Familiar Spirits

How Nave’s arranged it

• Consulting of, forbiddenLeviticus 19:31Leviticus 20:6Leviticus 20:27Deuteronomy 18:10Deuteronomy 18:11
• VainIsaiah 8:19Isaiah 19:3
• Those who consulted, to be cut offLeviticus 20:6Leviticus 20:27
• INSTANCES OF THOSE WHO CONSULTED
• Saul1 Samuel 28:3–251 Chronicles 10:13
• See Demons
• See Necromancy
• See Witchcraft

The passages, in Bible order (9)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 9 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Leviticus 19:31

   You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.

   ›Commentary on Leviticus 19:312 voices

   “Regard not them that have familiar spirits,....

   “The devotion of faith, which would manifest itself in obedience to the commandment to keep God’s Sabbaths and to reverence His sanctuary Lev 19:30, is the true preservative against the superstition which is forbidden in this verse. The people whose God was Yahweh were not to indulge those wayward feelings of their human nature which are gratified in magical arts and pretensions. Compare Isa 8:19. Familiar spirits - literally, “bottles”.

   Everything gathered on Leviticus 19:31→

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2. Leviticus 20:6

   Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists to prostitute himself with them, I will also set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.

   ›Commentary on Leviticus 20:61 voice

   “The soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits,....

   Everything gathered on Leviticus 20:6→

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3. Leviticus 20:27

   A man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist must surely be put to death. They shall be stoned; their blood is upon them.’”

   ›Commentary on Leviticus 20:272 voices

   “A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit,....

   “A familiar spirit - A spirit or demon, which, by magical rites, is supposed to be bound to appear at the call of his employer. See the notes on Gen 41:8; Exo 7:11 (note), Exo 7:22 (note), Exo 7:25 (note); and Lev 19:31 (note). From the accounts we have of the abominations both of Egypt and Canaan, we may blush for human nature; for wherever it is without cultivation, and without the revelation of God, it is every thing that is vile in principle and detestable in practice.

   Everything gathered on Leviticus 20:27→

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4. Deuteronomy 18:10

   Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 18:102 voices

   “There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire,.... To Moloch, which was a sort of lustration by fire, two fires being made, and the child led by a priest between them, and which was an initiation of him into the religion of that deity, and devoting him to it; so Jarchi says, this is the service of Moloch, making piles of fire here and there (on this side and on that), and causing (the children) to pass between them both.

   “To pass through the fire - Probably in the way of consecration to Molech, or some other deity. It is not likely that their being burnt to death is here intended. See on Lev 18:21 (note). Divination - קסם קסמים kosem kesamim, one who endeavors to find out futurity by auguries, using lots, etc. Observer of times - מעונן meonen, one who pretends to foretell future events by present occurrences, and who predicts great political or physical changes from the aspects of the planets, eclipses, motion of the clouds, etc., etc. See on Gen 41:8 (note).

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 18:10→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Deuteronomy 18:11

   casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 18:112 voices

   “A charmer - i. e., one who fascinates and subdues noxious animals or men, such as the famous serpent-charmers of the East Psa 58:4-5. A consulter with familiar spirits ... a wizard - Compare Lev 19:31 note. Recromancer - literally, “one who interrogates the dead.” The purpose of the text is obviously to group together all the known words belonging to the practices in question. Compare 2Ch 33:6.

   “Or a charmer,....

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 18:11→

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6. 1 Samuel 28:3–25

   Now by this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.

   ›Commentary on 1 Samuel 28:3–252 voices

   “It does not appear when Saul had suppressed witchcraft; it was probably in the early part of his reign. Familiar spirits ... wizards - i. e. ventriloquists ... wise or cunning men. See Lev 19:31 note.

   “And Saul removed all the magicians, etc. Magicians and soothsayers, the first of whom, commonly called sorcerers, use blood and sacrifices, and often touch the bodies of the dead, following (whom other translations call enchanters) accomplish their work with words; all these soothsayers and idolatries …

   Everything gathered on 1 Samuel 28:3–25→

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7. 1 Chronicles 10:13

   So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance,

   ›Commentary on 1 Chronicles 10:132 voices

   “The word - Against God's express command: which is a great aggravation of any sin. Familiar spirit - Which also was contrary to a manifest command, Levit xix, 31.

   “So Saul died for his transgression,....

   Everything gathered on 1 Chronicles 10:13→

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8. Isaiah 8:19

   When men tell you to consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 8:192 voices

   “Much more should we do so, that have the only true God for our God. For the living - That is, for living men to inquire of the living God, is proper and reasonable; but it is highly absurd for them to forsake him, and to seek dead idols, either to the images, or to the spirits of dead men, which are supposed to speak in them.

   “And when they shall say - When the people, instead of putting confidence in God, shall propose to apply to necromancers. In the time of Ahaz the people were, as they were often, much inclined to idolatry; 2Ki 16:10. In their troubles and embarrassments, instead of looking to Yahweh, they imitated the example of surrounding nations, and applied for relief to those who professed to be able to hold converse with spirits.

   Everything gathered on Isaiah 8:19→

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9. Isaiah 19:3

   Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 19:32 voices

   “And the spirit of Egypt was disrupted in their hearts, so that they would not feel equal; but separated by a spiritual sword against themselves, they would recognize that all their plans had been thrown away: and nevertheless, remaining in their previous error, those who had refused to accept the truth of faith would consult idols and their gods, and Pythonesses, and soothsayers.

   “And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof,....

   Everything gathered on Isaiah 19:3→

   Verse page →Original language →