Leviticus 19 · Verse 31

Leviticus 19:31

Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:31, King James Version

Leviticus 19:31 in other translations

BSBYou must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.
WEB“‘Don’t turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don’t seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.
ASVTurn ye not unto them that have familiar spirits, nor unto the wizards; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am Jehovah your God.
YLT‘Ye do not turn unto those having familiar spirits; and unto wizards ye do not seek, for uncleanness by them; I am Jehovah your God.
DARBY— Turn not unto necromancers and unto soothsayers; seek not after them to make yourselves unclean: I am Jehovah your God.
BBEDo not go after those who make use of spirits, or wonder-workers; do not go in their ways or become unclean through them: I am the Lord your God.
WebsterRegard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

What does Leviticus 19:31 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
31. Regard not them that have familiar spirits--The Hebrew word, rendered "familiar spirit," signifies the belly, and sometimes a leathern bottle, from its similarity to the belly. It was applied in the sense of this passage to ventriloquists, who pretended to have communication with the invisible world. The Hebrews were strictly forbidden to consult them as the vain but high pretensions of those impostors were derogatory to the honor of God and subversive of their covenant relations with Him as His people. neither seek after wizards--fortunetellers, who pretended, as the Hebrew word indicates, to prognosticate by palmistry (or an inspection of the lines of the hand) the future fate of those who applied to them.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits - The Hebrew word אבות oboth probably signifies a kind of engastromuthoi or ventriloquists, or such as the Pythoness mentioned Act 16:16, Act 16:18; persons who, while under the influence of their demon, became greatly inflated, as the Hebrew word implies, and gave answers in a sort of frenzy. See a case of this kind in Virgil, Aeneid, l. vi., ver. 46, etc.: - " - Deus ecce, Deus! cui talla fanti Ante fores, subito non vultus, non color unus, Non comptae mansere comae; sed pectus anhelum, Et rabie fera corda tument; majorque videri, Nec mortale sonans, afflata est numine quando Jam propiore Dei." - Invoke the skies, I feel the god, the rushing god, she cries. While yet she spoke, enlarged her features grew, Her color changed, her locks dishevelled flew. The heavenly tumult reigns in every part, Pants in her breast, and swells her rising heart: Still swelling to the sight, the priestess glowed, And heaved impatient of the incumbent god. Pitt. Neither seek after wizards - ידענים yiddeonim, the wise or knowing ones, from ידע yada, to know or understand; called wizard in Scotland, wise or cunning man in England; and hence also the wise woman, the white witch. Not only all real dealers with familiar spirits, or necromantic or magical superstitions, are here forbidden, but also all pretenders to the knowledge of futurity, fortune-tellers, astrologers, etc., etc. To attempt to know what God has not thought proper to reveal, is a sin against his wisdom, providence, and goodness. In mercy, great mercy, God has hidden the knowledge of futurity from man, and given him hope - the expectation of future good, in its place. See Clarke's note on Exo 22:18.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Leviticus 19:31 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אַל\־'al-may notH408
תִּפְנ֤וּtif.Nuyou turnH6437
אֶל\־'el-toH413
הָאֹבֹת֙ha.'o.Votthe necromancersH178
וְאֶל\־ve.'el-and toH413
הַיִּדְּעֹנִ֔יםhai.yi.de.'o.Nimthe soothsayersH3049
אַל\־'al-may notH408
תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּte.vak.Shuyou seek [them]H1245
לְטָמְאָ֣הle.ta.me.'Ahto become uncleanH2930
בָהֶ֑םva.Hemby <the> them
אֲנִ֖י'a.NiIH589
יְהוָ֥הYah.weh[am] YahwehH3068
אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם\׃'e.lo.hei.KhemGod yourH430

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Leviticus 19:31

  • Isaiah 8:19

    And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

  • Leviticus 20:6-7

    And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God.

  • Leviticus 20:27

    A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.

  • 2 Chronicles 33:6

    And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

  • Deuteronomy 18:10-14

    There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or 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. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. …

  • 1 Chronicles 10:13

    So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;

  • 2 Kings 21:6

    And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

  • Revelation 21:8

    But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

  • 1 Samuel 28:3

    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.

  • Isaiah 47:13

    Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.

  • Isaiah 29:4

    And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

  • Exodus 22:18

    Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
26; 20:6,7,27; Ex 22:18; De 18:10-14; 1Sa 28:3,7-9; 2Ki 17:17
2Ki 21:6; 1Ch 10:13; 2Ch 33:6; Isa 8:19; 29:4; 47:13; Ac 8:11
Ac 13:6-8; 16:16-18; 19:19,20; Ga 5:20; Re 21:8

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Leviticus 19:30

    Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

  • Leviticus 19:31

    Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

  • Leviticus 19:32

    Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord.

Read all of Leviticus 19

Leviticus 19:31 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
No os volváis á los encantadores y á los adivinos: no los consultéis ensuciándoos con ellos: Yo Jehová vuestro Dios.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
– Ne vous tournez pas vers ceux qui évoquent les esprits, ni vers les diseurs de bonne aventure; n’ayez pas recours à eux pour vous rendre impurs. Moi, je suis l’ Éternel, votre Dieu.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Ihr sollt euch nicht zu den Totenbeschwörern und zu den Wahrsagern wenden; ihr sollt sie nicht aufsuchen, euch an ihnen zu verunreinigen. Ich bin Jehova, euer Gott.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Non declinetis ad magos, nec ab ariolis aliquid sciscitemini, ut polluamini per eos. Ego Dominus Deus vester.