Category Archives: Holidays

Witches in the Hebrew Bible

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[This was originally posted October 31, 2005]

This last week I was copying an article in the Festschrift for John F.A. Sawyer (Words Remembered, Texts Renewed, JSOT 195, Sheffield 1995), and came across an interesting chapter on witches in the Hebrew Bible by Graham Harvey (pp. 113-134). This piqued my interest and I thought, considering that today is Halloween, I would blog a bit on the subject of witches in the Hebrew Bible.

You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby!

Witches have come a long way in popular culture. Shakespeare’s characterization of witches in Macbeth as old wrinkly hags that dance naked around a pot of boiling potion is still found in the stereotypical Halloween costumes and in the portrayal of the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz.

But there is also a more attractive characterization of the witch in film and television. For instance, Elizabeth Montgomery’s Samantha in Bewitched did not fit the stereotype, nor did Nicole Kidman in the recent remake. And, of course, the stereotype was dashed to pieces with the Harry Potter books. Hermione Granger does not look like a witch, she looks just like a young girl.

Of course, this raises the question of where did this stereotypical image of the witch as an old Hag with warts and frogs come from? Well, first of all, it did NOT come from the Bible.

Witches and Witchcraft in the Hebrew Bible

One of the first things that you realize when broaching the subject of witches in the Hebrew Bible, is how little we actually know!

If you look for the word “witch” in the NRSV, you would look in vain. The word “witchcraft” is only found in Lev 19:26 to translate תעוננו. The NIV is similar in that the term “witch” is not found, but you do find the term “witchcraft” five times to translate words from the root כסף (Deut 18:10; 2 Kings 9:22; 2 Chron 33:6; Mic 5:12; Nah 3:4). The picture is again somewhat different if you look at the KJV, which adds Exod 22:17 (“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”; once again from כסף) and 1 Sam 15:23 (translating קס×? “divination”) to the examples from the NIV.

One of the key passages about witchcraft in the Hebrew Bible — or at least a passage that brings together a series of terms relating to magic is Deut 18:9-14.

9 When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you must not learn to imitate the abhorrent practices of those nations. 10 No one shall be found among you who makes a son or daughter pass through fire, or who practices divination, or is a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts spells, or who consults ghosts or spirits, or who seeks oracles from the dead. 12 For whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord; it is because of such abhorrent practices that the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You must remain completely loyal to the Lord your God. 14 Although these nations that you are about to dispossess do give heed to soothsayers and diviners, as for you, the Lord your God does not permit you to do so (NRSV).

The terms employed include the following:

  • “One who practices divination” (קס×? קסמי×?). This term is used primarily for the practices of non-Israelites who tell the future or prophesy by various means. Some take this to be a more general term that describes the whole complex of magical and divinatory practices in ancient Israel.
  • “Soothsayer” (מעונן). Someone who can interpret signs or looks for omens.
  • “Augur” (מנחש×?). To seek and give omens, foretell. Could be some sort of divination related to snakes.
  • “Sorcerer” (מכש×?×£). This term is probably closest to the idea of magic and witchcraft.
  • “One who casts spells” (חבר חבר). This would be a charmer or the like.
  • “One who consults ghosts or spirits, or who seeks oracles from the dead (ש×?ל ×?וב֙ וידעני ודרש×? ×?ל־המתי×?). These terms appear to be related to the practice of necromancy, i.e., divination by inquiring of the dead.

Most of these terms occur infrequently and are very difficult to unpack in a meaningful way. Even the concept of magic in the Hebrew Bible is had to define. ABD uses “the term ‘magic’ will be used here to refer to methods associated with the gaining of suprahuman knowledge and power or with influencing suprahuman powers.” The majority of places where these terms are used are clearly negative, though there are some more neutral occurrences. It appears that many of these terms are used to characterize illegitimate practices relating to telling (or perhaps changing) the future by those who do not worship Yahweh.

No matter how you understand some of these terms, what is clear is that these terms do not tell us anything about what these people looked like. So where does our image of witches come from?

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

More recognizable images of witches from English literature like MacBeth are derived from classical Roman authors and mediaeval sources.

For instance, the Roman poet Lucan (39-65 AD) describes a “witch” that fits our modern stereotypes in book six of his Pharsalia (also known as “The Civil War”):

To her no home
Beneath a sheltering roof her direful head
Thus to lay down were crime: deserted tombs
Her dwelling-place, from which, darling of hell,
610 She dragged the dead. Nor life nor gods forbad
But that she knew the secret homes of Styx
And learned to hear the whispered voice of ghosts
At dread mysterious meetings. (35) Never sun
Shed his pure light upon that haggard cheek
Pale with the pallor of the shades, nor looked
Upon those locks unkempt that crowned her brow.
In starless nights of tempest crept the Hag
Out from her tomb to seize the levin bolt;
Treading the harvest with accursed foot
620 She burned the fruitful growth, and with her breath
Poisoned the air else pure. No prayer she breathed
Nor supplication to the gods for help

Horace has a number of similar descriptions of witches in his Epodes. He describes the “hideous looks of all these hags” one of which has “interwoven her hair and uncombed head with little vipers” and who make potions out of disgusting materials. It is descriptions like these that inspired Shakespeare, not the Bible.

Of course, the best portrayal of a witch in popular culture is found in Monty Python’s The Quest for the Holy Grail! (See it here)

UPDATE (2006): You will want to check out a post by Menachem Mendel on witches (he also notes the following brief article: Witches in the Bible and Talmud). Phil Harland also relates an ancient ghost story here.

Thanksgiving Psalms for Thanksgiving

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Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Yes, up here in Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day this weekend (technically tomorrow). So I have already had some turkey with my in-laws and tomorrow we go to my brother’s house.

I’ve been teaching a Psalms class this semester and just this last week we were looking at Thanksgiving Psalms. Thanksgiving psalms are closely related to hymns (some scholars such as Westermann don’t make a big distinction between thanksgiving psalms and hymns). The difference is one of focus: while hymns offer more generic praise to God, thanksgiving psalms focus on praising God for deliverance from a particular distress. Significantly, the Hebrew word for “give thanks” (תודה) cannot be limited to the meaning of the English word “to thank.” The word has the wider connotation of “acknowledge,â€? “confess,â€? and “proclaim.â€? It is often used in parallel with verbs meaning “praiseâ€? (e.g., תהלה in Pss 100:4; 69:30[31]), or “recountâ€? (ספר in Ps 26:7). It is also the term used for a “thank offeringâ€? in Pss 50:14, 23; 56:12[13]; and 107:27. There is not a single instance in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible where the phrase “to thank” is used between people. Instead, the verb “to blessâ€? (ברך) is used (e.g., Deut 24:13; 2 Sam 14:22; Job 31:20; Neh 11:2).

It is more than likely that the community songs of thanksgiving were used in the major festivals at the temple. The individual songs of thanksgiving, on the other hand, were composed for recitation at the temple as an expression of a person’s praise to God for deliverance from a concrete distress, such as illness. Since the word usually translated “thanksgiving” is the same word used for “thank offering” (e.g., Pss 50:14, 23; Jonah 2:9), it seems clear that these psalms were intended to be used in a cultic setting. On such an occasion the individual, in the presence of the worshiping congregation, testified personally to God’s saving deeds to the accompaniment of a ritual act (e.g., Jer 33:11). Or the psalmist would go with family and friends to the temple (or some smaller gathering, if you follow the likes of Gerstenberger) where the individual would give thanks to God. Then he would invite those gathered to listen to his story about how God had answered his prayer. Sometimes the psalmist would also give some advice on the basis of his experience and then they would all share the meat from the sacrifice.

This scenario (called “Sitz im Leben” by scholars such as myself) can teach us something about being thankful. What I find particularly significant is the communal nature of thanksgiving. It wasn’t something that was kept private. In contrast, it was shared with friends and family. So this Thanksgiving weekend as you gather with family and friends, give thanks together. And if you are not celebrating Thanksgiving Day this weekend, I hope that you too will find something to be thankful for in your life.

Psalm 30

A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the temple. Of David. 1 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up,
and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
3 O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment;
his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I shall never be moved.�
7 By your favor, O Lord,
you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.
8 To you, O Lord, I cried,
and to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
O Lord, be my helper!�
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.


Happy Canada Day, eh!

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Happy Canada Day, eh!

For unaware readers, Canada Day is the celebration of the anniversary of the formation of the union of the British North America provinces in a federation under the name of “Canada” on July 1st. This year marks Canada’s 138th birthday. Happy birthday to us…
Here are twenty-five signs that you might be Canadian:

  1. You know all the words to “If I had a million dollars” by The Barenaked Ladies, including the inter-stanza banter between Steven and Ed.
  2. You understand the phrase “Could you pass me a serviette, I just dropped my poutine on the chesterfield.”
  3. You eat chocolate bars, not candy bars.
  4. You drink Pop, not Soda.
  5. You dismiss all beers under 6% as “for children and the elderly.”
  6. You don’t care about the fuss with Cuba. It’s a cheap place to go for your holidays, with good cigars and no Americans.
  7. You know that a pike is a type of fish, not part of a highway.
  8. You drive on a highway, not a freeway.
  9. You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers.
  10. You can do the hand actions to Sharon, Lois and Bram’s “Skin-a-marinki-dinki-do”.
  11. You get excited whenever an American television show mentions Canada. You make a mental note to talk about it at work the next day.
  12. You brag to Americans that Shania Twain, Jim Carrey, Celine Dion & Mike Myers are Canadians.
  13. You use a red pen on your non-Canadian textbooks and fill in the missing ‘u’s from labor, honor, and color
  14. You know what a touque is, eh!
  15. You design your Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
  16. You know that the last letter of the English alphabet is always pronounced “Zed”.
  17. Your local newspaper covers the national news on two pages, but requires six pages for hockey.
  18. You know that the four seasons mean: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road work.
  19. You know that when it’s 25 degrees outside, it’s a warm day (You also think -10 C is mild weather).
  20. You understand the Labatt Blue and Molson Canadian commercials.
  21. You know how to pronounce and spell “Saskatchewan”.
  22. You perk up when you hear the theme song from “Hockey Night in Canada”.
  23. You are in your first year of university and not a “freshman”.
  24. “Eh?” is a very important part of your vocabulary and is more polite than, “Huh?”
  25. You actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all of your Canadian friends! Then you send them to your American friends just to confuse them!

Rugby, Hockey, and Father’s Day — What A Day!

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RugbyCanada.jpgI know that technically tomorrow is Father’s Day, but I had a great Saturday. This afternoon I went with my son to part of the Churchill Cup Rugby Finals. We watched the New Zealand MÄ?ori trounce Scotland 52-17 in an entertaining game to win the Churchill Cup. In the consolation final, Team Canada played an excellent game against the USA Eagles and beat them 33-18. I was impressed with the Canadian team; the forwards played a solid game and the backs broke through a number of times. It bodes well for Canada for the 2007 World Cup of Rugby.

Edmonton_Oilers1.gifThen my family and I went to a friend’s place to watch the Edmonton Oilers‘ game in HD on his projection TV. The game was amazing! The Oilers truly dominated the game and tied the series. I think that Carolina is thoroughly demoralized after loosing the last two game. Hopefully the Oilers will play the same way Monday as they did tonight and bring Lord Stanley back to Edmonton!

Go Oilers Go!