Leviticus 19:31

Leviticus 19:31 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
• New International Version (NIV)“ ‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

Context of Leviticus 19:31

29Profane not thy daughter, to make her a harlot; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness. 30Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am Jehovah. Turn 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. 32Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and thou shalt fear thy God: I am Jehovah. 33And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not do him wrong.

Leviticus 19:31 word by word

אַל־תִּפְנ֤וּ אֶל־הָאֹבֹת֙ וְאֶל־הַיִּדְּעֹנִ֔ים אַל־תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּ לְטָמְאָ֣ה בָהֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

• Turnפָּנָהpânâh · to turnH6437
• seekבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• defiledטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930
• Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430

Cross-references for Leviticus 19:31

• Leviticus 19:26Ye shall not eat anything with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantments, nor practise augury.
• Leviticus 20:6And the soul that turneth unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto the wizards, to play the harlot after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
• Exodus 22:18Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live.
• Deuteronomy 18:10There shall not be found with thee any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one that useth divination, one that practiseth augury, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer,
• 1 Samuel 28:3Now 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.
• 2 Kings 17:17And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.
• 2 Kings 21:6And he made his son to pass through the fire, and practised augury, and used enchantments, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.
• 1 Chronicles 10:13So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against Jehovah, because of the word of Jehovah, which he kept not; and also for that he asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire thereby,
• 2 Chronicles 33:6He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he practised augury, and used enchantments, and practised sorcery, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.
• Isaiah 8:19And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?
• Isaiah 29:4And 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.
• Isaiah 47:13Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from the things that shall come upon thee.
• Acts 8:11And they gave heed to him, because that of long time he had amazed them with his sorceries.
• Acts 13:6And when they had gone through the whole island unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus;
• Acts 16:16And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.
• Acts 19:19And not a few of them that practised magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Commentaries on Leviticus 19:31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31Regard 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 Acts 16:16, Acts 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31The devotion of faith, which would manifest itself in obedience to the commandment to keep God‘s Sabbaths and to reverence His sanctuary Leviticus 19:30, is the true preservative against the superstition which is forbidden in this verse. The people whose God was Yahweh were not to indulge those wayward feelings of their human nature which are gratified in magical arts and pretensions. Compare Isaiah 8:19. Familiar spirits - literally, “bottles”. This…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31mediums: Compare 1 Samuel 28:7–25. The Hebrew term for spiritists (yidde‘oni) comes from a root meaning "to know." It describes people who claim to have secret or occult knowledge and who try to communicate with the dead.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3131. 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…Read the comment

Topics related to Leviticus 19:31

• Familiar Spirits
• Sorcery
• Witchcraft

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Corner
• Dead
• Deal
• Divers
• Divination
• Familiar spirit
• Gender
• Husband

Commentaries on Leviticus 19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings