Deuteronomy 18:11
in Deuteronomy 18casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
KJV
Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
⋯
This verse in Deuteronomy 18
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
thou shalt not learn to do
on Deuteronomy 18:9-11
Nine practices are named and the verb governing them is learn, so what is guarded against is transfer from the neighbours. Albert Barnes reads the list as an attempt to gather every known word for the practices in question, and notes that the necromancer is literally one who interrogates the dead. Leviticus 18:21, 19:31 and 20:27 had already forbidden most of these one at a time. 2 Kings 21:6 and 2 Chronicles 33:6 report Manasseh doing nearly the whole list in Jerusalem, which is this list read back as an indictment.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Or, a fortune-teller, that foretelleth the events of men's lives by the conjunctions of the stars. Spirits - Whom they call upon by certain words or rites. A wizard - Hebrew. a knowing man, who by any forbidden way's undertakes the Revelation of secret things.
Or a charmer,....
A promise is given them of the spirit of prophecy to continue among them, and to centre at last in Christ the great prophet,
One would wonder that such arts and works of darkness, so senseless and absurd, so impious and profane, could be found in a country where divine revelation shone so clearly; yet we find remains of them even where Christ's holy religion is known and professed; such are the powers and policies of the rulers of the darkness of this world.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations--(See on Le 18:21; In spite of this express command, the people of Canaan, especially the Philistines, were a constant snare and stumbling block to the Israelites, on account of their divinations and superstitious practices. CHRIST THE PROPHET IS TO BE HEARD.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A charmer - חבר חבר chober chaber, one who uses spells; a peculiar conjunction, as the term implies, of words, or things, tying knots, etc., for the purposes of divination. This was a custom among the heathen, as we learn from the following verses: - Necte Tribus Nodis ternos, Amarylli, colores: Necte, Amarylli, modo; et Veneris, dic, vincula necto. Virg. Ecl. viii., ver. 77. “Knit with three Knots the fillets, knit them straight; Then say, these Knots to love I consecrate.” Dryden. A consulter with familiar spirits - שאל אוב shoel ob, a Pythoness, one who inquires by the means of one spirit to get oracular answers from another of a superior order. See on Lev 19:31 (note). A wizard - ידעני yiddeoni, a wise one, a knowing one. Wizard was formerly considered as the masculine of witch, both practising divination by similar means. See on Exo 22:13 (note), and Lev 19:31 (note). Or a necromancer - דרש אל המתים doresh el hammethim, one who seeks from or inquires of the dead. Such as the witch at Endor, who professed to evoke the dead, in order to get them to disclose the secrets of the spiritual world.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
כל אלה עשה [FOR] ALL THAT DO THESE THINGS [ARE AN ABOMINATION UNTO THE LORD] — it does not say, “he who does all these things”, but “all who do these things” — who do even only one of them (Sifrei Devarim:1; cf. Makkot 24a).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְחֹבֵ֖ר | vechover | and [one who] casts | H2266 → | |
| חָ֑בֶר | chaver | a spell | H2267 → | |
| וְשֹׁאֵ֥ל | veshoel | and [one who] consults | H7592 → | 171 times |
| אוֹב֙ | ʾov | a necromancer | H178 → | |
| וְיִדְּעֹנִ֔י | veyideoni | and a familiar spirit | H3049 → | |
| וְדֹרֵ֖שׁ | vedoresh | and [one who] enquires | H1875 → | 164 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמֵּתִֽים׃ | hametim | the dead | H4191 → | 839 times |
וְחֹבֵ֖רand [one who] casts
vechoverH2266 →
חָ֑בֶרa spell
chaverH2267 →
וְשֹׁאֵ֥לand [one who] consults
veshoelH7592 →171 times
אוֹב֙a necromancer
ʾovH178 →
וְיִדְּעֹנִ֔יand a familiar spirit
veyideoniH3049 →
וְדֹרֵ֖שׁand [one who] enquires
vedoreshH1875 →164 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמֵּתִֽים׃the dead
hametimH4191 →839 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 19:31You 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.
it leads to
- 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?
- 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.’”
- 2 Chronicles 33:6
He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking…
- Leviticus 20:6–7
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.
- Deuteronomy 18:10–14
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,
- Isaiah 8:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.