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Leviticus 20:27

in Leviticus 20

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.’”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them.

KJV

A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.

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This verse in Leviticus 20

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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.

This site's exposition

A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit

The chapter closes on the sentence it opened with, stoning by the community. Verse 6 dealt with the man who goes to a medium and this verse deals with the medium, so the practice is answered at both ends of the chapter. Familiar spirits and wizards enter Scripture at 19:31, and the thread runs from here to Saul at Endor in 1 Samuel 28, to Manasseh in 2 Kings 21:6, and to Isaiah 8:19. Matthew Henry reads the penalty as removing a standing temptation from among the people rather than as reaching the practitioner alone.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

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

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It would be an affront to God and to his lively oracles, a scandal to the country, and a temptation to ignorant bad people, to consult them, if such were known and suffered to live among them. Those that are in league with the devil have in effect made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell, and so shall their doom be.

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְאִ֣ישׁand a man

    veishH376 →1663 times

  • אֽוֹ־or

    ʾov-H176 →321 times

  • אִשָּׁ֗הa woman

    ʾishahH802 →781 times

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • יִהְיֶ֨הhe will be

    yihyehH1961 →3559 times

  • בָהֶ֥םamong <the> them

    vahem

  • א֛וֹבa necromancer

    ʾovH178 →17 times

  • א֥וֹor

    ʾoH176 →321 times

  • יִדְּעֹנִ֖יa soothsayer

    yideoniH3049 →11 times

  • מ֣וֹתcertainly <to die>

    motH4191 →839 times

  • יוּמָ֑תוּthey will be put to death

    yumatuH4191 →839 times

  • בָּאֶ֛בֶןwith <the> stone[s]

    baevenH68 →273 times

  • יִרְגְּמ֥וּpeople will stone

    yirgemuH7275 →16 times

  • אֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • דְּמֵיהֶ֥םblood<s> their

    demeihemH1818 →360 times

  • בָּֽם׃ פ[are] on <the> them

    bam

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

16 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Exodus 22:18You must not allow a sorceress to live.22 worksLeviticus 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.10 worksLeviticus 20:6Whoever 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.6 works1 Samuel 28:3Now 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.6 worksMalachi 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.5 works1 Samuel 28:7–9Then 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.4 works
The other 10 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Samuel 15:23For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”4 worksLeviticus 24:14“Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole assembly stone him.4 worksDeuteronomy 18:10–12Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,3 works2 Kings 23:24Furthermore, Josiah removed the mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this to carry out the words of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of the LORD.3 worksLeviticus 20:2“Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him.3 worksDeuteronomy 13:10Stone him to death for trying to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.2 worksEzekiel 18:13He engages in usury and takes excess interest. Will this son live? He will not! Since he has committed all these abominations, he will surely die; his blood will be on his own head.2 works2 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 Him to anger.2 works2 Samuel 1:16For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”2 worksLeviticus 20:9If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.0 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 19:31

    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.

    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?

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 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,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 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.

  • Through

    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.

    it leads to

    • 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.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Exodus 22:18

    You must not allow a sorceress to live.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 18:10–11

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

    • 1 Samuel 28:3

      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.

    • 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.

About Leviticus

Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Leviticus: the study guide →Read Leviticus 20 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Leviticus 20 →