and Componential Analysis)
This section demonstrates that there are other terms and patterns used in the Old Testament
that reflect the Semitic and semantic range of
. Different Bible translations are
compared to demonstrate how these terms overlap in meaning with
. Our concern here
therefore is with the semantic field concept, not just the various meanings the term itself
might have in different contexts but other terms that relate to it. Eugene A. Nida calls this
‘field semantics’ where ‘critical studies of meaning must be based primarily upon the
42
Ernst Wȕrthwein, The Text of the Old Testament, translated by Erroll F. Rhodes, William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1979; Jon D. Levenson, The Hebrew Bible, The Old Testament, and
Historical Criticism: Jews and Christians in Biblical Studies, Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville,
Kentucky, 1999; Ellis R. Brotzman, Old Testament Textual Criticism: A Practical Introduction, Baker Books:
Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1994; Albrecht Alt, Essays on Old Testament History and Religion, translated by R.
A. Wilson, (Sheffield: JOST Press, an imprint of Sheffield Academic Press Ltd, 1989); Walther Eichrodt,
Theology of the Old Testament, Volume One, Old Testament Library, (translated by J. A. Baker), Philadelphia:
The Westminster Press, 1961
43
I would settle for a period between the late Monarchy and the time of Ezra around the 5th century B. C. E. I
think that it was actually during the time of Ezra that the canon of the Torah was set.
44
This is the consensus of virtually every serious modern scholarship on this section of the Book of the
Covenant I have deliberately left out the Documentary Source hypothesis argument because modern literary
critical scholarship has long questioned the highly speculative nature of the hypothesis. However, it may be
necessary to note that traditionally this section of the Book of the Covenant has been assigned to J and E
Sources. For scholars who propose JE Sources, see, Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New
Updated Edition, Electronic Database, copyright © 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
Martin Noth,, Exodus, A Commentary: Old Testament Library, (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1962);
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, (eds. Raymond E. Brown, et al), (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:
Prentice Hall, 1990); for scholars who challenge this assignment particularly in respect to this section, see -,
Charles M. Layman, (ed.) The Interpreter’s One Volume Commentary on the Bible: Introduction and
Commentary for Each Book of the Bible Including the Apocrypha – with General Articles, Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 1989; Brevard S. Childs, The Book of Exodus: A Critical, Theological Commentary: Old Testament
Library, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1974, p. 440 – 496; John I. Durham, Exodus: Word Biblical
Commentary, Volume 1, Waco, Texas: Word Books Publishers, 1987; J. Philip Hyatt, Exodus: The New
Century Bible Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971).
45
Ibid.; see also Noel D. Osborn & Howard A. Hatton, A Handbook on Exodus, New York: United Bible
Societies, 1999, p. 531; Osborn and Hatton note that there are a number of places where the different literary
traditions have been joined together in an uneven manner so that a literary “seam” has been formed, (see τsborn
and Hatton, 1999, p. 2).
7
analysis of related meaning of different words not upon the different meanings of single
words.’46
Table 1: shows the forms of
in their OT references along with related terms that share
47
similar semantic ranges.
Text
1
Exod 7:11
Exod 22:17
Deut 18:9-10
2 Kgs 9:22
2 Chron 33:6
Isa 47:9, 12
Jer 27:9,10
Dan 2:2
Mic 5:11
Nah 3:4
Mal 3:5
2
3
4
5
6
7
λ
8
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
10
-
11
12
-
-
-
-
-
-
The related Hebrew terms variously translated divination, enchantment, fortune-telling,
sorcery, magic(ian), witch(craft), medium, familiar spirit, casting of spell, soothsaying,
incantations, necromancy, etc. include:
,
( ),
,
,
, ,
,
,
,
,
,
, and
. These words not only share the same semantic field but
are also found in other Semitic languages.48 In other words, they share approximately similar
meanings within their Semitic cultural origin though they have different forms.
It is not uncommon in the Old Testament to see words with overlapping meanings put
together within the same context. In relation to our subject matter, Deuteronomy 18:9 – 14
has the most comprehensive list which I consider a deliberate stockpiling of synonymous
terms that share the same semantic range within their immediate and general context. It must
be noted that
which is a cognate to
is here listed along with other terms.49
4.1 Comparison of Versions
There follows here a Comparative Table of various translations of the Hebrew words that
express the abominable practices condemned by Yahweh in Deuteronomy 18: 9 – 1450
demonstrating the wide semantic range of meanings these words could express and how their
meanings overlap.
Eugene A. Nida, Signs, Sense and Translation, Pretoria, South Africa: Pretoria University, 1972, p. 85 – 86;
see also Osborne 1991, p. 84.
47
The Table numbering indicates that there are about 12 other terms used in the OT that share overlapping
semantic fields and could at times share the same meaning or “sense” but not necessarily the same “referent”ν
The common ones are the ones listed in Deuteronomy 18:9 – 14 and I shall concentrate on these ones in the
comparison; see also the terms
and
in G. André’s contribution to Theological Dictionary of the Old
Testament Volume VII, 1984, p. 360 – 361;
occurs 8 times and all in Daniel;
is found in both Exodus
and Daniel;
is found in Daniel and generally refers to the Chaldeans who were known for “astrology” and
“magic” – magia or Greek αγ α; Jeremiah 27:9 includes a list of false prophets
and dreamers
.
(cf. Exod 7:11; Deut 18:9 – 14; Lev 19:31; 20:6,27; 2 Kgs 9:22; 17:15 – 17; 2 Chron 33:6; 1 Sam 28; Isa 8:19f;
Jer 27:9,10; Dan 2:2; Mic 5:11; Nah 3:4).
48
This Semitic field covers Arabic, Akkadian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Ugaritic, etc. domains in the ancient Near
East.
49
The list is first found here in Deuteronomy 18:9 – 11. Should Israel practice those abominable things they
shall also be dispossessed of the land.
50
Deuteronomy 18:9 -14 has the most comprehensive, though not exhaustive, list of all the words used in the
Old Testament to refer to every form of divination, necromancy, magic, or sorcery and the like and it may be an
indication that the Deuteronomic redactor gathered these various related terms in his time to reflect the specific
forms of practices abominable to Yahweh.
46
8
Vers.
BHS
LXX
1
2
α
α
υο
α
ο
ζ
3
ο
ο
ο οω
ο
ο
Vulgate filium
filiam
φα
η
α ο
suum ducens
per observat
ignem aut qui somnia atque
ariolos
auguria
sciscitatur
NIV
divination
sorcery
interprets
omens
NASU divination
witchcraft
interprets
omens
NLT
fortunesorcery
interpret
telling
omens
sit
maleficus
ESV
divination
tells fortunes
Messag divination
e
sorcery
NKJV witchcraft
soothsayer
CJB
diviner
soothsayer
NCV
magic
witchcraft
NETB divination
omen reader
KJV
observer
times
divination
πα
7
υ ο
incantator pythones
consulat
8
αο
divinos
witchcraft cast spells medium
spiritist
sorcerer
casts
a medium
spell
witchcraft cast spells medium
spiritist
interprets
omens
fortunetelling
sorcerer
charmer
medium
wizard
witchery
casting
spells
holding
séances
-
interprets
omens
enchanter
sorcerer
explain
the
meaning of
signs
soothsayer
conjuring medium
spells
spell-caster consulter
ghost
mediums -
control
others with
magic
sorcerer
casts spells conjures up
spirits
witch
charmer
consulter with
familiar
spirits
sorcerer
cast spells ask ghosts for
help
sorcerer
charmer
medium
of enchanter
GWT black magic
fortune-teller
witch
RSV
soothsayer
augur
divination
πα ω
παο
6
sorcerer
psychic
spiritist
of consulter
spirits
-
οπο
π ωω
ου
ου
quaeat
moruis
veritatem
a
consults the
dead
calls up the
dead
calls
forth
spirits of the
dead
necromancer
channelling
with
the
dead
calls up the
dead
of necromancer
talk
with
spirits
of
dead people
practitioner of necromancer
the occult
wizard
necromancer
ask spirits for consult the
help
dead
wizard
necromancer
Deuteronomy 18:9 - 14 offers the fullest catalogue of different forms of magic or sorcery.
However, it remains a question how precisely the distinctions between soothsaying, omen,
sorcery, etc. were understood in Israel.
From Table 2 we can see that while ‘divination’ (NIV, NASU, ESV, Message, CJB, NETB,
KJV RSV) is the ‘functional referent’ for
; it is also translated as ‘fortune telling’
(NLT), ‘witchcraft’ (NKJV), ‘magic’ (NCV), or ‘black magic’ (GWT).
The term
refers essentially to one who observes nature and makes predictions. He could
be an ‘observer of times’ (KJV), or ‘fortune teller’ (ESV, GWT) or ‘soothsayer’ (NKJV,
CJB, RSV) or ‘omen reader’ (NETB); but its semantic range covers ‘sorcery’ (NIV, NLT,
Message) and ‘witchcraft’ (NASU, NCV). In Isaiah 57:3 the feminine form
is translated
51
‘sorceress.’
The term
essentially refers to ‘omens’ (NIV, NASU, NLT, ESV, NKJV) or ‘one who
explains signs’ (NCV); its semantic meaning covers ‘fortune teller’ (The message),
‘enchanter’ (CJB, KJV), ‘soothsayer’ (NETB), ‘augur’ (RSV) and ‘witch’ (GWT).
Following the New American Standard Bible – Updated Edition (NASU), the statistics on the word form
‘sorcery’ is as follows: sorcerer – 1 time; sorceress – 2 times; sorceries – 6 times; sorcerers – 6 times; and
sorcery – 3 times. This also gives us insight into the semantic range between the two terms (i.e.
and
).
51
9
The
is the male practitioner and
is the female practitioner of ‘sorcery’ (NASU,
ESV, NKJV, CJB, NETB, GWT, RSV), ‘witchcraft’ (NIV, Message, KJV) or ‘magic’
(NCV).
The term
refers particularly to ‘spell casters or charmers’ (NIV, NASU, NLT, ESV,
Message, NKJV, CJB, NETB, KJV, GWT, RSV) and its semantic range extends to ‘medium’
(NCV).
The term
basically refers to a ‘medium’ (NIV, NASU, NLT, ESV, NKJV, RSV) or ‘one
who conjures or consults familiar spirits or ghosts’ (CJB, NETB, KJV, GWT); Message
translates it as ‘holding séances.’ G. André notes that
designates either the ‘medium’ who
consults the spirit or the ghost itself or ‘pit.’52
The term
primarily refers to one who has knowledge of the occult and can invoke spirits
by divination or incantation. It is translated as ‘spiritist’ (NIV, NASU, NKJV), ‘wizard’
(ESV, KJV, RSV), ‘consulter of spirits’ (CJB), one who ‘conjure up spirits’ (NETB), one
who ‘ask spirits for help’ (GWT) and ‘psychic’ (NLT).
which always appears in the
context of necromancy takes its root from the Hebrew
‘to know,’ and characterizes the
shades as ‘wise’53 and is usually translated as ‘spiritist’ or ‘wizard’.54 It refers to practitioners
who possess special knowledge of the dead, and presumably other mantic arts.55
The expression
refers literally to ‘one who inquires or seeks (information) from
the dead by conjuring or invoking the spirit of the dead.’ This is technically called
‘necromancer’ and all the translations reflect this meaning. Thus while the redactor stockpiles
words that overlap in meaning including
there is a clear indication that necromancy is at
the root of the reference through the practice of magic and divination.56
As we can see from the Bible Versions in the Table these words overlap in meaning but the
terms cannot be interchanged. The semantic range of these words varies around the
understanding medium, wizard, fortune teller, spiritist, necromancer, familiar spirit,
magician, sorcerer, etc. From our comparison we could liken this type of synonymity to what
See G. André, Ibid., cf. the Akkadian root aptu; and Ugaritic ‘eb; There are clear cases in extra-biblical
sources where
describes the digging of a ritual pit for the purpose of sacrificial offerings and to implore the
spirits of the dead, a practice which Isaiah ridicules (Isa 29:14). Scholars are not agreed about the etymology of
the word but it depicts ghosts, spirits of the dead or ancestors.
53
G. André, ‘
– kashaph,’ in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Volume VII, edited by G
Johannes Botterweck, et al and translated by David E. Green, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1984, p. 361.
54
Julye Badmead, ‘Medium, Wizard’ in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, edited by David Noel Freedman,
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, Michigan, Cambridge, 2000, p. 878.
and
are
the only pair that appear together wherever they are cited in the Old Testament with the exception of 1
Chronicles 10:13 where
appears alone. They are the only pair used in 1 Samuel 28 which is the only classic
case we have of the practice of necromancy in the OT.
55
Ibid., 2000, p. 878; see also G André, ‘
– Kashaph,’ in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament,
Volume VII, edited by G Johannes Botterweck, et al and translated by David E. Green, Grand Rapids, Michigan:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1984, p. 360 – 370.
56
This is so because the belief that the dead spirits possessed occult knowledge about the future was a
prominent feature in ancient Near Eastern mythology and religion and Israel was equally influenced by this
belief and was constantly rebuked by her prophets of this abomination. The dead spirits functioned as gods,
dispensing oracles, and were often venerated. See Freedman, op. cit. p. 878; (cf. Isa 8:19; especially, NETB)
52
10
Moises Silva calls ‘contiguous relations’ or ‘improper synonymy’, that is, the terms share
some similarity of reference but could never be interchanged.57
4.2 Ancient Near Eastern Background and Context:
As in African religions,58 the religions of the ancient Near East were infused with magic and
divination. Illness, famine and military defeats were frequently believed to have spiritual
origins. In both Mesopotamia and Egypt skilled practitioners of magic were highly
regarded.59 Moses and Aaron confronted these
‘wise men’ and
‘magicians’ and
they are also grouped with
‘magicians or sorcerers’ when they sought to release the
Hebrews from Egypt (Exod 7:11). Balaam was an esteemed
‘diviner’ whom Balak, king
of Moab, attempted to use to curse Israel (Num. 22:4 – 7). These cultures approved certain
forms of magic by designated practitioners but outlawed other practices, often labelled black
magic or witchcraft or sorcery. Witches were viewed as being in league with demons and
causing bad things to happen. For example, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (c. 1868 –
1728 B.C. E.) punished witchcraft with the death penalty.60 The Middle Assyrian Law Code
47 shows that unapproved use of magic was against the law and practitioners were to face
death. Because of the severity of the consequences even those who accused others without
substantiating their accusations were to face death. The approved magicians or exorcists
would use magic to counteract these influences and act as diviners of useful information.61
57
Moises Silva, Biblical Words and Their Meaning: An Introduction to Lexical Semantics, Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1983, as cited in Osborne, 1991, p. 85; In Exodus ιμ11 among Pharaoh’s retinue were
‘wise
men’ and
(magicians) and they are also grouped with
implying that the redactor may be using the
words here synonymously. The context demonstrates this conclusion as later they are all called magicians
without any distinction (Exod 7:22; 8:14, 15 [Eng. 18, 19]). In Jeremiah 27:9, it occurs once as
‘your
sorcerers’. Here again the appearance of other terms like
‘your prophets’,
‘your diviners,’
‘your dreamers,’ and
‘your soothsayers’ may be showing the semantic range of the terms as overlapping
(cf. Ezek. 13:9 in context). In Daniel 2:2, King Nebuchadnezzar commanded his
‘sorcerers’ along with
his
‘magicians’,
‘enchanters’ and
‘Chaldeans’. Again these terms are used synonymously as
contiguous relations.
58
This, unfortunately, has been imported into the Church and subtly practiced as “Christianity.”
59
Cf. Genesis 41; Exodus 7ff; Isaiah; Ezekiel; Daniel 1 – 7; see also James M. Freeman, The New Manners and
Customs of the Bible (rewritten and updated by Harold Chadwick), Alachua, Florida: Bridge-Logos, 1998, p.
174 – 176.
60
M. E. J. Richardson, Hammurabi’s Laws: Text, Translation and Glossary, London, New York: T & T Clark
International, 200ζ (See p. ζ2, ζ3, 20η, 20θ)ν Richardson’s transliteration and translationμ summa awilum kispi
eli awilim iddima la uktinsu, sa elisu kispu nadu ana id illak, Id isalliamma summa Id iksasassu, mubbirsu bissu
itabbal. summa awilam suati Id utebbibassuma, istalmam sa Id isuliam, bit mubbirisu itabbal. (p. ζ2)ν “If a man
has laid a charge of witchcraft against another man but cannot substantiate his guilt, the person against whom
witchcraft has been alleged shall go to the River and jump into the River. And if the mighty river overpowers
him, the one who laid the allegations against him shall take possession of his house. But if the River cleanses
that man from his guilt he shall go away restored. The one who laid a charge of witchcraft against him shall be
put to death; the one who jumped into the River shall take possession of the house of the one who made the
allegation against him.”
61
James B. Pritchard (ed.) Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, Princeton, New Jersey:
Princeton University Press, 1955, p. 184 (Translated by Theophile J. Meek) ; “εiddle Assyrian δaw Code ζι”μ
The Context of Scripture: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World, edited by William W. Hallo, et al.,
B Leiden: Brill, 2002, p. 359: If either a man or a woman made up magical preparations and they were found in
their possession, when they have prosecuted them (and) convicted them, they shall put the maker of the magical
preparations to death. The man who saw the making of the magical preparations (or) heard (of it) from the
mouth of an eyewitness who declared to him, “I myself have seen (it),” shall come forward as an ear witness
(and) so declare to the king; if the eyewitness has denied to the king what he said, he shall declare in the
presence of the Bull-god the son of shamash, “He did indeed say (it),” (and then) he is quit. As for the
eyewitness who made a statement and then denied (it), the king shall interrogate him as he is able (and)
investigate his past; when the exorcist is brought, he shall make the man speak and he himself shall say, “He
(the king) will not absolve you from the oath which you were made to swear to the king and is son; it is in
11
G. André has pointed out cognate forms of
in Mesopotamia Akkadian texts, Western
Semites texts of Ras Shamra, Ugaritic text of Ras Ibn Hani 78/20 and the Phoenician text
from Arslan Tash.62 In the Mesopotamia Akkadian texts kišpu (witchcraft) is distinguished
from magic. Magic was recognized officially by kings and priests, and it was used to resist
kišpu. Capital offense was prescribed for kišpu.63 The terms kaššāpu and kaššāptu translated
as ‘sorcerer or witch’ express a practitioner who may be responsible for the evil that befalls a
person. Thus expressions like kaššāptu takšipanni, ‘a witch has bewitched me’, lȗ kaššāpu lȗ
kaššāptu, ‘. . . whoever has inflicted this upon me, whether sorcerer or witch’ demonstrate
that the terms have negative connotations towards personal social harm against others.64
The person afflicted by kaššāpu or kaššāptu turns to the gods through an exorcist for
deliverance. Exorcism takes place in the night. After incantation of a long litany, the afflicted
person turns to the gods through the exorcist, praying that they will lift (paṭāru) the curses
(mamitu). He states that he has made images of the sorcerers (salmu annȗti ša kaššapia u
kaššaptia) and continues: qumi kaššapi u kaššapti, ‘burn my sorcerer and my witch.’65 In a
damaged part of the Ras Shamra text reference is made to anointing kṯpm an equivalent of the
Hebrew
.66
4.3 Israel’s Context in the Old Testament
From the presentation above, there seems to be ‘genetic’ relationship and obvious parallels
between the term
as used in the Old Testament and specifically in Israelite context, and
her neighbouring cultural and linguistic context, especially Akkadian, Middle Assyrian and
Ugaritic.67 This does not imply that they shared totally the same meaning. 68 God placed
Israel in the midst of cultures saturated with divination, magic and sorcery. He desired that
the Israelites come to him for revelation and insight. In the midst of uncertainty, they were to
rely on his trustworthiness and provisions, not to attempt to manipulate their circumstances.
Divination and magic were strongly condemned because they drew people away from God
and dependence on him (Deut 18:9 – 22).
The practices overlap in many important ways and have similarities with ‘prophecy and
religion’, which makes it difficult to clearly distinguish between them. All involve
accordance with the wordings of the tablet which you were made to swear to the king and his son that are
sworn.
62
G André, ‘
– Kashaph,’ in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Volume VII, edited by G
Johannes Botterweck, et al, and translated by David E. Green, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1984, p. 360 – 370.
63
G. André, op. cit., 1984, p. 363.
64
ibid. The words in italics are mine to reflect the exact translation of the Akkadian expression cited. The
concept, belief and practice is similar to what is happening among the Akwa Ibom people of South – South of
Nigeria. This belief has resulted in child witchcraft accusations, stigmatization and abuses. Many prayer houses
and prophet-exorcists are springing up claiming to deliver the afflicted and killing or destroying by “fire” the
suspected and accused witches, especially children.
65
ibid.; Then the exorcist, an ašipu priest, pronounces a formula (šiptu), for example, as followsμ “Fire-god, O
mighty one, exalted among the gods, who dost vanquish the wicked and the enemy, vanquish them (the witches)
lest I be destroyed. Thou art my god, thou art my lord, thou art my judge, thou art my helper, thou art my
avenger.”
66
ibid.,
67
See G. André, op. cit., p. 363; André cites Y. Avishur, “The Ghost-Expelling Incantation from Ugarit (Ras
Ibn Hani ικ/20),” UF, 13 (1λκ1), p. 13 – 25, especially, p. 22.
68
In spite of the “genetic” parallels we cannot establish that Israel practiced
like some of her ancient
neighbours. I am here cautious of what James Barr calls “illegitimate totality transfer,” that is, “over emphasis
upon words to the detriment of context.” James Barr, The Semantics of Biblical Language, Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1961, p. 218; see also Osborne.
12
interactions with supernatural beings or powers.69 God provided particular lawful means by
which His will was revealed, such as by
‘Urim’ and
‘Thummim’ (Exod 28:30;
Lev 8:8; Num 27:21), by
‘dreams’, by his chosen
‘prophets’ (Deut 18:15 - 22; cf.
1 Sam 28:6), and several other modes so that there was no excuse for resorting to the
abominable practices of the nations around them.
5 The sense and referent of כשפה
5.1 The sense of כשפה
From the analysis and comparison above what then is the ‘sense’ of
? The ‘sense’ of a
term or word is the picture built in the mind by the term, that image which is connoted.70 It is
not exactly clear how
(or
) carried on her practice in Israel. However, references
to the
in Exodus 7:11 and Daniel 2:2 seem to give impression that in Egypt and
Babylon they enjoyed the company of royalty and were very responsible and dependable part
of the king’s entourage and were called upon in times of national crisis and situations
requiring solution. We do not have any reference in the Old Testament that the
or
brought harm to any individual or property so as to warrant any form of exorcism.
Therefore, from the presentation above on the overlapping of the meaning of the related
terms it is obvious that
involved a number of practices described by various names of
which Deuteronomy 18:9 – 14 serves as the classic comprehensive reference.71
We may conclude that the ‘sense’ of
is broad comprising magic and divination, and
necromancy is at the root of the practice in Israel. Saul banished
(comprising of
feminine, and
masculine) who practised
, ,
,
,
and
by way of
(Deut 18:11; cf. 1 Sam 28:3ff)).
5.2 The referent of כשפהin the context of Exodus 22: 17 and in the Old Testament
Here we consider the possible referent of the term
in context of Exodus 22:17 and the
Old Testament generally. It is not easy to establish the link between a symbol and its
referent. The major point is to note the difference between the ‘sense’ of a word and its
‘referent’. Osborne notes that the reference is an extralinguistic factor, the specific object
denoted by the statement.72
Exodus 22:17 reads:
and has been variously translated.73 Exodus 22: 17 – 19
covers three specific sins deserving capital punishment namely: Sorcery (22:17); Bestiality
(22:18); and Idolatry (22:19). These sins are related and have a common thread that makes
them attract the capital punishment of death. This common thread is idolatry,74 a violation of
69
While the Bible prohibits divination and magic, some permitted practices share common features. On the
other hand, approved practices such as prophecy, prayer or the laying on of hands are denounced when practiced
with a magical mind-set. For these reasons, descriptions of the methods involved are not enough; one must also
consider the beliefs motivating the practices and the practitioner’s worldview.
70
Osborne, op. cit., 1991, p. 77.
71
James Freeman thinks that
and the other abominations mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:9 – 14 are
different forms of divination referred to by the term
which he takes as a generic term in the same text,
see James Freeman op. cit., p. 174.
72
Osborne, op. cit., p. 1991, p. 77.
73
The grammar and syntax of this verse is treated in another up-coming paper because of the limitation set for
the presentation of this paper. Translations that render
as ‘sorceress’ or ‘a woman practicing magic’ are
preferable to those that use the word ‘witch’ because of the very negative connotation attached to the word
‘witch’. However, whether outright death penalty is meant in the text or banishment or the prohibition of
necromancy is an issue considered in the grammar and syntax.
74
Idolatry is a word whose meaning can be so widely applied to virtually every act of sin: e.g. disobedience,
covetousness, sexual immorality and deviance, divination, sorcery, hatred, pride, rebellion, arrogance,
13
the very first commandment (cf. Exod 20:1 – 4). Abel Ndjerareou in his contribution in
Africa Bible Commentary states thus:
The common thread linking the sins that deserve the death penalty is a failure to worship,
honour and serve God alone. The sorcerer invokes evil powers, the one who practices
bestiality denies God’s perfect plan to meet our sexual needs, and the one who sacrifices
to idols denies God his honour as the only object of worship. God takes all these sins
seriously.75
Osborn and Hatton are right to note that
refers to the one who performs supernatural
deeds or discovers hidden knowledge by calling on the power of evil spirits and that it could
also be rendered as ‘a woman who practices black magic against others’ or ‘a woman who
causes (or, call down) curses to come upon people’ or ‘a woman who mutter curses.’76 While
this could be a possible ‘referent’ it is not the ‘sense’ in which the term is used. This
understanding does not reflect the general practice in the Old Testament.77 Some receptor
language will have very specific terms for such womenν for example, ‘women who mutter
curses,’ and so on. The implication is that, once a woman is discovered to have the ability,
she is to be killed.
Durham notes that the sorceress is not to be permitted to live because her craft was an attempt
to escape or to alter the will and the work of Yahweh.78 Cassuto states that what was
condemned among the other nations in their law codes was the practice of ‘black’ magic
(whereby the sorcerer seeks to harm another person) and false witness against an accused
practitioner. He comments thus:
It is true that ‘black’ magic, whereby the sorcerer seeks to harm another person, is, of
course, forbidden, even among gentiles, and in the Eastern law-codes the death
penalty is ordained for one who practices it and for one who falsely charges his
neighbour with this practice (Hammurabi Code, §2; Middle Assyrian Laws, §47), but
in Israel no distinction was made between permitted and prohibited magic.79
Israel made no distinction about magical practice whether used for good or evil. Every form
of magic and sorcery was out-rightly prohibited. Cassuto puts it thus:
Every magical act, even for the purpose that is not evil, is forbidden, since it
constitutes an attempt to prevail over the will of God, who alone has dominion over
the world. Thus it is not without reason that in Israel the concepts of magic and
idolatry were identified.80
insubordination, stubbornness, presumption, falsehood, deception, hypocrisy, fear, infidelity, injustice,
oppression, corruption, etc. cf. 1 Samuel 15:23; Romans 1:18 – 32; Colossians 3:5 – 9.
75
Abel σdjerareou, “Exodus” in Africa Bible Commentary, (Adeyemo, Tokumbo, Gen. ed.), Nairobi: Zondervan
WordAlive Publishers, 2006, p. 117.
76
Noel D. Osborn & Howard A. Hatton, A Handbook on Exodus, New York: United Bible Societies, 1999, p.
531.
77
There are no clear cases of the practice of black magic or muttering of curses by anyone in the form of
occultism against anyone in the Old Testament, except for the case of Balaam who was called upon by Balak to
pronounce curses upon Israel (Num 22:4 – 7). This is reading too much into the concept behind the actual
practice in Israel. This is a transfer of meaning from one receptor context to another. In this case, probably, the
sense is taken from the Latin maleficos and sixteenth and seventeenth century concept of “witch”.
78
Durham, Exodus: Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 3, p. 327.
79
Cassuto, Umberto, A Commentary on the Books of Exodus, translated from the Hebrew by Israel Abrahams,
Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1967, p. 290.
80
Cassuto, Ibid.,1967, p. 290.
14
Following τgden and Richards’s triangle81 we could represent the semantic ‘sense’ and
‘referent’ of the term
as follows:
Sense: (magician, diviner, idolater, necromancer)
Symbol: (
)
Referent: (sorceress, a woman who practices any
kind of magic)
The social implication in the practice of necromancy, magic (any kind, even for the fun of it),
divination or sorcery is that of negatively influencing members of the covenant community
from trusting Yahweh no matter the circumstances they found themselves.82 It was diverting
their attention to something else other than Yahweh and thus causing them to put their trust in
those things for help and security. This kind of social influence is only significant as
individual Israelites as well as the community had the responsibility of maintaining the purity
and corporate holiness of the community.83
The social implications of translating כשפהby the Latin maleficos and English
word ‘witch’84
A witch in popular imagination is regarded as a person who flouts the usual moral and social
conventions of the society, exhibiting enormous greed and an insatiable sexual appetite. The
‘nightmare’ vision of the witch is of someone who assumes the form of animals at will, flies
through the night sky, feast on corpses, and gathers with other witches and demons to dance
naked in isolated places.85
6
The translation of the Scriptures into Latin86 may have had a decisive influence on the
eventual interpretation of Exodus 22:17. This, in particular, centres on the insertion into the
text of the word maleficos and its associated terms which, by the time of the Reformation,
came to imply all kinds of depraved and abominable practices.87
81
Moises Silva, op. cit., 1983, p. 103; taken from Ogden and Richards (1923:11; cited also by Osborne, 1991, p.
77).
82
Ahaz is a significant reference point here – Isaiah 7ff.
83
Like Achan (Josh ι), one man’s sin could affect the entire community. From Aaron’s golden calves to
Solomon’s romance with foreign deities and practices, and from Jeroboam’s golden calves to Jezebel’s sorcery,
all are condemned as abominations before Yahweh (cf. Exod 20: 1 – 4; Deut 18:9 – 14; 1 Kgs 17:15 – 22).
84
According to the New Encyclopedia Britannica, (15th edition), ‘witch’ is ‘one who practices witchcraft,
sometimes distinguished from a sorcerer in that a witch’s evil stems from a mystical, unseen power or
compulsion. In modern usage, a witch can be either male or female; a male witch is also called a warlock.’ New
Encyclopedia Britannica, (15th edition), p. 716.
85
Ibid. p. 716; The witch is commonly represented as an ugly old woman, though beautiful girls (and men) were
burned as witches during the 16th and 17th century European witch hunts and in recent years many little boys
and girls have been accused, stigmatized, abused and even killed in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. The killing of
children accused of witchcraft in Akwa Ibom State came to lime light between 2007 and 2008 when CNN and
BBC made a Documentary of ‘child witch hunt’ in Nigeria with Akwa Ibom State as the major focus.
86
Maleficos non patieris vivere.
87
Bretherton, op. cit., p. 147.
15
A maleficus was simply an 'evil-doer' and the verb meant 'to harm', 'to practise mischief,
unlike the Greek translation that rendered a more appropriate meaning by the word
φα α ου ‘one who uses drugs either for sorcery or magic practices.’88 The Greek
translation does not seem to take into consideration the apparent gender bias in the Hebrew
but it also disregards the singular form of the Hebrew rendering and gives its translation a
plural rendering. This translation appears to use the word φα α ου as a generic term like
ἄ ωπο to refer to both the male and female practitioners since it does not seem to have the
feminine form for practitioners of such craft. Douay-Rheims Bible translates ‘wizards’ likely
following the Septuagint translation. The Wycliffe translation uses the anthropological term
‘witch’89 to represent both male and female but pluralises the word following the LXX as
against the singular in the Hebrew text – ‘Thou shalt not suffer witches to live.’ (WYC)
Bretherton warns that the term maleficos used in the Latin text, should not be translated
'sorcerer' or 'witch', unless remotely by implication, as it is not generally part of Classical
usage.90 It would seem, therefore, that the term was usurped, or extended in Biblical Latin to
cover the worst forms of wickedness related to magic and sorcery. Likewise, maleficium,
which formerly had meant any kind of crime now came, in Ecclesiastical circles, to denote
witchcraft in particular. According to Jeffrey Burton Russell, 'Malevolent magic was
subsumed under the term maleficium. It represented the damage achieved by the witch,
through occult means, in the service of Satan’.91
Robert J. Priest notes that the term ‘witch’, as used by anthropologists ‘applies to either a
male or female human being who is said to be the cause of another’s misfortune, sickness,
and/or death by means of psychic or other occult power.’92 As for the term ‘sorcerer or
sorceress’ as used in ethnographic writings, the meaning is virtually the same, only that
‘sorcery generally also implies that the harm is caused through learned and acquired, selfconsciously exercised powers, which is not necessarily true of witch.’93
This use echoed the Latin translations of the Old Testament94 and implied the same
perversions. Consequently, the translators of the Scriptures had to hand a set of associated
terms which already carried malevolent undertones; and which the Latin had come to identify
with the vilest kinds of sorcery. It was consequently effortless to link witchcraft, in popular
thought, with the worship of the Devil.
Thus maleficos, with the further Latin injunction, non patieris vivere, 'not suffer to live' most
inevitably led to the assumption that it meant all convicted witches should be destroyed. As a
88
Cleon L. Rogers Jr., & Cleon L. Rogers III, The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New
Testament, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), p. 431, 649
89
While the word “witch” is an anthropological term (see Robert J. Priest, Missiology and the Witch an Article
presented at the American Society of εissiology, Techny Towers, 11, June 1λ, 2010), the word “sorcerer” or
“sorceress” is a term used in ethnographic writings to mean virtually the same thing, only that the word
“sorcerer” or “sorceress” expresses that the practitioner acquires the skill through learning.
90
Bretherton, p. 147.
91
Jeffrey Burton Russell, Witchcraft in the Middle Ages (London: Cornell University Press, 1972), p. 13.
92
Robert J. Priest, Missiology and the Witch, an Article presented at the American Society of Missiology,
(Techny Towers, 11, June 19, 2010).
93
Priest, Missiology and the Witch, June, 19, 2010.
94
" Deuteronomy 18:10 maleficus; 2 Chronicles 33:6 malefids; Jeremiah 27:9 maleficos; Micah 5:12 maleficia;
Nahum 3:4 maleficia and maleficiis; Isaiah 47:9, 12 maleficiorum; Exodus 7:11 maleficos; Daniel 2:2 malefici;
etc.
16
consequence, 'All over Europe ordinary people were eager to denounce their female
neighbours as witches in the belief that they caused maleficium.’95
The implication here becomes a sociological one as the understanding of the word
shifts from one who engages in a craft of divining to know the future or mystery through the
aid of (familiar) spirits or spirits of the dead (ancestors) or mastery of nature and
manipulation of same for the purpose of influencing the future to working of evil against
one’s neighbour or family members. This understanding betrays the contextual relationship of
Exodus 22:17-19 which out-rightly condemns idolatry and prescribes capital punishment.96
Thus English translations that render
as ‘witch’ following the Latin, and the receptor
translations that follow this understanding are guilty of what James Barr calls ‘illegitimate
totality transfer,’ that is, ‘over emphasis upon words to the detriment of context.’97
In view of the implications stated above of the possible understanding of the text of Exodus
22:17, it does suggest that adept practitioners were capable of such knowledge or magical
powers (cf. Exod 7:11; Dan 2:2ff.). There is no indication that children in the ancient Near
East or in Israel were capable of divining, enchantment, fortune-telling, soothsaying. It was a
craft for the adepts and matured who had to undergo intensive learning and practicum (cf.
Moses in Egypt – Exod 7ff. cf. Acts 7:22; Daniel in Babylon – Dan 1 – 2)
7
Conclusion
Even while risking oversimplification, concise definitions of the practices of divination and
magic are useful. Divination attempts to gain supernatural knowledge, usually either to
understand why something has occurred or to predict the future. Magic attempts to use
supernatural powers to influence people, events or other supernatural beings. Biblically
approved practices emphasize divine initiative and divine prerogative. Magic and divination
are human efforts to understand, control or manipulate the divine realm by methods believed
to practically guarantee the desired results. These tend to be the satisfaction of immediate
human needs, such as healing, protection, sustenance or knowledge.98
Seeking to know the future and to influence it outside the will of God was and remains a
blatant sin against him and a violation of his law. This is what the prophets cried out against
and the redactor seems to use
in Exodus 22: 17 as a representational term to give it a
legislative backing under Mosaic authority and within the context of the theophany and
enactment of the common-wealth of Yahweh’s covenant community. The institution of the
95
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1997), p. 1757; In Akwa Ibom State, the female sex is the most hunted and accused this
practice.
96
The antisocial dimension in the understanding of
may be due to a comparison of the list of abominable
practices listed in Deuteronomy which are an expanded or expository version of
- the list of terms for
practitioners of various forms of magic which is an attempt to secure information from the beyond or to bring
supernatural influence to bear on situations or persons by other than the regular means of religion. All such
practices are recognized as antisocial and punishable by death (cf. Lev 20:6, 27); See, Layman, op. cit., (1989),
p. 58; Walter Elwell places Exodus 22:18 within the text of 22:16 – 31 which he says are primarily related to
social responsibilities. In the midst of this section of social laws is a segment that is concerned with pagan
practices, all of which are capital offenses. Elwell says that sorcery is an offense not to be tolerated and refers to
Deuteronomy of 18:9 – 14 as containing an expanded list of such offenses Walter A. Elwell, (ed.), Evangelical
Commentary on the Bible, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1996, p. 56.
97
James Barr, op. cit., 1961, p. 218.
98
T. Desmond Alexander, & David W. Baker, ‘Divination, Magic’ in Dictionary of the Old Testament
Pentateuch, Downers Grove, Illinois, Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2003, p. 193.
17
office of the prophet within the context of Deuteronomy 18:9 – 22 gives more insight to this
understanding. More so, the term is rendered in the feminine probably because women were
the most vulnerable even though men were also practitioners.99 The feminine form is not
gender vendetta or bias but representational as well as the masculine reference in
Deuteronomy 18:10. The participial form could be translated in a way that would not reflect
gender bias: For example, ‘anyone who practices magic ...’ or ‘a magician …’ or ‘anyone
who practices idolatrous acts …’ etc.100
Thus
reflects the bad influence on the covenant community as well as wilful violation
of the first Commandment which prohibits idolatry. The sin of
‘the practice of
necromancy, divination and magic’ tantamount to idolatry – a deliberate sin against Yahweh,
his Laws and his holy people - thus warranting banishment or death penalty, as the case may
be.101
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This point is very clear in Deuteronomy 20:16 – 18: 16 In those towns that the Lord your God is giving you as
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