Isaiah 19:3

19:3 The Egyptians will panic, ¹ 

and I will confuse their strategy. ² 

They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,

from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. ³ 

Leviticus 20:6

Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums ⁴ 

20:6 “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits ⁵  to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face ⁶  against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.

Deuteronomy 18:11

18:11 one who casts spells, ⁷  one who conjures up spirits, ⁸  a practitioner of the occult, ⁹  or a necromancer. ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 18:1

Provision for Priests and Levites

18:1 The Levitical priests ¹¹  – indeed, the entire tribe of Levi – will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. ¹² 

Deuteronomy 28:8

28:8 The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do – yes, he will bless you in the land he ¹³  is giving you.

Deuteronomy 28:1

The Covenant Blessings

28:1 “If you indeed ¹⁴  obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving ¹⁵  you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.

Deuteronomy 10:13

10:13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving ¹⁶  you today for your own good?

Deuteronomy 10:2

10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words ¹⁷  that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark.”

Deuteronomy 33:6

Blessing on Reuben

33:6 May Reuben live and not die,

and may his people multiply. ¹⁸ 

¹ tn Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”

² tn The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע.

³ tn Heb “they will inquire of the idols and of the spirits of the dead and of the ritual pits and of the magicians.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19.

⁴ sn For structure and coherence in Lev 20:6-27 see the note on v. 27 below.

⁵ tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirits” in Lev 19:31 above.

⁶ tn Heb “I will give my faces.”

⁷ 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).

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

⁹ tn Heb “a knowing [or “familiar”] [spirit]” (יִדְּעֹנִי, yiddÿ’oniy), 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).

¹⁰ tn Heb “a seeker of the dead.” This is much the same as “one who conjures up spirits” (cf. 1 Sam 28:6-7).

¹¹ tn The MT places the terms “priests” and “Levites” in apposition, thus creating an epexegetical construction in which the second term qualifies the first, i.e., “Levitical priests.” This is a way of asserting their legitimacy as true priests. The Syriac renders “to the priest and to the Levite,” making a distinction between the two, but one that is out of place here.

¹² sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the Lord will give to his people. It is the Lord’s inheritance, but the Levites are allowed to eat it since they themselves have no inheritance among the other tribes of Israel.

¹³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” Because English would not typically reintroduce the proper name following a relative pronoun (“he will bless…the Lord your God is giving”), the pronoun (“he”) has been employed here in the translation.

¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).

¹⁶ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.

¹⁷ sn The same words. The care with which the replacement copy must be made underscores the importance of verbal precision in relaying the Lord’s commandments.

¹⁸ tn Heb “and [not] may his men be few” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).