Oamenii din Israel trebuie sa nu invete sa urmeze practicile josnice. Verbul a invata are de a face cu interzisele obiceiuri: magia si prezicerile nelocuitorilor pamantului si practica Cannanitilor, vezi G Braulik Teologia Deuteronomului. Lista informeaza desi ea a incercat sa includa toate denumirile cunoscute ale activitatilor oculte.

Scolarii dezbat ce inseamna a trece fiul sau fiica cuiva prin foc. Mayes nota ca referinta sacrificarii unui copil nu ar fi avut loc aici deoarece contextual arata doar implicarea cu forme ale divinatiei. Tigay spune eruditia moderna nu a fost capabila sa resolve intrebarea la care se refera Deuteronul 18:10, daca la o practica letala sau neletala. din aceasta cauza, nu putem spune care sau cum trecerea copiilor prin foc este legata dedicarii catre primul nascut, copiilor cananiti sacrificati, sau veneratiei catre Molech

cineva care practica divinatie include hepatoscopia ( arta de a citi ficatul in urma sacrificarii unui animal) belomancy (folosirea sagetilor scuturate din tolba sagetilor), necromantia (consultarea spiritelor moarte), si de asemenea falsa profetie. Termenul ghicitor nu poate fi definit cu certitudine din moment ce toate conjuncturile sunt bazate pe etimologie. De exemplu, Ibn Ezra deriva termenul de la anan nor si sugera ca se refera la aceia care deseneaza preziceri dupa infatisarea si miscarea norilor. Termenul interpretat citirorilor de preziceri pare a se referi la divinatia bazata pe amestecul lichidelor, ca apa si uleiul, care de asemenea pare a fi o practica prin care cupa de argint a lui Iosif a fost folosita in scopuri ca divinatia. Un vrajitor se refera la un practicandt de magie neagra in Exodul 22:17, care este o ofensa capitala. Fraza tradusa ca un turnator al farmecelor magice apare in PS 58:6, unde se refera la magia catorva genuri utilizate impotriva serpilor veninosi. Finlelstein sugera cuvantul bolborosind o vraja si compara cu acadianul abaru a face galagie. Dintr-un punct de vedere diferit M Held, studii in lexicografia biblica in lumina acadiana. cineva care intreaba o fantoma se refera la practicarea necromantiei. O obisnuita interpretare a termenului , aceea a unei gropi in pamant care ofera si cauta informatii ce au fost facute mortilor. Mediumul este cateodata

tradus ca un spirit familiar, fantoma persoanei decedate. El mereu apare cu termenul si poate simplu functiona ca un adjectiv al termenului pentru a descrie o fantoma/ spirit., functionand ca un medium. In povestea regelui saul si al vrajitoarei din Endor, fantomele mortilor asced din adancuri pe pamant si sunt vazute de medium. Fraza cineva care invoca din morti inseamna probabil cineva care practica necromantia de catre altcineva, inseana ca cei doi termeni anterior mentionati.

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 necromancy. A common interpretation of the term is that of a hole in the ground through which offerings and requests for information were made to the dead. A medium () is 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 necromancy by any other means than the two previous terms mentioned (Tigay [1996] 173, following Ramban).

JBL Journal of Biblical Literature

EI Ere Israel

Duane L. Christensen, Deuteronomy 1-21:9, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 6A, Word, Incorporated, Dallas, 2002, pp. 408-409.