Deuteronomy 18:11

18:11 one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer.

Deuteronomy 18:19

18:19 I will personally hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet speaks in my name.


tn Heb “a binder of binding” (חֹבֵר חָבֶר, khover khaver). The connotation is that of immobilizing (“binding”) someone or something by the use of magical words (cf. Ps 58:6; Isa 47:9, 12).

tn Heb “asker of a [dead] spirit” (שֹׁאֵל אוֹב, shoelov). This is a form of necromancy (cf. Lev 19:31; 20:6; 1 Sam 28:8, 9; Isa 8:19; 19:3; 29:4).

tn Heb “a knowing [or “familiar”] [spirit]” (יִדְּעֹנִי, yiddÿoniy), i.e., one who is expert in mantic arts (cf. Lev 19:31; 20:6, 27; 1 Sam 28:3, 9; 2 Kgs 21:6; Isa 8:19; 19:3).

tn Heb “a seeker of the dead.” This is much the same as “one who conjures up spirits” (cf. 1 Sam 28:6-7).

tn Heb “will seek from him”; NAB “I myself will make him answer for it”; NRSV “will hold accountable.”

tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.