Leviticus 19:26

Blood, Hair, and Body

19:26 “‘You must not eat anything with the blood still in it. ¹  You must not practice either divination or soothsaying. ² 

Leviticus 20:6

Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums ³ 

20:6 “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits ⁴  to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face ⁵  against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.

Deuteronomy 18:10-14

18:10 There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, ⁶  anyone who practices divination, ⁷  an omen reader, ⁸  a soothsayer, ⁹  a sorcerer, ¹⁰  18:11 one who casts spells, ¹¹  one who conjures up spirits, ¹²  a practitioner of the occult, ¹³  or a necromancer. ¹⁴  18:12 Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things ¹⁵  the Lord your God is about to drive them out ¹⁶  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 18:1

Provision for Priests and Levites

18:1 The Levitical priests ¹⁷  – 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. ¹⁸ 

Deuteronomy 15:23

15:23 However, you must not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water.

Deuteronomy 15:2

15:2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; ¹⁹  he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, ²⁰  for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.”

Deuteronomy 17:17

17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many ²¹  wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold.

Isaiah 47:9-12

47:9 Both of these will come upon you

suddenly, in one day!

You will lose your children and be widowed. ²² 

You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, ²³ 

despite ²⁴  your many incantations

and your numerous amulets. ²⁵ 

47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; ²⁶ 

you thought, ²⁷  ‘No one sees me.’

Your self-professed ²⁸  wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,

when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ ²⁹ 

47:11 Disaster will overtake you;

you will not know how to charm it away. ³⁰ 

Destruction will fall on you;

you will not be able to appease it.

Calamity will strike you suddenly,

before you recognize it. ³¹ 

47:12 Persist ³²  in trusting ³³  your amulets

and your many incantations,

which you have faithfully recited ³⁴  since your youth!

Maybe you will be successful ³⁵  –

maybe you will scare away disaster. ³⁶ 

Galatians 5:20

5:20 idolatry, sorcery, ³⁷  hostilities, ³⁸  strife, ³⁹  jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, ⁴⁰  factions,

[19:26]  ¹ tn Heb “You shall not eat on the blood.” See the extensive remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 319-20, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 132-33. The LXX has “on the mountains,” suggesting that this is a prohibition against illegitimate places and occasions of worship, not the eating of blood.

[19:26]  ² tn Heb “You shall not practice divination and you shall not practice soothsaying”; cf. NRSV “practice augury or witchcraft.” For suggestions regarding the practices involved see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 133, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 320.

[20:6]  ³ sn For structure and coherence in Lev 20:6-27 see the note on v. 27 below.

[20:6]  ⁴ tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirits” in Lev 19:31 above.

[20:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will give my faces.”

[18:10]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn The translation understands the Hebrew participial form as having an imminent future sense here.

[18:1]  ¹⁷ 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.

[18:1]  ¹⁸ 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.

[15:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.

[15:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “his neighbor and his brother.” The words “his brother” may be a scribal gloss identifying “his neighbor” (on this idiom, see the preceding note) as a fellow Israelite (cf. v. 3). In this case the conjunction before “his brother” does not introduce a second category, but rather has the force of “that is.”

[17:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “must not multiply” (cf. KJV, NASB); NLT “must not take many.”

[47:9]  ²² tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.

[47:9]  ²³ tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”

[47:9]  ²⁴ tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.

[47:9]  ²⁵ sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.

[47:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”

[47:10]  ²⁷ tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”

[47:10]  ²⁸ tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[47:10]  ²⁹ tn See the note at v. 8.

[47:11]  ³⁰ tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.

[47:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”

[47:12]  ³² tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”

[47:12]  ³³ tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.

[47:12]  ³⁴ tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”

[47:12]  ³⁵ tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”

[47:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.

[5:20]  ³⁷ tn Or “witchcraft.”

[5:20]  ³⁸ tn Or “enmities,” “[acts of] hatred.”

[5:20]  ³⁹ tn Or “discord” (L&N 39.22).

[5:20]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “discord(s)” (L&N 39.13).