God’s Word Translation
Leviticus 19:31
31“Don’t turn to psychics or mediums to get help. That will make you unclean. I am the Lord your God.
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
29“Never dishonor your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the country will turn to prostitution and be filled with people who are perverted. 30“Observe my days of rest as holy days and respect my holy tent. I am the Lord. “Don’t turn to psychics or mediums to get help. That will make you unclean. I am the Lord your God. 32“Show respect to the elderly, and honor older people. In this way you show respect for your God. I am the Lord. 33“Never mistreat a foreigner living in your land.
Read all of Leviticus 19Leviticus 19:31 word by word
אַל־תִּפְנ֤וּ אֶל־הָאֹבֹת֙ וְאֶל־הַיִּדְּעֹנִ֔ים אַל־תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּ לְטָמְאָ֣ה בָהֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Leviticus 19:31
- Leviticus 19:26“Never eat any meat with blood still in it. “Never cast evil spells, and never consult fortunetellers.
- Leviticus 20:6“I will condemn people who turn to mediums and psychics and chase after them as though they were prostitutes. I will exclude them from the people.
- Exodus 22:18“Never let a witch live.
- Deuteronomy 18:10You must never sacrifice your sons or daughters by burning them alive, practice black magic, be a fortuneteller, witch, or sorcerer,
- 1 Samuel 28:3Meanwhile, Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his hometown Ramah. (Saul had rid the land of mediums and psychics.)
- 2 Kings 17:17They sacrificed their sons and daughters by burning them alive. They practiced black magic and cast evil spells. They sold themselves by doing what the Lord considered evil, and they made him furious.
- 2 Kings 21:6He burned his son as a sacrifice, consulted fortunetellers, cast evil spells, and appointed ⌞royal⌟ mediums and psychics. He did many things that made the Lord furious.
- 1 Chronicles 10:13So Saul died because of his unfaithfulness to the Lord: He did not obey the Lord’s word. He asked a medium to request information ⌞from a dead person⌟.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6He burned his son as a sacrifice in the valley of Ben Hinnom, consulted fortunetellers, cast evil spells, practiced witchcraft, and appointed ⌞royal⌟ mediums and psychics. He did many things that made the Lord furious.
- Isaiah 8:19People will say to you, “Ask for help from the mediums and the fortunetellers, who whisper and mutter.” Shouldn’t people ask their God for help instead? Why should they ask the dead to help the living?
- Isaiah 29:4When you have fallen, you will speak as you lie on the ground. Your words will be muffled by the dust. Your voice will come out of the ground like that of a ghost. Your words will be whispered from the dust.
- Isaiah 47:13You are worn out by your many plans. Let your astrologers and your stargazers, who foretell the future month by month, come to you, rise up, and save you.
- Acts 8:11They paid attention to Simon because he had amazed them for a long time with his practice of magic.
- Acts 13:6They went through the whole island as far as the city of Paphos. In Paphos they met a Jewish man named Barjesus. He was an astrologer who claimed to be a prophet.
- Acts 16:16One day when we were going to the place of prayer, a female servant met us. She was possessed by an evil spirit that told fortunes. She made a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes.
- Acts 19:19Many of those who were involved in the occult gathered their books and burned them in front of everyone. They added up the cost of these books and found that they were worth 50,000 silver coins.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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