Atunci urmeaza o lista cuprinzatoare a tuturor tipurilor

de religie si practicantilor de magie care erau sa fie

interzisi in Israel. Semnificatia exacta a tuturor acestor
termini angajati este incerta, dar accentuarea listei
trebuie gasita in fundamental ei ca o patura de
interzicere a tuturor tipurilor de divinizatie, magie si
consultatie cu lumea spiritelor, asa cum era tipic religiei
cannanitilor. Unul care va cauza ca fiul sau fiica lui sa
arda in flacari (vezi 12:31 sicomentariile)-contextularata
ca referirea nu este simplificata la sacrificarea copilului,
dar in a oferi copilul cu scopul deosebit de a determina
sau discerne cursul evenimentelor. Aceasta inseamna
ca sacrificial ar avea o intentie magica. Unul care
practica ghicirea/divinatia, unul care practica ghicitul,
sau unul care interpreteaza semnele rele- diversele
metode de divinatie (angajand supranaturalul inseamna
sa descoperi cursul viitoarelor evenimente, intamplari)
sunt interzise. Magia a fost dintotdeauna interzisa; spre
deosebire de divinatie, (pag 261) magia tindea sa
influenteze evenimente sau personae prin utilizarea
metodelor supranaturale. Metodele urmand a fi interzise
erau vrajitoria si utilizarea farmecelor magiei, cu toate
ca distinctia dintre cele doua metode nu este clara in
acest context. In sfarsit, diferitelemetode de consultare
cu lumea spiritelor( din nou cu scopul de a cunoaste,
poate chiar a determina viitorul) urmeaza a fi interzise.
Cineva care se informeaza de la o fantoma/ spirit
(referire catre acea persoana care vrea sa evoce si sa
consulte orice fantoma) vezi consultatia lui Saul cu
vrajitoarea la Endor. Spiritele familiar sunt consultate
doar ca fiind spirite deosebite. Vrajitoria este de
asemenea o forma de prezicere, prin comunicarea cu
moartea/ cei morti

Deut. 18:9-11:
911 The people of Israel must not learn to follow the abominable practices. The verb ,
learn, has to do with forbidden customs: the magic and the oracles of the inhabitants of the
land (18:1011) and the Canaanite cultic practice (20:18; see G. Braulik, Theology of
Deuteronomy [1994] 195). The list reads as though it was intended to include all known
designations of occult activities.
Scholars debate what it means to pass ones son or daughter through the fire. Mayes noted
that a reference to child sacrifice would be out of place here, for the context is concerned solely
with forms of divination ([1981] 280). Tigay says, Modern scholarship has not been able to
resolve the question of whether Deuteronomy 18:10 refers to a lethal or a nonlethal practice.
Because of this, we cannot say whether or how passing children through fire is related to the
dedication of the first-born, to Canaanite child sacrifice, or to the worship of Molech ([1996]
465).
One who practices divination ( ) includes hepatoscopy (the art of
reading the liver from a sacrificial animal), belomancy (use of arrows shaken from a quiver),
necromancy (consulting spirits of the dead), and also false prophecy (Ezek 21:28 [Eng. 29]; Jer
14:14). The term soothsayer( ) cannot be defined with any certainty, since all
conjectures are based on etymology. For instance, Ibn Ezra derived the term from anan,
cloud, and suggested that it refers to those who draw omens from the appearance and
movements of clouds (Tigay [1996] 173). The term rendered omen reader ( )seems to
refer to divination based on mixing liquids, such as oil and water (oleomancy), which may also
be the manner in which Josephs silver goblet was used in matters of divination (Gen 44:5). A
sorcerer ( ) refers to a practioner of black magic in Exod 22:17, where it is a capital

offense. The phrase , translated as a caster of magic spells, appears in Ps 58:6

(Eng. 5), where it refers to magic of some sort used against venomous snakes. Finkelstein ( JBL 75
[1956] 32831) suggests the meaning muttering a spell and compares the Akkadian habaru,
be noisy. For a different view see M. Held, Studies in Biblical Lexicography in the Light of
Akkadian, EI 16 (1982) 7879. One who asks of a ghost ( ) refers to the practice of

is that of a hole in the ground through

which offerings and requests for information were made to the dead. A medium ( )is
necromancy. A common interpretation of the term

sometimes translated as familiar spirit, the ghost of a deceased person. It always appears with
the term , and may function simply as an adjective to the term to describe a
ghost [Page 409] functioning as a medium. In the story of King Saul and the witch of Endor,
ghosts of the dead ascend from the depths of the earth and are seen by the medium. The phrase
one who inquires from the dead ( ) probably means one who performs
JBLJBL Journal of Biblical Literature
EIEI Ere Israel

necromancy by any other means than the two previous terms mentioned (Tigay [1996] 173,
following Ramban).1
Duane L. Christensen, Deuteronomy 1-21:9, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 6A,
Word, Incorporated, Dallas, 2002, pp. 408-409.

1 Duane L. Christensen, Deuteronomy 1-21:9, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 6A,

Word, Incorporated, Dallas, 2002, pp. 408-409.