I. MAGIC.

Magic in the Old Testament.
Traces and Survivals.
Of the early history of the Hebrews we have little knowledge that is certain. The most ancient portions of the Old Testament belong, at least as literature, to the period between B.C. 800 and B.C. 900, Neither J nor E can be pushed further back than the last date, and Dillmann even does not claim for E (his B) a remoter origin than B.C. 850. J (his C) is a century younger.
Wellhausen and his school exactly reverse these datesf making J the older. The traditions contained in these documents may be very much older than the documents themselves. That they must be older goes without saying, but how much it is impossible to say.
Wellhausen begins his w Geschichte des Israels " with Moses. Before him we are in the realm of uncertainty. Even as to what Moses did and said we are much in the dark, though that he was humanly the founder of the nation, as such, and of its religion, there is no doubt; Wellhausen himself admitting this much.
But the religion of Israel for a long time after the kingdom was founded was polytheistic in this sense, that
MAGIC St
the nation and its leaders believed as much in the existence of other gods as in that of Yahwe. But for them there was but one God ; Him alone they were to worship, anS in return He would protect them against their foes and against the deities whom their foes rightly worshipped. • Stade l calls this belief of Israel " mono- latry," as distinct from monotheism ; by Ffieiderer it is called M henotheism," a term so variously understood that De La S&ussaye rightly advises its being given up.
How the belief in Yahwe's absoluteness, uniqueness and universal dominion arose, is admirably sketched by Riehmi in his " Messianische Weissagungen M (Messianic Prophecy).2
If, of course, the Genesis account, or rather accounts5 of Creation be accepted, as they used to be, and as in some quarters they still are, as the very work 01 Moses5, then Israel's religion was from its historical beginning monotheistic. Nearly all Old Testament scholars, how- ever, now agree that - both accounts are of much more recent origin, the principal one not being older than the Exile, nor perhaps so old. This last, the P narrative, is probably based on the Babylonian cosmologies, with which Israel during the Exile must have become familiar, though it is edited and adapted to the belief in one God, the Creator and Preserver of all.
What were the beliefs- and practices of Israel before the historical period, which Wellhausen makes to start with Moses, it is hard, fcay impossible, positively to say.
But this is noteworthy that from the very earliest period at which we find the Hebrews, their attitude
1 i. 429. * p. 92 et passim (English, 2nd edition)*
s Gen. U— it 4a (P), and ii. 4b— 23 (J).
32 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
towards magic and related practices was almost wholly negative and hostile.
The late Rabbi David Joel (fl Abergtaube M etc.) goes much further than facts justify him in making the Old Testament Hebrews wholly innocent of the black art. He is not able to make so complete a vindication of the Tannaim, or authors of the Mishna, but he holds that on the whole they stand in the same hostile position towards magic that the Bible writers do. He is able to maintain his position only by forcing meanings upon the Old Testament and upon the Mishna, which the texts will not allow.
He connects magic with a belief in demons, and says it implies a seeking unto them instead of unto Yahwe. He affirms that there is no belief in devils in the books of Moses. ^JtNt# (Azazel, Lev. xvi. 8, 10, 26) is no demon, but a steep mountain as the Talmud said before. DHltf (shedim), in Deut. xxxii. 17, are not demons, but simply lords or gods.
The Teraphim of Rachel show that she had not quite cut herself off from heathenism ; but they have no countenance in Genesis.
When Balaam was made to bless instead of cursing Israel as he intended, there is no acknowledgment of his having any real power to influence the people either by blessing or cursing. God wrought a miracle and com- pelled Balaam to bless the very people he was sent to curse; and the purpose of this miracle was to show that, the pretensions of Balaam were null and void. Yet to an impartial reader the narrative in Num. xxii. — xxiv., implies on the part of the writer a recognition of the claims put forth by Balaam, just as Exodus vii. 8 ff.
MAGIC 33
contain a tacit acknowledgment that the magicians of Egypt had supernormal or supernatural power — they as truly as Moses, though not to the same extent. Compare with both these the attitude of Christian people up to a comparatively recent time.1
Goldziher * has shown that among the ancient Arabs as among the Jews, the magical word of blessing and of cursing played a prominent part. In war, the poet, by cursing the enemy rendered service not second to the warrior himself* The word uttered was, in fact, a most potent "fetish," as Gokteiher has it.5 The Jews of Medina brought into their synagogues images of their archfoe Malik b. al-Aglam ; and at these they hurled curses every time they came together. In the light of what Goldziher says, there is no denying the magics! character assumed by Balaam, and it is equally clear that the reality of the power claimed is acknowledged in the Bible narrative. Else why seek to transfer his services to the cause of Israel ?
I may add that the Balaam incident occurs in the oldest document of the Hexateuch, that known as the Jehovistic and designated by J E. The Exodus account of the plagues and the magicians is taken from P, and is therefore much later.
Besides what Goldziher has written, Brinton* Hille* brandt 5 and others, have also shown the wide prevalence of the belief in the potency of the uttered word. Cf. 11 Curse ye me Meroz," of Deborah's song in Judges v. 23 (date, time of the Judges).
The evil eye, Joel will have it, has nothing in it that is mystical or magical ; it means in the Bible, the
1 See supra, p. 23. * p. 26 ff. 8 p. 28.
« p. 88 ff. 6up. 169 f?.
\
34 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
Mishna, etc., simply envy. He does not seem to have followed the history of this superstition.1
In a similar manner he (Dr. J.) makes strenuous efforts to clear the authorities of the Mishna from com- plicity in the black art.
It is nevertheless true that the attitude of the Old Testament is, on the whole, unfavourable to magic. This is very remarkable when it is remembered how given to this superstition the surrounding nations were, f
There are not wanting, however, instances of practices magical in origin, and having no other real significance, though in later times other explanations have been supplied. I must refer for some of these to my discus- sion of Demonology in the Old Testament, page 95 ff. But here I want to refer to one or two special cases.
Gen. xxx. 14 (J). Leah wanted more children. Her s6n Reuben goes into the field and brings her Q^nn (dudaim) or il mandrakes," fruit growing on plants of the Belladonna kind, having white and red strong-smelling; flowers. Cf. Cant. vii. 14. This plant, called by naturalists Mafidragora vernalisy though there is also a Mdndragora au(u7nndlis% is common enough in Palestine, and especially in Galilee. Its fruit was supposed to have* the power of awakening sexual feeling and of promoting •fertility. Among the Arabs the e^o (yabruh) was . believed to have the same effect, and is almost certainly the same fruit. W. R. Smith (" Rel. Sem.," p. 423) says the mandrake, known as Baaras among the Northern Semites, was supposed by the Arabs and by the ancient Germans to be inhabited by a spirit which gave it extraordinary powers. Many Arab stories told of the'
* Sec "The Evil," by Ellworthy.
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Yabruh confirm this. The Hebrew word is undoubtedly derived from the root 1W (dud), which means uto love," •fPT (dod), beloved (friend). On DWTFT (dudaim) as love potions, see Tuch on this passage.1
Now, in this early part of the Old Testament (it belongs to J), we have effects ascribed to this fruit which coulcj not be supposed to follow from its natural properties : either it frustrated the work of the demon that caused sterility, or it had some peculiar influence upon the spirit of good. And not one syllable of disapproval is expressed by the Redactor who incorporated J into his work.
I am not sure whether another incident recorded in the same chapter and belonging to the same source (J) is not to be reckoned in the category of magic, though it would be magic of the sympathetic 0£ symbolic kind. The peeled rods Which Jacob put in front of the sheep and goats as they4 came to drink water, caused those that were pregnant to bring forth young that were spotted and striped. The natural explanation may be adequate, but it is probable that more than this was in the mind of the writer.
There is a good deal of uncertainty as to the Tera- phihi which Raphel stole when she and Jacob left her father's house, Gen. xxxi. 19 ff. They were of human form (1 Sam. xix. 13), and were looked upon as gods (v. 30 and Judges xviii. 24), though their possession is regarded as illegitimate (Josiah put them away together with the wizards, etc., 2 Kings xxiii. 24 ; cf. Zech. x. 2, where they are associated with diviners).
Among the Assyrians, images of gods were kept in the house because they were believed to have the power
Cf. Lang's "Custom and Myth," p. 143 ff.
36 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
of warding off evil spirits. A certain exorcist is said to have had statues of the gods Lugalgirra and Allamu put one on each side of the main entrance to his house, and in consequence he felt perfectly impregnable against all evil spirits. x (See Tallq. p. 22.) .
It is probable that in Genesis and elsewhere we should construe the word as plural of excellence or of majesty, answering to OTi!?i*, DWtf, D*ttf*Tj? (see Gesenius " §134, g). The root is generally believed to be the same as the Arabic «-*/ (tarifa), which means to live a life of ease and plenty. The Teraphim was kept in the house as a guarantee of good luck. Though originally perhaps an idol, it was afterwards and in Biblical times almost exclusively a kind of charm.1 That it had a magical import is suggested by Zech. x. 2, where Teraphim, diviners, and i{ tellers of false dreams " are put in the same category. The use of Teraphim was not always condemned, as is proved by this Genesis narrative, for nothing is said by Jacob or the writer (J ), or the Redactor that is disparaging : and by Hos. iii. 4, where it is said that on account of her disloyalty Israel shall be for many days 11 without king, without prince and without sacrifice, and without pillar and without ephod or teraphim."
Baudissen ("Studien," etc., i. 57) sees in the worship of Teraphim a proof of the original polytheism of the Israelites ; these idols — with him the word is strictly plural — holding a lower place in the esteem of the people than Jehovah, similar to that assigned saints in Catholic popular belief (u katholischen Volksglauben ").
In the prohibition, i{ Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk v (Ex. xxiii. 19, xxxiw 26; Deut. xiv. 21),
1 Cf. Lares and Penates, the household gods of the Romans.
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Maimonides, Abarbarnel, Nic. de Lyra, and an anonymous Qaraite commentator, followed by Spencer, and other more modern scholars have seen an allusion to a magical broth which was sprinkled over trees, plants, and fields, in order to make them fertile the following year. Such a custom prevailed among the Zabians and other Eastern peoples. (See Spencer, i. 335 ff.) It is more likely that we have in the words a reference to an ancient form of sacrifice, similar to the sacrifice of blood (Smith, W. R., Rel. Sem. p. 203, note 8).
In Isaiah iii. 2, among the stays and supports which would be taken from the nation in consequence of their sin are named; the mighty man TQ3, the man of war nyribn WXy the judge ESMtf, the prophet NOl, the diviner DDV>, and the elder p?. The connection in which the word occurs would seem to imply that DDp was a permitted and irreproachable functionary. He is mentioned among the elite of the land.
Exodus vii. and viii. is in this connection interesting, for in these chapters the miracle-working power of the magicians D^QiTjn is acknowledged in the narrative. Aaron's rod becomes a serpent, so do the rods of the magicians. Aaron's power is indicated as greater than theirs, for his rod swallows theirs (vii. 11 f.). Aaron turned the waters into blood, so did his rivals (vii. 22). He caused the land to abound with frogs, so did they (viii. 3). The plague of stinging flies1 which Aaron caused to come, the magicians failed to produce (viii. 18). It is noteworthy that all these acknowledgments of the power of the magicians are due to P ; this is more striking, as much of the^ Connected narrative is due to
1 003 (kiimirn) : A.V. and R.V., ♦Mice."
\
38 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
older sources (J, JE, R). We may have in this tacit acknowledgment of the reality of magic, an effect of the residence in Babylon. As, however, the same word (iD^Dinn, khartummim) occurs in a much older source^ (E, Gen. xli. 8, 24) to describe the magicians whom Pharaoh called to interpret his dream, it is most likely that the writer (P) borrowed from E. He would be the more easily led thereto, as the events in both cases transpired in Egypt.
One great reason which induced the Hebrews tOs condemn magic and the like was that it was so closely; connected with idolatry* In 2 Kings ix. 22 it seeniS; identified with it.
To the Hebrews, deities worshipped by other peoples were evil spirits or demons with which magicians and diviners were supposed to traffic. To practise magic and divination or to support them meant to them — afleast to the pious orthodox among them — an acknowledgment of idols. It is significant of this that Hebrew names for heathen gods found in the Old Testament,1 have been translated in many cases in the Septuagint by i{ demons." 2 In a similar way the Jinns? or demons of Islam were, in the u times of ignorance/' gods worshipped as such: e.g , z)f (Quzah).3 The Romans also looked upon the gods of other nations as demons, and as hostile to them- selves and to the deities they worshipped.4
In Samuel vi. we have an example of what has been called symbolic magic. The Philistines, after conquering the Israelites at Aphek, take from the latter the Ark which they place in the temple of Dagon. The god fallj
» See infra, p. 121. | Dr. Granger, p. 174^)
magic 39
to pieces in the presence of the Ark, and besides, the people are afflicted with tumours [A,V., emerods(= hemor- rhoids)] and the land covered with mice. They resolve to send back the Ark to the Israelites, but following the directions of their priests, they fill the Ark with golden images of the tumours and mice. By means of these last they expected to get rid of their tormentors. Some causal Connection was believed to exist between the golden images and the originals. They might, of course, have been regarded as offerings to God, made that He might be induced to stay the pests. In favour of this was th6 custom among heathen nations of hanging in temples, images of parts of the body which had been healed * &s indicating 'the gratitude of the persons restored to health. But the fact of the resemblance between the evil and the means usfcd to remove it supports the view that the images were thought in some way to haye the poWet 6f removing that which they were images of. Among the Dacotahs in North. America at the present •time, when anyone is ill, %n image of his disease~a boil or what not— is carved in wood. This little image is itheo placed in a bowl of water and shot at with a gun. The image of the disease being destroyed, the disease itself is expected to disappear." •
The golden serpent erected by Moses so that those \vho had been bitten by the fiery serpents might, by looking at itrbe healed 3 is a remnant of the same practice. By gazing at the golden image of the serpent, the bites of the live serpents were cured. It need not surprise Anyone who believes that, in this particular case, Divine
1 See Classical references in Winer's R. Wb3. ii. 255. * Andrew Lang, •« Myth, Ritual, and Religion/' i. 98. ? Num. 3wi. 6*9.
40 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
power was really put fortfi, for how often does God accommodate both speech and action to the conceptions and habits of those whomHe deals with !
Biblical Terms.
The most able, recent, and helpful treatment of the greater number of words or expressions employed in the Old Testament in connection with magic, divination, and demonology, is contained in the two articles written by the late Dr. W. R. Smith for the " Journal of Philology." Since he examines those only which occur in DeuL xviil 10, ii, his treatment is not, of course, complete for the Old Testament ; and it does not pretend to touch the New Testament, and, as a matter of fact, it does not.
There is another drawback in Dr. Smith's subtle and learned discussion. Following a hint dropped by Ewald * that the above verses contained a summary of the
41 wor§t kinds of divination (and magic ?) current at the time of the author," and that the arrangement is intentional, he is too anxious to get out and establish certain meanings which put the words and phrases into a -definite relation to another. This will appear further onv
Old Testament Terms.
Some of the terms embrace the idea of divination as well as that of magic, which ought to create no surprise as the ideas are so closely connected.
1 xiii. 273.288, xiv. 113-128.
3 M Lehre der Bibel von Got*,'*!, 230. See translation of the passage at p. 214 of ** Revelation ; its Nature and Record," being translation, with some omissions, of vol. i. of Ewald's work. The translation is by my able predecessor, the late Principal Goadby, B.A., who passed suddenly away in 1889, to everyone's sorrow who knew him, just as bis fcest woik was about to be done.
MAGIC 4I
Two words appear to have had originally no exclusive reference to either divination or magic. One of these is 0*pan (khakamim ; Aram. D'D*3n ; LXX., aofao-ral) ; it denotes literally " wise men." In Ex. vii. 11 they are named alongside of the D^SttfoQ (mekash-' shephim), or magicians, the latter word being used, I think, to explain the first ; the writer wishes to make it clear what kind of 4( wise men " he means, hence he adds _th^ specific term to the generic.
In the next clause the word D^aa'Tf (khartummim) stands for the same individuals. This word I regard also as generic.1.
Lenormant* thinks a special class of magicians is meant, viz. those who used magic to cure diseases ; but he is evidently led away in this notion by the Arabic word (****» (hakeem), which in the modern speech has th^ special meaning of physician, s **J* (tabeeb) is, however, the commoner word.
The second chapter of Daniel seems to supply a key to the meaning of the term. In verse i% we are told that Nebuchadnezzar the king gave orders that all the wise men were to be put to death, because they had failed to interpret his dream. Who were those that were com- manded to tell the king his dream ? They were (v. 2) the magicians D^O&'in (khartummim), a general term for the enchanters D*3#K (ashshaphim), the sorcerers D^BttDD (mekashshephim), and the Chaldeans D^fcO (kasdim).
In v. 48 we read that God made Daniel to be head over all the wise men; i.e. clearly all spoken ©f in verse 2.
I §ce infra, p. 42 1. * « Chald. Magic," p. 24.
42 MA&IC, DfviNATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
D'^b'Tf (khartummim) is another word of general import. Of its etymology the opinion used to be, and it still generally prevails, that the word has as its basis tVlfl t(kheret), a chisel to cut with— as stone (Exod. xxxii* 4), a sharp metallic instrument to &rite with; then, as in Isaiah viii. I, the stylus with which one writes. Q^Q^in (khari.) would then mean th$ scribes, the learned
class, a meaning closely connected with D^DSH (khakamim).
Both Ewald and Dillmann contend for this derivation.
We have in Assyriafi & noun khiritu, a place dug, a grave, ditch, canal ; but the t represents T\ not D ; and moreover it is a servile, not a radical, as 'the form from which it comes is Kharu or Khiru (fTT!).
Hoffmann (Z. A. W;, iii. p. 89, f.), followed by Sigfried,
makes $*» (khatmvfii) (nose) the root, the 'TT being .thus designated because they spoke in. a low nasal tone ; cf. Robertson Smith's derivation of p^yp (me'onen) from ^ (ghanna), to emit a hoarse, nasal sound ; cf . also the Greek yorjTts (2 Tim. iii. 13), men who used a low, mournful voice, then magicians.
If, however, we are to accept a Semitic origin for the word, the first derivation is more likely, as the root in that case actually exists in Hebrew. The termination 6m (=s&m, cf. Stade, § 77a) is common in Hebrew : cf. tflB, Din}, DVT*. (See Stade, $ 295.) If the Arabic root be accepted, we have the T (resh) inserted instead of dag. forte, as is common in Aramaic (KD")^), Arabic
» C i \
o~jr> Hebrew DD^3, and Ethiopia
It is not at all improbable that E got the word from Egypt, and that we are to seek its origin in the Egyptian language. It occurs fir^t of all in Gen. xli. 8, 24., the
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source being E. It then occurs in Exod. vii. 9, the source being P. Its third and only remaining occurrence is in Dan., a book written some time in the first half of the second century B.C.
In Genesis it stands for dream interpreters, i.e. diviners. In Exodus it is used for those who wrought the same miracles as Aaron — turning rods into serpents, etc. Remembering that magic in the modern harrow sense was not anciently separated from divination, it is surely not too much to say that the word TT in Gen. and Exod. is a general one. The LXX. renders variously by i£r)yv}Tal (expounders), cVaotSol (chanters — those who say the in- cantations), and QapfxaKol (those who use drugs for magical ends), a proof that these translators were as uncertain as we are as to what exactly the word signifies.
Lenormant (" Chald. Magic ") says the word means exorcists, those who cast Out evil spirits, but he gives no reason.
Daniel was, we have seen, made President of the wise men (DWSH) (Dan. ii. 48). In Dan. iv. 6 we are told he was made head of the D^StDin (khartummim). It need not affect our position that in v. 1 1 he was made chief of the Detain, VStfM," r*Frt03, \bn. The first
word is really what the writer means, the rest are mere interpretations or specifications of this one ; just as in Ex. vii. 11, D^Sl^pp (mekashshephim) is an interpreta- tion of the word it follows. It is possible that in both cases the words which come after are glosses added by a later hand. I take it then that both W>3 H and D^DtOTT are general
terms. The last is the older word, and it may be either Egyptian or a loan word used by the Egyptians. At
44 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
any rate, there is no good reason for saying that it is Babylonian, as it occurs in the E document. VP1?^ IS probably got from Babylon, and may be the Semitic rendering of the Accadian cmga, or the Persian £♦ {vtagh).
Old Testament Words for Magic or in Relation to it.
Now let us come to words which are more specific. I begin with that word for magic which is most general and which is used even more for divination.
i. DDp (qesem). I place this among words for magic because I think that primarily it had that sense, though the secondary meaning, when it got way, outstripped and almost shut out the primary.
Fleischer l and Muhlau u. Volck 2 maintain the primary magical meaning of this word. W. R. Smith3 is so sure that the contrary opinion is right, that but " for the great name of Fleischer it would be hardly necessary to waste a word on the rival theory that the word first meant a magical formula and then came to denote divination."
Wellhausen 4 writes equally strongly against Fleischer's etymology. He says, 44 Das ist speculative Etymologie alten Stils, die auf das Verfahren bei der Sache keine Rucksicht nirnmt und sich um die sogenannten Anti- quitaten nicht kummert." While Robertson Smith makes " decision M the fundamental thought in the word, Wellhausen thinks it is " allotment or distribu- tion" (Zutheilung). Stade5 follows Smith and Well- hausen as against Fleischer.
1 Quoted by Delitzsch on Isa. iii. 2. 3 Gesenius's Lex.10
* Jour. Phil., xiii. 279. "* Reste, p. 134. d ». 503, note
MAGIC 45'
In proof of his general position, R. Smith seeks con- firmation from the Arabic. In Quran v. 4 we have the
-CSC S - C- C
phrase fftj*\} ^U-a^V obtaining a djvme decree at the Sanctuary by headless arrows.
Rodwell renders this phrase " division of the slain by consulting arrows," but it probably means seeking an oracle by arrows according to an ancient custom of mixing arrows and letting one be taken out at random.' Rodwell refers to the classical passage in Pockock,1 and this might, if carefully read, have guided him to a better interpretation.
W. R. Smith supplies other references to Arabic writers to show that the word means to consult the deity or deities by drawing lots. But that the word did have this secondary meaning no scholar, and least of all Fleischer, would doubt. The question is : What is its primary meaning ?
The story he gives on p. 219 from Bokhari, iv. 219 f., headed in the original, " The qasama in the time of heathenism," tells more against Smith's theory than for it. The oath was resorted to in order to find out who was guilty of a particular murder. The tribe charged with the crime take an oath of innocence, and soon all die. Now the appeal is by oath. But this oath is simply a kind of magical conjuration ; had it been true and correct it could have influenced the deities appealed to in a contrary direction. It is a case of magical language and methods brought into the service of divination. Or, better still, at the beginning the tw were not distinguished, both being regarded as appeals to spirits or gods. He refers for Biblical usage to
* "Specimen." Ed. White, p. jx§.
46 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
Prov. xvi. 1 6, where the word is used, with no colouring, of a king's decision ; to Ezek. xxi. 22, where the king of Babylon shot his arrows in order to know which of two ways to take.
Rashi on Deut. xviii. 10, explains the OD^p as one who divines by a rod. He refers to Hosea iv. 12 for a parallel instance (Greek pafiBofiavrzia).
From this primary meaning of divining by lot the word acquired the general meaning of decision, giving sentence, the Dpp being one who seeks such a decision. Its commonest rendering in the LXX., fiavrh, shows its wider connotation.
W. R. Smith proceeds to show from Aramaic usage that l&oJb is the most general word for revealer, diviner, among the heathen Arameans, though proofs of the narrow sense — divination by lot — are not wanting. Assuming the view of W. R. Smith, QDp to cut, may be explained by the cutting of pieces of wood, etc., to be used as lots. This is as likely as his own explanation, that " cut " is taken in the sense of " define,'1 " decide."
Now with all deference to the scholarship of W. R. Smith and Wellhausen, I venture to think that they have not sufficiently considered the difference between early usage and later. It is almost certain that at first magic and divination were not discriminated,: words used for one were used for the other. The fact that DDp has the sense of divination mostly, does not prove that its root and original meaning is this. I have already referred to an example of the use of magical means to obtain an oracle; in other words, among the Egyptians the priests divined by means of magic. (See page 28.)
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That DDp denoted in the first place magical conjura- tion, note the use of the Arabic word f*~* in its second and fourth forms, and the meaning of &*UJ an oath.
* 0
The Syriac *-Jaooj to exorcise, the aphel form of fee*]
or pfi^ to swear, is evidence of the same kind.
Then look at the Greek expression op/aa rijivtvOai, which occurs in Herodotus iv. 70, 71, 201, Homer II. *v* * 55) and *n other Greek writers in the sense of making an oath with, then to make a covenant with. t€/xvo> has the same radical meaning a$ DDp, i.e. to cut, divide. J think in both cases there is an original reference to .sacrifice, such as accompanied covenants as well as magical oaths. Cf. the phrases J>H3 JVJ3, icere (and ferire, percutere) foedus/
As regards actual usage, DDp means some form of ►divination in most cases. But it is so far from being certain that this is the primary meaning of the word, 'that the contrary view, advocated by Fleischer, is probably the right one.
* The word acquired so wide a signification as to stand for divining by means of the 6b 3W (in 1 Samuel xxviii. 8).
With W. R. Smith and Wellhausen there can be no quarrel when they say that Qesem has originally a religious meaning. This is true of all the terms used for both magic and divination.
2. Consider next the root ^$3. Several considera- tions unite in helping to understand the exact meaning of the word.
First, there is the etymology, which, however, is very uncertain. The old view is that we have the root in the
48 MAGIC, DIVINATION, A\D DEMONOLQGY
Arabic olai', which means to uncover, to reveal. Divi- nation would in that case be the primary sense. Against this is, however, the fact that Arabic J* corresponds to Hebrew to or D, not #, and that O^StiJB in Micah v. n, denotes material drugs, and is rendered by the LXX.
Fleischer1 argues for its derivation from «Ju£ to eclipse, of sun, moon (God being subject). Then to be eclipsed, darkened. From this comes the meaning to look dark, troubled ; to sink (of the eyes); become low (of the voice), so to speak in a low, murmuring tone. Then to pray. The Aramaic usage goes well with this,
as aA^^I as to supplicate, entreat But why not be content with the middle meaning, to be troubled, to look gloomy, distressed ? This attitude well suits the suppliant.
We may have in *)&*3 the same idea that lies in *SD3, to be obscure, indistinct ; then pale, white — the sup- pliant's face taking this colour. Diaiectically, there is nothing in the way of this identification, as Arabic y* m Hebrew D (r^. = 1!3D, to nail) as well as tf (7*-=:,TOttf, to wake by night). The *}t6D& ^ould then be a pale- faced, troubled one, cf. «-&*A£, unlucky, of days. The magician as wonder-worker, and also as diviner, fre- quently emaciating himself by fasting, sought special communion with the spirit world; cf. possible derivation of tt>PO from J*©* , to be hungry.
Is it possible that in *|Xb = *)D3, "to be white," we
have a hint of the source of the later designation White
Magic, TYttf , in Isaiah xlvii. 1 1 , if it is right to connect it
with y*f* , having in it the idea of Black Magic, 51H#aa
1 Levy's " Neuheb. Wort," ii. 459a.
MAGIC
black, cf. under intf , p. 57 ff. W. R. Smith* traces *)#3 to Arabic explanation to that feature of Semitic religion in which worshippers cut themselves when appearing before deity.*
D'3^3 (a noun from the root of the verb) are, he thinks, " herbs or drugs shredded into a magic brew M (cf. i-*^, pi. of &~i', bits of a thing). This derivation ives the best explanation of the noun D^5)$3 in Micah. f Fleischer's etymology or the modified one suggested be right, 0^2^)3 would then be those ingredients which were used in approaching deity.
It is not, however, so certain as W. R. Smith makes
it, that the term denotes something material. It may
mean the mere performances of the ^K'DD. " To cut off
, "3 from thine hands " can have a figurative sense as well
as a literal one.
The LXX. rendering is not strong enough even with the help of *pTQ %o establish the material sense of D^D^S . In 2 Kings ix. 22, Nah. iii. 4, the LXX. renders the word by dpfiaKa, but in neither of these passages can it mean drugs, nor can it have this meaning in Isa. xlii. 9, 12 (LXX. ^apjxaKua) or in Num. xxiii. 3.3
Hebrew *}#3 is commonly represented in. the Syriac
version by ^J..**. ^$30 *n Deut. xviii. io = lA*tlfct □'3l#3=i*f4ft. In all the twelve instances in which some form of *]W3 occurs in the Old Testament, it is
1 Journ. Phil., xiv. p. 125.
2 See I Kings xviii. 2S {re worshippers of Baal) and Jer. xli. 5. (Men came from Shiioh and Samaria, with shaven beards and with bodies that were cut, carrying offerings.)
a Where read with Kueneu V3ZQ} TJ^n.
MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOL06Y
some form of ** f*» that is made to translate it in the Peshitta.
What then does **f* mean ? W. ]£. Smith,' in order to iind support for his view that *)$3;r:4 that «»&£*» is of the same origin as the Arabic ^ji and *-^., which mean the peculiar food given to women in childbed, and which was a drug, thus agreeing exactly with itself an explanation of wkf*a, for this very word means also to be silent, being equivalent to Hebrew EhPT (especially Hi.) and Arabic \j*f-* The \&f**} following this etymology, is one that speaks in a low mumbling tone — one that restrains his speech.
Fried. Delitzsch1 connects the root with the Assyrian Kharashu, which has the meaning of restraining, compel- ling, binding.2 This last supplies the best clue to the magical signification of **t**, and it is the common idea out of which that of being silent, restraining one's self, etc., arises.
W. R. Smith's etymology, based as it is on a~rare Arabic word, is far less likely than an etymology which is common to the principal Semitic languages.
3. The verb ViTw (lakhasli), found in Aramaic and in Rabbinical Hebrew with the sense of "to hisst as a serpent/' is in my opinion a denominative from itinb (lakhash), which is merely a dialectical variety of ttfnj (nakhash), a serpent, b and ) are both liquids, and both tend to fall out, as the nun in ]"B verbs, and the b in Tlpb-
Cf. also the imperfect of w£u^&, imperf. wjocu, and the
1 Proleg., p. IOO. 3 Cf. -Qn and the magical tying.
MAGIC cjf
o
occultation of b* in r^ll. In the following words h and ] change places, with little, if any, difference of meaning : \r\b and \H2 both signify to oppress ; nsttrt*
and nSBtt both mean cell or chamber; D7S=f***, image.
In the Arabic dialects ^st^a?, while ^ and ^ inter- change with each other. The form with b is kept in the O.T. mainly for the department of magic ; ttfnj is used almost wholly in connection with divination. Not at all unlikely, the change came about through a desire, more instinctive than conscious, to use different words for different things.
Another tie uniting both words is the common mean- ing of unlucky, which is found in each of the Arabic
equivalents
unfortunate year), and ^^ (nahasa), (nahs), un- lucky, unhappy. This bad meaning which attaches to both words arises probably through their connection with the serpent, regarded as an evil spirit.
The objection which W. R. Smith urges against making the verbs U)Tlb (lakhash) and tfna (nakhash) denominatives, that #nj, in the sense of serpent, occurs in no Semitic language except Hebrew, is not conclusive,- for in each of these languages there are words derived from simpler forms found only in some one sister tongue. Nor does Smith adhere to the principle laid down in this connection, since he explains ]^D (me'onen) from
tft (ghanna), a word which occurs only in Arabic, just as he connects Syriac wa^ (kheresh) with the root ^f* or &~f- found in Arabic alone, and but rarely in this language. The place held by the serpent in ancient
S MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
religions must be here assumed. On the matter the fol- lowing works may be consulted, " The Worship of the Serpent," by Rev. J. Deane, London, 1832, 2nd edition, 1833, considerably enlarged ; " Tree and Serpent Wor- ship," by James Fergusson, 1868 and 1873 ; Baudissen's "Studien zur Semit. Religions-geschichte," i. 256 ff. ; 11 Gotzendienst u. 2auberwesen," etc., Scholz, p. 79 f. ; Wellhausen's "Reste," p. i$2 f. One of the earliest Gnostic sects, if not the earliest, goes by the name of Ophites (o^is) and Na'asites (#n?), because the symbol' of the serpent was central in their ritual and theology. C£-*n\0 (serpent), in Isa. xiv. 29, xxx. 6. Wellhausen thinks there is reference in these passages to the glace of the serpent in the old religions.1
In Eccles. ic.ii, and in Jer. viii. 17 ttfrf? O^khash) stands for a snake charm, something which prevents the snake from biting. In both verses Itirf) (lakhash) and ttfna (nakhash) are brought together as happy and designed antitheses, though both originally sprang from the game root. Since the serpent represented an evil spirit, and even the devil,* Virfo (lakhash) came to mean a charm against any demon, and the #ft*?0 (melakhesh) a charmer against any and every evil spirit, as in Isa. ii. 3.
The ornaments mentioned in Isa. iii. 20 were originally amulets to protect against demons. Among them 0'V)f]b (lekhashim) are named. What exact shape these were of, is a matter of uncertainty ; but as the next words stand for finger-rings and nose-rings, it is not at all pnlikely that this word stands for ear-rings, which
* See Weilh. Reste, p. 155.
5 See SmenH, p. 119; cf. the serpent that tempted Eve; see also
Grimm, p. 990.
were certainly amulets, as is- shown by Gen. xxxv. 4
The two latter words are used in Isa. iii. 20 for tPffift* Dr. Smith so explains $r6, and he is probably right. In Isa. xxvi. 16 tinb denotes prayer, a meaning easily deducible from incantation; * But the text of this, verse appears to be corrupt.
V)nh is so closely connected with demonology that it might have been left to that part of this treatise. But it belongs also to magic, as all amulets necessarily do, and it seemed advisable to deal with this species of magic before the next is dealt with, as both are closely con- nected by W. R. S.2
4. -Qff (kheber), T3n (khober). There are but three places in the Old Testament in which "inn, as noun or as verb, has a significance for magic. These are Deut.
xviii. 11 (inn inn), Ps. tviii. 6 (Dnnn •ti'rt), and Isa.
xlvii. 9, 12, twice (Q^pn).
In Ps. lviii. 6 &VJrbo b*\p is followed immediately by DH3PT 13fT. W. R. Smith' concludes that the same thing is meant by both, the parallelism, he thinks, showing this. The conception at the root of 13H is, he alleges, snake-charming. "OPF is therefore like #nS a charm against the snake. This view is at least as old as the Talmud3; it is defended by Pseudo- Jonathan, and by Rashi (see his commentary orr Deut. xviii. 10). In the Talmud, however, a distinction is made between
1 Perhaps by ^}H/ we are to understand a serpent-shaped 5 ear-ring, so formed because designed, on the principle of symbolic magic, to be a countercharm against the snake. Cf. p. 38 ff.
* Journ. Phil., xiv. p. 114 f. J* See Jebam, 121a.
54 MAGTC, DIVINATION, AND iDEMONOLOGY'
the great Khober 7VT3 "nft, who exercises tiis magic upon*
great animals, and the small Khbber }bp *15fy w^° uses it against smaller animals— serpents, scorpions, insects, etc. (See Brecher, p. 138.) Smith would have done better to follow Gesenius (Thes, i. 441), who interprets lirr literally to bind, of magical knots, than to go back to the baseless Jewish traditional explanation. It shows the enormous influence of this great English scholar that Buhl (Ges. l2) and Sigfried and Stade in their lexicons, Stade in his Geschichte (i. 105), and Driver in. his commentary on Deut. xviii. 10, tread in his steps ; yet the evidence is of the slightest. The word "Ol refers to the effect^ not to the cause or instrumentality.
Incantations as well as amulets were used to bind demons. To these the deaf adder stops his ears, Ps. lviii. 5. He listens not to the sound of the magician, bind they ever so cleverly.
Parallelism, on which Rob. Smith bases his argument, does not mean that words thus joined have identical meanings. We need not travel beyond the Psalm referred to in order to show this. In ver. 4 D'y^") is parallel With HD niTT, and Vtt with tyja Who would
infer that therefore the words thus related have the same shade of meaning ?
Moreover, in the other passages, Deut. xviii. 11, Isa. xlvii. 9, 12, DHIin is parallel to D^Bltfl), and it is the more
striking that in the same chapter of Isaiah, both these words are found together in v. 9 and in v. 12. If paral- lelism is to decide, it is most certainly in favour of making OH^n and D^p^I) identical in meaning, rather than
onnn and wv}nb
MAGIC Sf
12J1 means u to tie, bind/* in Hebrew? Aramaic and
Ethiopic, and gets its sense in magic from the fact that the person using 1211 binds the spirits or gods.
It is in the same sense that the Greeks used *aTa- 8«a> (see references in Passow, " Handworterbuch der Griechischen Sprache," ste Auflage, vol. i. p. 160a), the Romans '• ligare, ligulam," the Arabs yJ^\ ifc,
v?/*> the Germans "Nestel kntipfen," and the English u magic knots." In all this we have traces of what we call sympathetic, or, what Tylor calls, symbolic magic.
R. Smith thinks the binding refers to the words : words bounds so as to constitute a magical formula. Gesenius suggests this too, though at the expense of consistency. (See loc. cit.) The binding in that case refers to the words, not the magical act implied. Upon the face of it, this is unlikely, as the analogy of Aramaic, Ethiopic, as well as that of modern languages shows.
Dr. Smith supports his view that 1211 1211 = nectere verba, from the Arabic ^ " a narrative, that which is fastened together." Now, the root meaning of y& is M to know"; in the 4th form, p&\ "to make to know." j-a. is a communication of knowledge. In no instance does the word convey the notion of binding. Far more likely is the connection of 1211 with the Arabic p**. Hebrew n = Arabic i (as ttfnn = J-^ "to be deaf and dumb ") and t (as U)1J1 " to cut, plough "= «±y*). The con- nection of Hebrew (and Syriac) HUn with ^ is thus linguistically possible. Some additional considerations render it probable. According to Lane (sub vbce) p*> means u to make beautiful " (of handwriting, poetry, language, science, etc.) Freytag also gives pulchrum fecit
$6 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEM6N0L6GY
as the fundamental meaning. Now, this would most naturally arise out of an earlier meaning of 44to bind"; thus, to fasten together words so as to make beautiful sentences, thoughts, and the like. Moreover, both Freytag and Lane explain ft^ as a sweet, a beautiful melody, which connects ^ with magical intonation. Again, 12H in Hebrew means a companion, an associate ; in later Hebrew, a member of the same society, guild ; then, a Jewish priest or doctor. This word is represented
O C - SO €& "C
in N Arabic by ^ and p*> ; cf. Wj** " pontifical M in modern Arabic. These last may be, however, mere loan words ; but even the representation of Hebrew n by Arabic t is significant for my argument. We have pro- bably the same ro€>t in b2Jl " to bind," in the Arabic jil "to tie, bind/1 and J*^ "a cord or halter to tie with." Now the liquids (^, D, 3i 1) exchange freely in the Semitic languages. (See Wright's "Comparative Grammar of the Semitic Languages," Cambridge, 1890, p. 67 f[.y
Hebrew D3D?& ("widow") is in Syriac \££>), and in
Arabic &+j\. Thus, "On, t£ua, 7^, and J**, are all dialectic variants of ons common and original root meaning "to bind"; while y& seems to stand outside of this category.
Before passing away from this oinding magic, it is of interest to note the Rabbir/cal word for "amulet," JWpj?, which comes from yep (=2^) "to bind, to master." Its passive form makes k likely, however, that the JPDj? is that which is bound to (he person, as an amulet, and not that which binds the Deity. This Hebrew word is used for the Tephellfn (Phylacteries), etc. (See Levy, Neu- Hek Worterbach, sub voce.)
MAGIC 57
It is not impossible that Christ's words to the disciples, 11 What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven : and what things ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven " (Matt, xviii. 1 8), were suggested by this magical practice, known in His time and in His country as*in all times and lands.
5. in# (shakhar), in Isa. xlvii. 11, has since the time
of J. H. Michaelis (f 1738) been explained as? referring to magic. ^(See his Annot. ad Biblia, 1720.) He was followed by J. D. Michaelis (Suppl. ad Lex. Heb., p. 2314), Koppe, Doed., Eichhorn, Hitzig, Ewald, De Wette, Dill- mann (who reads mnitf), Kautzsch (" Heilige Schrift * weg
z\\ Zaubern ■ "), Wellhausen (" Reste," p. 159, note i, and " Israel, u. Jud. Gesch.," 1895, p.'ioo). So also margin .ofR.V,
The favour of this exegesis are the following considera- tions : — (1) It makes excellent sense. In the first clause the evil that will come is such as cannot be kept off by any magical incantation or amulet or drug, such as were used to keep off injuries due to demons ; in the second the destruction is such as no payment can prevent — it is beyond being expiated for* To be charmed away makes a good parallel with to be bought 'off, to be kept away by payment.
(2) The word employed. here has its equivalent in the
6 O
Arabic ^*, the word most commonly used for magic. The .primary meaning of the verb ^* is to turn or transform a thing into something else, love into hatred, etc. The evil in this passage might well be described as that which could not be turned into anything else; it was, as such, inevitable. 0 (3) The words were written in Babylon ^here magic.
5 8 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGV
was extensively cultivated. Assuming the root existing in Arabic to be so old, the intelligent Babylonian native or resident would be likely to be acquainted with it, as the thing for which it stood was so rife around him.
(4) In the next verse two undoubted magical terms are found, viz. D^ir? (khebarim) and D^ttfll (keshaphim),
which shows that the idea of magic was in the writer's mind. Yet, if the word has in this verse the sense first claimed for it by J. H. Michaelis, it is Strange that in the whole range of Hebrew literature, ancient and modern, it never again occurs with this meaning ; nor does Aramaic (Syriac, or so-called Chaldee) supply one solitary example of this signification.
Of the ancient versions the LXX. renders the verse somewhat freely, but it represents mnttf (shakhrah) by
(S&Ovvos (=/?o'0/>os), evidently reading nrvti (shakhat).
In the Syriac we have }'t^jLQ. " in the morning," reading "in^-1 (bashshakhar). Not one of these gives a good sense. Not the LXX., for the pit cannot be said to come upon one; not the Syriac, because, "in the morning n does not correspond to anything following it ; in fact, the rest of the verse is very confused in this version.
In Ges. -Buhl's lexicon there is a happy suggestion, though it has no support in the versions, nor before 1895 was it ever, I think, put forward, unless Sigfried and Stade's lexicon hints at it. The first-named lexicon would substitute nin$ (shikhadah), but as the Qal of
this verb is alone used, it would be better to read iT7n#
TT J
(shekhadah). The English will then be : " There shall come upon thee an evil which thou art not able to prevent by payment, and destruction shall fall upon thee
MAGIC $9
such as thou art not able to expiate.11 The verb is found in Job vi. 22 in the sense of paying a ransom to keep away some calamity.
In Prov. vi. 35 the nouns 193 (kopher) and IFKtf (shakhad) occur in corresponding members of the verse, just as the verbs do in Isaiah. The Proverbs passage may be thus put into English : " He will not be pro- pitiated by any ransom ; nor will he be well disposed though thoy multiply thy gifts to hirru" (Sheyne ■ adopts this emendation.
Magic in the New Testament.
I want to make one or two references to New Testa- ment passages which also have to do more or less with magic among the Hebrews.
What has been called Battologia is derived from Battus (Barro*)t a Greek poet who used many repeti- tions or, according to Herodotus,2 who stuttered. The word is, however, possibly mimetic. Whatever may be its etymology, the verb fiarrokoytto has in Greek literature the meaning of prattling, babbling, excessive talking. (See the Greek lexicons.)
Among the ancients, repetitions of certain formulae were considered efficacious in proportion to the number of repetitions. In India to-day, if an ascetic says in one month the name of Radha, Krishna or Ram 100,000 times, he cannot fail to obtain what he wants.
It is in the same spirit that Moslem dervishes renew their shrieks or whirlings : the more this is done the greater the power which Allah has over them.
1 Sacred Books of the Old Test. " Isaiah ": Addenda to Hebrew text.
2 *. 155.
66 MAOld, DIVINATION, ANT> b£todNOl6$Y
The prophets of Baal cabled upon their god from morning until night in the same spirit (i Kings xviii. 2$, saying, 4( Baal, hear usm,
Christ, in the sermon on the mount, warns His hearers against believing that the efficacy of a prayer depends on the number of times it is said (Matt. vi. 7).
The words w /JarroAoy^rc1 mean " Do not repeat yourselves " (in prayer), and ' have reference to the same superstition. Unless such a practice was in vogue among the Jews of His time, He would not have deemed it necessary to give this warning.
11 Pray without , ceasing " (1 .Thess. v. 12) may have been suggested to the Apostle's mind by the super- stitious habit of reiteration in prayer, v" Keep on praying," i.e. " be always in the praying temper."-
In Eisenmenger's " Endectes Judenthum," vol. i. 580 f., we read that when in the various synagogues prayer is separately said, these prayers are woven by an angel into a crown, which is set on God's head. A The more the prayers, the larger the crown.
In 2 Tim. iii. 13, yorjr^s (from yoa mournful tone^) is used of a class of magicians who uttered certain prescribed magical formulae in a low, deep voice. Herodotus described them as being in Egypt 2 and else- where ;3 they are also mentioned by Euripides and Plato. The word is rendered by Luther " verfuhrerische Men* schen," and in the English versions by " impostor."
The Syriac Pesh.. version gives |i~v^v^ "those who lead astray." The Hebrew New Testaments of Salkinson and of Delitzsch more correctly translate by D^DDp for
1 Cf. Eccles. viii. 14 : /lo) tttvrepticrTis Xoyov Iv Trpocrevxji repeat thy words in thy prayer." For references to Battology among Moslems and others, see Lange in Herzog, xviii. 396.
Lii, 3JL ,3.jv. 105 ; vji\ 191^
MAGIC 6l
which, in English, " diviners " is mostly used. " Sor- cerers " would be as near the original as any other English word.
Accepting W. Robertson Smith's etymology a ]%ty&t this word has a very similar meaning tp yo^rcs; cf. Fleischer's derivation of *)#3 from u^} to speak -in a low murmuring tone.1
Paul, in addressing the Galatians, names among the works of -the flesh apfxaK€ia (Eng..VV„ " sorcery ";
Syr. Ua±f4* kharashuta ; Hebrew Testaments of Salk. and Del. D^Stite) keshaphim), which is closely connected with u idolatry M by being put next after it (Gal. v. 20).
It is not possible here to do more than mention Simon Magus, or Simon the Magician (Acts viii. 9 f.), and Bar- jesus the Sorcerer, whom Luke calls also Elymas (Acts xiii. 8). This latter name the writer explains by o pdyos ; it is really the Arabic fiM 'aleem (or ^ 'alim), "learned/1 which i$ much the same in sense as /*ayo£
Post-Biblical Judaism.
As later Jewish magic is for the most part associated with belief in the existence and power of demons, much on this subject will be found under the head of M Demonology."
In the main Dr. Rabbi D. Joel 2 is right In claiming for the Mishna comparative freedom from magical 1 principles. That is due largely to the fact that in the | Mishna we have a collection of the laws and principles which were to guide the Jew : the Oral law tfvutf m\n H9) as opposed to the written Orpattf mi/n).
Nevertheless, if the belief in magic were common among See sufra, p. 48. * Der Aber, p. 34 .
62 " MAGIC," DIVINATION," AND DEMONOLOOY
the Jews of the first and second centuries of our era, and if it were approved by the national leaders, we should expect to find regulations concerning it in this law book.: But we look in vain for anything of the kind.
In the Talmud, however, there are many acknow- ledgments of the existence among the Jews in Palestine and Babylon of magical superstitions. Joel quotes* examples, though he is too anxious to make little of them, and to claim for his co-religionists a freedom from superstition which they have no right to claim. Where the later Jews got their magic from is a debated and debatable question I See a discussion of this question' at pa^fe 114 ff. I will anticipate so much as to say that there is a growing tendency to make Gnosticism the, principal source of later Jewish magic and demonology.' This Gnosticism is for the most' part a growth out of the native Babylonian religion, but in it we have a remarkable syncretism of elements, belonging in the main to Babylon, but alsb to Greece (Neoplatonism), Egypt and Persia. 1$ Gnosticism, as in Judaism, names . and numbers play a great r6lc» !
In many of the old religions, names of deities were credited with extraordinary powef. He who used them' was master of the gQd. As the priests grew in power,' they claimed the exclusive knowledge of these names.' , We have an instance of this in the Tetragrammaton.1 It j has been the custom to (>trace the sacredness of this] 'name to the Pythagorean Tetraktys, or mystic number of four. Dr. Gaster sees in the Gnostic "Tetraktys " — 1 -formed by combining the 'first two divine sysygies or
1 The four consonants of the Hebrew word for Yahwe. The vowel- sounds were included in what we now call consonants* as in Assyrian,' Erhiopic, and originally in all Semitic languages,-
MAGIC
63
pairs — the real counterpart of the Hebrew " Four- letter- word. "
But, whatever the source, there is no denying the fact of the sacred and ,all-prevailing efficacy of M Yahve." He who, in his prayer, was able to use this name, was sure to get what he asked for. Prayer was often fruitless just because this name was left out. (Eisenmenger i. 581 f.) Compare with this the place given in the New Testa- ment to n#me as standing for the person (John, i. 12). When other names got to be substituted for the Tdragrammaton, they in their turn were believed to have the same mystic power. Belief in angels grew, and it was soon thought that their names, when used in certain formulae, had an influence, less indeed, but not less real than those of Yahve. Names of God and of angels were varied in ways familiar to students of the Oabbalah.1 So in many old Jewish incantations the most bewildering names present them- selves. The most complete and important monument of mediaeval Jewish magic is the " Sword of Moses/' the original text of which has been recently found by Dr. Gaster. He gives a complete translation in Asiatic Journal, January, 1896, p. 175 ff., together with an account of the discovery and character of the MS. A reference to this will show the most extraordinary combinations of letters to form names which exists in any language.
Magic among Arabs and Moslems.
In tracing the history of religious thought and custom among tK^ Arabs, we have the disadvantage that the literature of this people is comparatively recent ; none
See Ginsburg's Kabb,, p. 49 [.
64 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
of it going further back than, say, a century or two before the appearance of Mohammed. Of pre-Islamic literature, not only have we but little preserved, but that little is nearly altogether poetry (Mo'allaqatj etc.). Freytag, in his Einleitung, etc,,, and Wellhausen, in his ** Reste," etc., have gathered together in their valuable books such notices as they have found in Arabic literature, bearing upon the subjects under consideration. Frey- tag's work is not nearly as well known as it ought to be, though it is lacking in that conciseness and accuracy by which' Wellhausen's book is marked. As regards magic, both these writers concern themselves mainly with its demonological side : Wellhausen deals ^t length with what he calls 4( Gegenzauber " (countercharm), which he defines as the i( art of making demons harmless and of scaring them away."
This is the principal use to which, among the primi- tive Arabs, magic was put. I shall return to this when dealing with demonology.
Mohammed, from the standpoint of monotheism, stoutly opposed that kind of magic for which }***
stands, as it was associated with heathenism and involved appeals to other spiritual beings than God. For the same reason he condemned divination, as it is
represented by the word &Q>. On the other hand, among orthodox Moslems, almost if not quite from the
Prophet's day, the system of magic covered by 2y*> has been regarded as permissive, because in it only God and good angels are invoked. It is probable, indeed, that the Prophet did not allow any but Allah to be thus recognized, as is the case among those Moslem puritans, the Wahhabees, at the present day.
MAGIC 65
There is a Very elaborate science giving details as
\o how the incantations called «a>^*> are to be
recited and the results interpreted. The best native
work on the subject is the " Juwahiree 'l-Khamsat,"
by Sheikh Abu '1-Muwayyid of Gergerat, a.h. 956.
Hughes, in his Dictionary of Islam, gives an epitome of
as much of the work as is not peculiar to Indian Islam.1 & 0 - The word tyso in its magical sfcnse does not occur
in the Qurar, tjbough in its ordinary meaning of prayer
it is found six times.-
The spell or charm termed Ruqya ( also allowed by the Prophet, so says Anas, whose words are given by Hughes.2
Ruqya was made up of passages from the Quran, either spoken, or written on an amulet which was worn, the purpose being to keep off the evil eye, epilepsy, etc., which were believed. to be the work of demons.3
The Quran has the word four times, or, if we include the doubtful case J»y&\ , five times. In all but one it has its usual meaning "to ascend." In Sura lxxv. 27 j^ appears to denote " magician." There is no opinion ex- pressed as to whether or not the ^ is approved of,
Perhaps the word does not in this case depart from its connotation in the other places, the question then being, "Who is able to arise out of the calamity newly de- scribed? "
&♦*>* is another magieal term in use among the Arabs. The word denotes strictly " determination," from fy* " to resolve," and is not found i.n this form or (magical) sense in the Quran. It denotes a charm consisting of Quran?
1 See p. 72 ff. i lb., p. 303b, 3 See Demonqlogy.
66 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
verses recited with the intention of removing sickness. Arabic writers distihguish between q\Ju\ /&)*> which aim at influencing Allah, and J>y&\ **, which have the pur- pose of immediately acting against the Jinns or demons.1
Hyt from «3Vc (Aye) stands for ^n amulet worn upon the person, as phylacteries by the' Jews, to protect against demons, but especially against the evil eye.8 Probably it had on it the 113th or 114th suras of the Quran, perhaps both. It is for this reason that these suras g6t the name e^I** though some will have it that this name is given to them because each begins with *3^c\ js.
It is interesting to note that in Sura 113 we read of the ipagic knot otfc plural of Sate. 8JU* and *>f* are used interchangeably with ity.
The next word to note in this connection is which has been wrongly identified with fay*. This last consists, as has been seen, of an amulet with a Quran inscription. &**♦*, on the other hand, is a blacjk bead speckled with white, though there ■ is room for doubt as to its exact shape. L
Freytag, however, followed by Wellhausen,3 says it is, 3 necklace and not a bead, as Lane maintains. Besides differing in form from liy* its use was forbidden by Mohammed, while the former was allowed. A connection is suggested by Freytag with the 0*13^ worn by the high priest, Deut. xxxiii. 8, etc. Later Jewish scholars think that this has some connection with magic.
Gildemeister considers to be 3 mere transcription of the Greek Telesma (T&ca/xa), whence the English.
* See Wellh. Reste, 161, note 3. * lb., p. idc, note 4.
3 Wellh. Reste, p. 166.
MAGIC 07
a talisman." The usual explanation of the word is that it comes from p (to be complete), because it was believed to keep th§ person whole or healthy.
The tamima was worn by women and children only. As the boy grew up to manhood this amulet was taken from his neck. Though Islam disowns the name, this kind of amulet is still to be seen worn by the Meccan boys.
v>U^fc (strictly what hinders, keeps off) is used to describe an amulet which was kept in a case called ^Aa^ c^o and suspended on the right side by a string passing over the left shoulder, or on some other part of the person.
These words belong more to Demonology than to magic in its narrow sense, but it seemed desirable to give in one place a short account of the Arabic terms.
Assyrian Magic.
It is impossible here to supply more than a brief summary of results to which we are led by the able works of Lenormant, Tallqvist, Zimmern, King, mentioned in my list of authorities.
What Lenormant maintains in his " Chaldean Magic M —that the magic ofthe Babylonians and Assyrians was handed on to them by the Accadians — is now generally admitted.
But it was reserved for their successors to systematize the magic which they received from the Accadians, and to have it regulated and projected by the state.
Among the Babylonians and Assyrians there were two kinds of magicians.
68 magic, divination, and nkmonotogy
Illegal Magic.