“Trick or TREAT!” “Happy Halloween!”
“Oíche Shamhna shona duit (Happy Samhain night to you)!” “Feliz Día de los Muertos! Thinking of your loved ones tonight — may their stories live on.“
“Wishing you a peaceful All Hallows’ Eve and a blessed All Saints’ Day. May the saints intercede for you and your loved ones.”
It is that time of year again. The time for children to dress up as ghosts, witches, vampires and monsters. Or as ancestors, fairies, banshees, or crones. Maybe La Catrina, Calavaras (skulls) or Clacas (skeletons) or other returning spirits of the dead are more your speed.
Part of these “non-traditional observances” arises from the fear that celebrations such as the traditional ones mentioned here, and others besides, are “evil”, “Satanic” “the occult” or in some other way focusing more “on the dark” than they do upon “the light”. Much of this fear is based on the Old Testament, or the Torah's, book of Deuteronomy. Recently a post from Biblical Archaeology Society explained some of the history behind what Deuteronomy is addressing.
Deuteronomy 18:10–11 prohibits a range of occult, divinatory, and related practices that were common among the non-Israelite nations that the Hebrews about to settle in the midst of. The passage forms part of a larger section contrasting pagan, i.e., rural, traditional methods of seeking supernatural knowledge or power, with that of the tribal confederation founded under Mosaic leadership, in effect a more "urban", i.e. city, life. The Hebrew nation was, in effect, a mobile city for its 40 years of wandering under the leadership of Moses which included exclusive reliance on Yahweh (who would raise up prophets, like Moses).A representative modern translation of Deuteronomy 18:10-11 (ESV, emphasis added) reads:
There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead. -Deuteronomy 18:10–11
Other versions use slightly different English terms such as “observer of times,” “enchanter,” “witch,” “consulter with familiar spirits,” and “wizard.” These verses appear after instructions about the priests and Levites and immediately before the promise of a future prophet like Moses (in vv. 15–19). Perhaps most famously, they’ve been quoted countless times throughout history in connection with witch trials. But what did it mean to engage in these forbidden practices?
The surrounding nations sought guidance through various occult (hidden) techniques of the more rural and widely dispersed nations. Israel was forbidden to adopt them because such practices demonstrated a lack of trust in the God of Israel, the theocratic citizenship established by Moses and the administration of the people established under his leadership.
Most practitioners of “magic” in antiquity did not boil potions in cauldrons, make soul-binding pacts with demons, or bake children into pies. Instead, often their primary goal was rather simple: to employ a variety of different methods to seek out answers to questions. This is what it means to practice “divination” – the practice of attempting to gain insight into hidden knowledge, future events, or current life challenges through supernatural, spiritual, or symbolic means.
Verse 12 states that the Lord was driving out the people inhabiting the land before Israel arrived precisely because they did not recognize, observe, or practice any of the spiritual practices established under Moses in the wilderness. Instead they relied upon such rural, or pagan, practices to appease a god, or to understand the past, present, and future, and to make use of powers deemed supernatural and beyond the knowledge of most.
In ancient times, divination took many forms some of which have survived up to the present day. Perhaps the most famous of these is astrology—reading the stars for hidden knowledge. Many ancient cultures practiced astrology, including the Egyptians and the Greeks, but it was the Babylonians who were most famous for it. By the Roman period, the magi of Babylonia had a reputation throughout the empire as the wisest of the wise. Their renown was so great that they even found their way into the Nativity story in the New Testament Gospel of Luke.
Ancient magic wasn’t just about asking questions, however. There were those who sought out spiritual forces for aid in achieving whatever they desired, be it a love charm, protection for newborns, or cursing their enemies with sickness and death. Such practices frequently involved the preparation of amulets, curse tablets, or incantation bowls; sometimes, magical texts would even be inscribed on human skulls.
But to what, specifically, was this passage referring? The list is comprehensive rather than exhaustive: it basically covers attempts to gain secret knowledge of the future, to manipulate events or people through magical means, and to contact the dead or spirits for guidance.
Scholars note that the precise distinctions among some of the Hebrew terms are not always certain, and English translations vary. Common understandings drawn from the Hebrew and ancient Near Eastern parallels include:
- Making a son or daughter pass through the fire (or burning them as an offering): Linked to the cult of Molech (or related deities). This involved child sacrifice or a dedicatory ritual by fire It represented the ultimate rejection of the sanctity of life given by God.
- Practicing divination (qesem): A broad term for seeking hidden knowledge or the future through various techniques, such as examining animal organs, casting lots/arrows, or other rituals. Related to divinity this was basically attempting to understand the mind of the gods.
- Observer of times / soothsayer / one who tells fortunes (meʿonen): Often associated with interpreting omens from clouds, celestial phenomena, seasons, or other signs; sometimes linked to astrology or “covering” arts/sorcery. This was using of knowledge of arts hidden from most to interpret, understand, or foretell events.
- Enchanter / one who interprets omens (menaḥesh): Interpreting signs from nature, animal behavior, bird flight, or objects. Similar to the above, some older associations with serpents exist but are not widely accepted.
- Witch / sorcerer (mekashsheph): One who uses potions, drugs, spells, or love potions to produce effects, cure (or cause) ailments, or achieve desired results. Related to the broader category of sorcery.
- Charmer (ḥober ḥaber): One who binds or ties spells/charms (literally related to “joining” or knot-tying magic), often involving incantations to control or bind a person or outcome.
- Consulter with familiar spirits/medium (shoʾel ʾov): One who inquires of a spirit (an ʾov, sometimes understood as a divining spirit or “Python” spirit thought to reside in or speak through the medium).
- Wizard / spiritist (yiddeʿoni): Literally a “knowing one,” someone claiming special knowledge of the unseen or spirit world.
- Necromancer / one who inquires of the dead: Explicitly seeking information or contact with the deceased (as in the episode of the medium of Endor in 1 Samuel 28).
These practices were widespread in the ancient Near East as ways to reduce uncertainty, secure favor, or gain power. Israel was called to a different posture: dependence on God’s word revealed to all, and on God's provided prophetic guidance, rather than manipulation of unseen forces known only to a few. Perhaps, a paraphrase the slogan used during the COVID era – “trust the [divine] science, rather than the [theoretical] beliefs of the unknowing” might apply.
The prohibitions in Deuteronomy underscore exclusive loyalty to Yahweh. Seeking supernatural insight or power outside the channels provided under the Mosaic Law was treated as spiritual unfaithfulness. The passage sets the stage for the promise that God Himself would raise up prophets to speak His words, providing legitimate guidance so the people would not need to turn to these forbidden, often inaccurate, alternatives.
In summary, Deuteronomy 18:10–11 is a categorical rejection of occult, hidden, or limited-secret-knowledge —child sacrifice, various forms of divination and omen-reading, sorcery, spell-casting, mediumship, and necromancy—in favor of trusting the God who speaks through appointed prophets.
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