Topic
Magic
12 passages cited, from 2 classic reference works.
These works date from 1896–1897 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Genesis 44:5Easton
Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.
- Leviticus 19:31Easton
¶ Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.
- Deuteronomy 18:9–14Easton
¶ When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that…
- Judges 18:5Easton
And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
- Judges 18:6Easton
And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go.
- 1 Samuel 28:3–20Easton
¶ Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and…
- Ezekiel 21:19–22Easton
Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city. Appoint a way, that the sword may come to…
- Zechariah 10:2Easton
For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
- Matthew 2:1–12Easton
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.…
- Acts 8:9–24Easton
But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the…
- Acts 19:18Easton
And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.
- Acts 19:19Easton
Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 13 references
The Jews seem early to have consulted the teraphim (q.v.) for oracular answers (Judg. 18:5, 6; Zech. 10:2). There is a remarkable illustration of this divining by teraphim in Ezek. 21:19-22. We read also of the divining cup of Joseph (Gen. 44:5). The magicians of Egypt are frequently referred to in the history of the Exodus. Magic was an inherent part of the ancient Egyptian religion, and entered largely into their daily life.
All magical arts were distinctly prohibited under penalty of death in the Mosaic law. The Jews were commanded not to learn the “abomination” of the people of the Promised Land (Lev. 19:31; Deut. 18:9-14). The history of Saul’s consulting the witch of Endor (1 Sam. 28:3-20) gives no warrant for attributing supernatural power to magicians. From the first the witch is here only a bystander. The practice of magic lingered among the people till after the Captivity, when they gradually abandoned it.
It is not much referred to in the New Testament. The Magi mentioned in Matt. 2:1-12 were not magicians in the ordinary sense of the word. They belonged to a religious caste, the followers of Zoroaster, the astrologers of the East. Simon, a magician, was found by Philip at Samaria (Acts 8:9-24); and Paul and Barnabas encountered Elymas, a Jewish sorcerer, at Paphos (13:6-12). At Ephesus there was a great destruction of magical books (Acts 19:18, 19).
In the topical indexes
Nave's Topical Bible (1896) · 0 references, grouped by sub-topic
- → See ASTROLOGY
- → See MAGICIAN
- → See NECROMANCY
- → See SORCERY
- → See WITCHCRAFT
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.