Leviticus 19:31
in Leviticus 19You 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Turn ye not unto them that have familiar spirits, nor unto the wizards; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am Jehovah your God.
KJV
Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
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This verse in Leviticus 19
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Regard not them that have familiar spirits--The Hebrew word, rendered "familiar spirit," signifies the belly, and sometimes a leathern bottle, from its similarity to the belly. It was applied in the sense of this passage to ventriloquists, who pretended to have communication with the invisible world.
This site's exposition
Regard not them that have familiar spirits
on Leviticus 19:31-32
Familiar spirits and wizards both occur here for the first time in Scripture, and the stated result of consulting them is defilement. Deuteronomy 18:11 sets the same practices in a longer list of what the nations did, and 1 Samuel 28 shows a king of Israel doing what this verse forbids. Verse 32 asks a man to rise up before the hoary head, to honour the face of the old man and to fear his God, so the chapter forbids seeking the dead in one verse and commands standing up for the living aged in the next. Both verses close on I am the LORD.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Regard not them that have familiar spirits,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Regard not them that have familiar spirits - The Hebrew word אבות oboth probably signifies a kind of engastromuthoi or ventriloquists, or such as the Pythoness mentioned Act 16:16, Act 16:18; persons who, while under the influence of their demon, became greatly inflated, as the Hebrew word implies, and gave answers in a sort of frenzy. See a case of this kind in Virgil, Aeneid, l. vi., ver. 46, etc.: - “ - Deus ecce, Deus! cui talla fanti Ante fores, subito non vultus, non color unus, Non comptae mansere comae; sed pectus anhelum, Et rabie fera corda tument; majorque videri, Nec mortale sonans, afflata est numine quando Jam propiore Dei.” - Invoke the skies, I feel the god, the rushing god, she cries. While yet she spoke, enlarged her features grew, Her color changed, her locks dishevelled flew. The heavenly tumult reigns in every part, Pants in her breast, and swells her rising heart: Still swelling to the sight, the priestess glowed, And heaved impatient of the incumbent god. Pitt. Neither seek after wizards - ידענים yiddeonim, the wise or knowing ones, from ידע yada, to know or understand; called wizard in Scotland, wise or cunning man in England; and hence also the wise woman, the white witch. Not only all real dealers with familiar spirits, or necromantic or magical superstitions, are here forbidden, but also all pretenders to the knowledge of futurity, fortune-tellers, astrologers, etc., etc. To attempt to know what God has not thought proper to reveal, is a sin against his wisdom, providence, and goodness. In mercy, great mercy, God has hidden the knowledge of futurity from man, and given him hope - the expectation of future good, in its place. See Clarke’s note on Exo 22:18.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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”.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּפְנ֤וּ | tifnu | you turn | H6437 → | 135 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָאֹבֹת֙ | haovot | the necromancers | H178 → | 17 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַיִּדְּעֹנִ֔ים | haiyideonim | the soothsayers | H3049 → | 11 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּ | tevakshu | you seek [them] | H1245 → | |
| לְטָמְאָ֣ה | letameah | to become unclean | H2930 → | 162 times |
| בָהֶ֑ם | vahem | by <the> them | ||
| אֲנִ֖י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּפְנ֤וּyou turn
tifnuH6437 →135 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָאֹבֹת֙the necromancers
haovotH178 →17 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
הַיִּדְּעֹנִ֔יםthe soothsayers
haiyideonimH3049 →11 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּyou seek [them]
tevakshuH1245 →
לְטָמְאָ֣הto become unclean
letameahH2930 →162 times
בָהֶ֑םby <the> them
vahem
אֲנִ֖יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָ֥ה[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃God your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Isaiah 8:19When 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?
it leads to
- 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.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 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,
- 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…
- Psalms 106:28
They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
- 1 Samuel 28:8
So Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes, and he set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me. Bring…
- Leviticus 20:6
Through
Leviticus 20:27A 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.’”
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 28:7–9
Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.” “There is a medium at Endor,” his servants replied.
- 1 Samuel 28:7–9
Through
2 Chronicles 33:6He 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…
it leads to
- Leviticus 18:21
You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
- 2 Kings 21:6
He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Leviticus 18:21
Where this verse is studied
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.