Deuteronomy 18:10-14

18:10 There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, ¹  anyone who practices divination, ²  an omen reader, ³  a soothsayer, ⁴  a sorcerer, ⁵  18:11 one who casts spells, ⁶  one who conjures up spirits, ⁷  a practitioner of the occult, ⁸  or a necromancer. ⁹  18:12 Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things ¹⁰  the Lord your God is about to drive them out ¹¹  from before you. 18:13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God. 18:14 Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to omen readers and diviners, but the Lord your God has not given you permission to do such things.

Deuteronomy 18:2

18:2 They ¹²  will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; ¹³  the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them.

Deuteronomy 17:17

17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many ¹⁴  wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold.

Deuteronomy 21:6

21:6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse ¹⁵  must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. ¹⁶ 

Deuteronomy 21:2

21:2 your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse. ¹⁷ 

Deuteronomy 33:6

Blessing on Reuben

33:6 May Reuben live and not die,

and may his people multiply. ¹⁸ 

[18:10]  ¹ tn Heb “who passes his son or his daughter through the fire.” The expression “pass…through the fire” is probably a euphemism for human sacrifice (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT). See also Deut 12:31.

[18:10]  ² tn Heb “a diviner of divination” (קֹסֵם קְסָמִים, qosem qÿsamim). This was a means employed to determine the future or the outcome of events by observation of various omens and signs (cf. Num 22:7; 23:23; Josh 13:22; 1 Sam 6:2; 15:23; 28:8; etc.). See M. Horsnell, NIDOTTE 3:945-51.

[18:10]  ³ tn Heb “one who causes to appear” (מְעוֹנֵן, mÿ’onen). Such a practitioner was thought to be able to conjure up spirits or apparitions (cf. Lev 19:26; Judg 9:37; 2 Kgs 21:6; Isa 2:6; 57:3; Jer 27:9; Mic 5:11).

[18:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “a seeker of omens” (מְנַחֵשׁ, mÿnakhesh). This is a subset of divination, one illustrated by the use of a “divining cup” in the story of Joseph (Gen 44:5).

[18:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “a doer of sorcery” (מְכַשֵּׁף, mikhashef). This has to do with magic or the casting of spells in order to manipulate the gods or the powers of nature (cf. Lev 19:26-31; 2 Kgs 17:15b-17; 21:1-7; Isa 57:3, 5; etc.). See M. Horsnell, NIDOTTE 2:735-38.

[18:11]  ⁶ 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).

[18:11]  ⁷ 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).

[18:11]  ⁸ 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).

[18:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “a seeker of the dead.” This is much the same as “one who conjures up spirits” (cf. 1 Sam 28:6-7).

[18:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “these abhorrent things.” The repetition is emphatic. For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, the same term used earlier in the verse has been translated “detestable” here.

[18:12]  ¹¹ tn The translation understands the Hebrew participial form as having an imminent future sense here.

[18:2]  ¹² tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).

[18:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”

[17:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “must not multiply” (cf. KJV, NASB); NLT “must not take many.”

[21:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “slain [one].”

[21:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “wadi,” a seasonal watercourse through a valley.

[21:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “surrounding the slain [one].”

[33:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and [not] may his men be few” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).