1 translation uses the term magic which is also a poor selection
because it has been used to refer to:
- stage magic, slight of hand, magic tricks
- ceremonial magic used to harm other persons
- ceremonial magic used to help or heal other persons
The use of "witch" in the King James Version was apparently due to King
James' influence over his translators; he had a paranoid fear of being
attacked by Witches. The use of ambiguous terms by the Contemporary
English Version, Good News Version and Revised English Bible is,
in our opinion, inexcusable. The translators must have known the exact meaning
of the original Hebrew word, yet selected an English word which was clearly
ambiguous and which would make large numbers of individuals subject to
hatred. We would recommend that owners of these translations
strike out the word magic, witchcraft or witch and replace it
with sorcery or sorceress.
Deuteronomy 18:10-11
The word Witchcraft in the New International Version's translation
of Deuteronomy 18:10-11 is a significant problem for Wiccans. Many
Evangelical Christians naturally assume that it refers to followers of the
Wiccan faith. It is often quoted near Halloween; it has sometimes been used
as the text of sermons that have triggered hatred, verbal attacks and even
physical attacks on Wiccans.
According to the Scofield Reference Bible this verse was written
in the year 1451 BCE, some 600 years before the origin of the Celtic people
and thus of their religion of Wicca.
The first part of Verse 10 apparently prohibits ancient Israelites from
engaging in child sacrifice. The tribes around Israel allegedly murdered
children by casting them into a fire. Other theologians believe that this
refers to some sort of a trial by fire that would not usually result in
a death. Various Biblical translations render the remainder of Verse 10
and Verse 11 as:
- Amplified Bible: There shall not be found among you anyone
who... uses divination or is a soothsayer or an augur or a sorcerer, | or a
charmer, or a medium or a wizard or a necromancer.
- Contemporary English Version: And don't try to use any kind
of magic or witchcraft to tell fortunes, or to cast spells or to talk with
spirits of the dead.
- Good News Version: ...and don't let your people practice
divination or look for omens or use spells | or charms and don't let them
consult the spirits of the dead.
- James Moffatt Translation: There must be none among you...
who practices divination or soothsaying, no augur, no sorcerer, | no one
who weaves spells, no medium or magician, no necromancer.
- Jerusalem Bible: There must never be anyone among you who ...
practices divination, who is a soothsayer, augur or sorcerer, | who uses
charms, consults ghosts or spirits, or calls up the dead.
- King James Version: There shall not be found among you anyone
....that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter or a
witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a
necromancer.
- Living Bible: No Israeli may practice black magic, or call on
the evil spirits for aid, or be a fortune teller, | or be a serpent charmer,
medium, or wizard, or call forth the spirits of the dead..
- Modern Language Bible: There must not be found among you
anyone... practicing divination, or soothsaying, observing omens, applying
sorcery, | a charmer, a medium, a wizard, or a necromancer.
- New American Bible: Let there be not be found among you anyone
[who is]...a fortune-teller, soothsayer, charamer, diviner, | or caster of
spells, no one who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the
dead.
- New American Standard Bible: There shall not be found among
you... one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who
interprets omens or a sorcerer, | or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or
a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
- New Century Version: Don't let anyone use magic or witchcraft.
No one should try to explain the meaning of signs, | don't let anyone try to
control others with magic. Don't let them be mediums or try to talk with the
spirits of dead people.
.
- New International Version: Let no one be found among you who
... practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,
| or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.
- New Revised Standard Version: No one shall be found among you
who practices practices divination, or is a soothsayer or an augur, or a
sorcerer, | or one who cast spells or who consults ghosts and spirits, or who
seeks oracles from the dead.
- New World Translation: There shall not be found in you anyone
... who employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for
omens or a sorcerer | or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who
consults a spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events or anyone who
inquires of the dead.
- Revised Standard Version: There shall not be found among you...
anyone who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur or a sorcerer, |
or an or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
- Revised English Bible: Let no one be found among you who
... no augur or soothsayer or diviner or sorcerer, | none who cast spells or
traffics with ghosts and spirits, and no necromancer.
Interpretation of the 16 translations of Deut. 18:10-11
The original wording of these verses condemned individuals who followed
practices defined by these 8 Hebrew words:
- yid'oni: knowers; wizards; persons who make contact with spirits
who are not of God. (There are probably Wiccans as well as Christians who
have to engaged in spiritism and have attempted to contact the dead, but this
is not necessarily an integral part of the Wiccan religion)
- sho'el 'ov: making forbidden contact with the dead. (Ditto)
- qosem q'samim: predicting the future by using lots or a similar
system. (Many Wiccans as well as Christians sometimes use tarot cards, runes,
scrying etc to foretell the future, but this is not an integral part of the
Wiccan religion)
- m'onen: predicting the future by interpreting signs in nature.
(Ditto)
- m'nachesh an enchanter (perhaps a snake charmer, because "nachash"
means snake). (We have never heard of Wiccan snake charmers)
- chover chavar: use of knot tying to perform magic. (Wiccans
sometimes engage in knot tying, but only for positive healing magic. Again,
it is a practice that some engage in and is not an integral part of their
religion)
- m'khaseph: a sorcerer (as in Exodus 22:18); a person using
spoken spells to harm others. (Wiccans do not engage in this activity; they
are specifically prohibited from doing so by their Wiccan Rede.)
- doresh 'el hametim: a person who makes contact with the dead
- probably by another method than sho'el 'ov. (Again, there are
some Wiccans who engage in spiritism, but it is not necessarily an integral
part of their religion).
These verses would seem to prohibit a number of modern day activities:
- harming or killing people through the use of
- sorcery (black magic)
- knot magic (tying and untying knots while cursing someone)
- engaging in methods of fortelling the future by
- studying nature (e.g whether the winter will be cold by studying the
size of caterpillars or whether spring will be delayed by the actions of a
groundhog)
- casting sticks (e.g. I Ching or perhaps runes)
- astrology
- raising ghosts or spirits through the use of spiritism by a medium
- snake charming
Wiccans are prohibited from harming people by any means. Some use various
methods of foretelling the future; so do some Christians. Some engage in
spiritism, so do some Christians. The latter two practices are not
necessarily an integral part of their religion.
In our opinion, none of the 8 Hebrew terms should be translated as Witch
or Witchcraft.
References Used
- 16 translations of the Christian Bible
- Alexi Kondratiev "Suffer a Witch to Live", Enchante, the Journal
for the Urbane Pagan, Mabon & Vinalia (1994), P. 11-15
Return to the OCRT home page; return to the Description of religions and ethical systems; return
to the Wiccan page.