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9. All occult, superstitions, divination, sorcery, spiritualism, etc., were

abominations (9, 12) to Yahweh and invited his judgment (c. !"1.). #he practice

o consulting unseen powers by these devices was tantamount to ac$nowledging a

power other than Yahweh, and this was rebellion.

10, 11.#he irst prohibited practice was that o ma$ing children wal$ through the

ire. #he e%act nature o this practice is not $nown. &t may have been merely a $ind

o trial by ordeal, or a magical test. 'hile this was o no value or divination, itsmagical value might e%plain its presence in the list (c. ev. 1"21* 2+"2-). &n some

other passages in the ld #estament also the practice is connected with [Page 232]

the god /olech90(2 gs 2"1+* 3er. 2"- and perhaps !"1). 4ow old the practice

was is not $nown, but even though it was common in the days o the monarchy it

may have been much older among &srael5s neighbours, so that /oses could have

reerred to it.

6e%t in this list are three terms which describe various practitioners o the art o

divination. #he irst is one who practises divination. #he e%pression includes aparticiple and a noun both derived rom the root q-s-m. A variety o devices was in

use in various lands but all were designed to discern the will o the gods. #he same

word in 78e$iel 21"21 reers to the practice o whirling arrows in a uiver and

deciding the answer to the uestion by the irst arrow thrown out. #he second term

(mnn), translated soothsayer in :;

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superstitiously to produce magical eects. #he noun, thereore, means enchanter or

sorcerer (c. 7%od. !"11* 22"1* 2 @hr. "* Ban. 2"2* /al. "-). #he second term

means literally =one who ties $nots5 (root -b-r), i.e. one who binds another by

magic $nots or magic spells, hence a charmer.

#he last three terms relate to various orms o consulting the spirit world. #he

irst two reer to those who consult or inuire o the spirits, while the third may be asummari8ing term. #he three terms [Page 233] occur together uite oten but

remain somewhat obscure.9-#he irst is the 4ebrew b, translated mediumin :;ree$ versions translate the term by

engastrimuthoi, i.e. ventrilouists, while ;yriac has zakkuro, =ghost5. #he second

term (yidden), wizard, is related to the verb yda, =$now5. Cossibly this wassome $ind o amiliar spirit. #he dierence between the two may have been that

those who divine by the ormer, call up any spirit (1 ;am. 2"11), while those who

divine by the latter consult only a amiliar spirit.

#he third term denotes =one who enuires o the dead5. &n &saiah "19 the term

seems to be synonymous with the irst two terms in the present passage, so that it

may be a typical summing up phrase so characteristic o Beuteronomy. therwise it

seems to denote a necromancer.1

95 e". 19/1 20/6, 2 1 Sam. 28/, 9 2 3g#. 21/6 2/24 2 *hr. /6 #a. 8/19 19/.

96 -rigiall the ba# a rital pit f%r c%mmicatig ith the ether%rl$. See 7. A. 7%ffer,

Sec%$ illeim Atece$et# t% the 7ebre B, JBL, &&&V, 196, pp. 85:401.

1;. A. 'h%mp#%, Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary,