LXX. (cV rvxri) and Vulgate (feliciter) follow the Kethib.

In Isa. lxv. ii the word stands unquestionably for the Babylonian god of good fortune, identified with Bel, and later with the planet Jupiter. We can trace the name in 13 b%3 (Josh. xi. ij) and in the Phoen. proper names
nyUi DM12.1 Bar Hebraeus uses )i^ (gadda) in the sense of gCod luck.
^D (Meni), mentioned in the same Isaiah passage, is another Babylonian deity, which had also to do with men's destiny. The author of the paragraph evidently accepts the derivation from nSS (minna) " to distribute,
allot"
The LXX. translate by rvxy, as they do !3 (gad) in the Genesis passage. It is singular that the Greek word tvxv stands for the Egyptian goddess Isis, which last is likewise the goddess of good luck. Perhaps Istar, the Babylonian Isis, or moon god, is meant. Delitzsch (Franz) in his commentary, in loco, has surely gone wrong in identifying Meni with the Arabian Manat, one of ths. three principal pre-Islamic deities.
Biblical Necromancy.
There remain to be considered terms or expressions which are used in the Old Testament to describe divination by consulting the dead. Three designations, fall to be noticed, all of them found in Deut. xviii, 11.
(i) We shall begin with that which occurs last in the verse, viz. 0\HDn ?H &T? (one who inquires with [from] the dead) rendered by the A.V. and R.V. necro?nancer.
1 See Eutimg, "Sechs Phonbische Inschriften aus Idalion," 1873, p. 14,
&6 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DfiMONOLOGY
Isa. viii. 19 makes it clear that this is a general description embracing the next two words to be considered. It is separately mentioned indeed, but the conjunction "waw'* with which it is introduced is simply the explanatory u waw," answering to the Greek epexegetic kclI. (See .examples of this u;e of n wau n in Ges. Buhl, p. 197a, b.)
This phrase embraces the Ti'yT (yiddVni), and 2W (*6b), and other kinds of necromancy. (So Driver on Deut. xyiii. 11.)
(2) 21N biW (sho'el *6b) one who consults an 'ob. The word 'ob is generally found with yidde'oni. Like the last Word, '6b, from meaning the spirit of a departed one, spirit, and divines by its aid. The full phrase 2^H rby2L (the possessor of an '6b) is found in 1 Sam. xxviii. 7, .where the " Witch of Endor " is so described.
The LXX. explains the word by iyyacrTpafivOos, which^ means ventriloquist, i.e. one who made people believe- that a ghost spoke through him by throwing his voice' into the ground, where the spirit was supposed to be. This is the explanation of the phenomenon adopted by Lenormant,1 Renan,2 and by others. But the writer of Samuel, and other Biblical writers who speak of this species of divination, evidently regard it as really what it was claimed to be. Lev. xx. 27 i§.the only possible exception.'
The etymology of the word is very uncertain. Passing by minor suggestions, the field seems to be held by two principal views. First, it has been traced to a root; which means to return, which "is found in the Arabic vfssvjt (aba=awaba). The word would in that case'
1 "La Divination, " p. 161 rT.
2 " History of People of Israel/' i. 347.
DIVINATION #7
mean the same as the French revenant, one who returns, i.e. the spirit who comes back. This derivation is defended by Stade (Gesch. Isrt i. p. 504), by Hitzig and1 Konig (on Is. viii. 19), and by Schwally {Das Leben nac/v dem Tode, p. 69) ; although now generally abandoned, it is at least as likely to be right as any other. Dr. Van' Hoonecker {Expository Times, ix. 157 ff.) objects that in Deut. xviy. 11 the '6b is distinguished from the dead (metim) ; but if the latter clause of the verse is simply a generalization of the two foregoing clauses, this objection falls to the ground.
The commonest derivation is that which connects the word with '6b, "a bottle/' literally something hollow. A
similar word in Arabic &\> (wa'ba) means a hole in a rock, a large and deep pit, i.e. as with bottle, something hollow. Assuming the fundamental idea of hollowness to be in the word, many explanations have been suggested as arising out of it. I note two as being probably nearest the truth.
(1) Bottcher,1 Kautsch,2 and Dillmann3 hold that the spirit is called '6b on account of the hollow tone of the voice ; such a tone as might be expected to issue from an empty place. Other terms for practising magic and divination lend some support to this view.4
(2) The idea of hollowness has been held to apply in the first place to the cave or opening in the ground out of which the spirit speaks. Among the Greeks and Romans, oracles depending on necromancy were situated among large deep caverns which were supposed to cpipmunicate with the spirit world, (cf. the Arabian
1 "De Inferis," p. ioi? 2 Riehm, " Totenbesch."
3 On Lev. x. 131. 4 Supra% 81, 83, etc.
8S MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
"Ahl al-ard" or earth-folk). W. R. Smith1 was of opinion that divination by the '6b was connected with this superstition. Then just as '6b and yiddc meaning spirit, came to stand for the person in whom the spirit dwelt, so by a similar metonymy — contained for container and vice versa— the hollow cavern came to be used for the spirit that spoke out of it.
3. OJn* (yidde which this Hebrew term is rendered, means " one very wise/' and agrees with the LXX. (yi/cdcrr^s), Syriac (puOf*,
yaddu'a), Arabic (^Vs 'arraf), and with Ewald's ren- dering " Viel-wisserisch."
Like '6b, so also yidde'oni, means in the first instance the spirit of a deceased person ; then it came to mean him or her that divines by such a spirit. W. R. Smith, 2 followed by Driver (on Deut. xviii. 11), distinguishes the two terms thus : —
Yidde{oni is a familiar spirit, one known to him that consults it. The '6b is any ghost that is called up from the grave to answer questions put to it (cf. 1 Sam. xxviii). The yiddc is, through the person whom it possesses. The '6b speaks directly, as, for example, out of the grave (cf. 1 Sam. xxviii). Rashi (on Deut. xviii. 11) says that yidde'ooi differs from 21tf by2 (ba(al 'Sb) in that he held in his mouth a bone, which uttered the oracle. It is hard to prove these distinctions to be either right or wrong, the data for forming a judgment are so slight.
But is it quite certain that the words are to be held as standing for distinct things ? Why may we not have in them different aspects of the same spirit ? So regarded,
1 M Rel. Sem./' p. Jg&- 2 Journ. Phi!, xiv. 127.
DIVINATION $9
*6b would convey the notion that the spirit has returned from the other World, while yidde'oni would suggest that the spirit so returned is knowing,, and therefore able to answer the questions of the inquirer. The fact that in all the eleven instances of its occurrence yiddc'oni in- variably follows '6b, is in favour of its being a mere interpretation. 'Ob, on the other hand/ is often found by itself (i Sam. xxviii. 7, 8; 1 Chron. x. 3, etc.). I have already said that the expression at the end of Deut. xviii. 11 ("one who seeks unto the dead w) is merely a generalized formula for the two foregoing characters. Now it is probable that these two characters are at bottom one, the " and " joining '6b and yidde'oni in the way of a hendiadys : " he who seeks a departed spirit that is knowing." The remaining part of the verse is then simply a repetition in different words of the same thought. This is in complete harmony with the usages of Hebrew parallelism. The whole compound expression might be rendered as follows : " He who inquires of the departed spirit that is knowing, even he who seeks unto the dead."'
Though condemned in the Old Testament,1 necro- mancy held its own among the Israelites till a late period, Yahwism was opposed to both witchcraft and necro- mancy, yet the influence of habit and of intercourse with people around was too strong to be wholly overcome.2 Winer3 shows that in the ancient world, divination by calling back the spirits of the dead was very widespread among the Greeks, Romans, and other ancient nations. See the references he gives.
1 See I Sam. xxviii. 7 ft. ; Isa. viii. 19 ; cf. Lev. xix. 31,. xx. 6, 27 ; Deut. xviii. II. 2 Schultz, ii. 322. 3 " Totenbeseh."
r
90 magic, divination, and dem0n0l0gy
Divination in Post-Biblical Judaism.
In the main the Talmud occupies the Old Testament antagonistic position regarding magic and divination.1 Yet it is not wholly, and at times not at all, opposed to soothsaying; e.g. &hullin, 95b : - tth . . . #PU VNttJ *3 ty *)» J^D "If (regarding a matter that is spoken of) there is no divination " itfni etc. Here there is not a' syllable I of condemnation about the ^TO, which is in the Old \Testament uniformly reprobated. In Sanhed., 101a, even DH# may be consulted if it is not the Sabbath. " On the Sabbath one may not put question to the DHttf " t(i.e. on other days this may be done).
It should be remembered, however, that the Talmud is not one work composed by one author, and thus reflecting one mind. It is rather a repository of Jewish ■ thought and folk-lore from the third to the seventh or ; eighth century of our era ; as such it is valuable, only •we must not in it look for consistency.
Divination among the Arabs.
Our principal sources of information on this subject are the works by Freytag2 and Wellhausen3 already named, and the authorities which they cite ; these last being mainly Arabic poetry, epic and lyrical.
There were both male and female fortune-tellers
6 G" "
among the Arabs of the olden time, ^^ and &atf being the respective terms employed. There can be no doubt
c -
that {$*>\S is identical with Heb. 1H3, and that in both the
2 Sec Khullin, 7b 5 Sanhed., 67b. 2 " Einleitung."
3 "Reste."
1
DIVINATION /9I
'magician of priest and the soothsayer were joined. w^U properly door-keeper (i.e. one who had charge of the temple entrance) and y^l* (one who ministered at the qaaba) were the words used for the priests, a'nd^vhen this office was rigidly separated from the other, the distinction consisted in the fact that the priesthood was hereditary and was exercised at the temple, while the office of soothsayer opened itself to anyone qualified^ by ' special inspiration to discharge it.1
As to the vexed question of the etymology of y&\S and )tl'3 I must content myself by a reference to the authors ties named by Gesenius-Buhl.
The Arab soothsayer was called also }W or ftp. (which is the same root as the Hebrew Pith), though the latter is specially used of an astrologer, and the former pf one. who divines from moles on the face and the like.
Other words are .weather prophets and palmists,2 and CAf literally a
knowing one (the form JU* denoting office or occupation).
The communications of the Arab soothsayers were given in rhythmical form, which, however, was largely due to the character of the language they spoke in.
Among well-known soothsayers the following are named by either Freytag3 or Wellhausen 4 : — Satbih, of the tribe of Dsib; Shiqq of Bagila; Aus b. Rabi'a; Al- Khims of Taghlib ; Amru b. Algu'aid; Ibn Kajad of Medina, while Tsuraifa and Sagah were women.
1 See We]lh7v xiii. p. 278.
2 See Sharastani's "Book of Religions and Philosophical Sects," ed. Cureton, ii. p. 437. 3 p> ISJr# 4 « Reste,» p. j3e f.
92 magic, divination, aft£> demonology
Modes of Divination.
These Arab soothsayers took omens from the flight of birds, from writing made on the ground, from the human body — especially the face, from the lines on the hand (palmistry), and by watchin'g the descent of balls which had been thrown into the air. For technical words and expressions for these see Freytag.1
Presages.
There were certain phenomena which were interpreted as signs of either good or evil. The approach of a raven was an intimation that friends were to be separated. Hence the proverb : ^aA \f ($>* (*W, M Unluckier than the raven of separation."
The bird called J^ (the green woodpecker probably) was also looked upon as presaging evil (^)>as contrasted with J^» which was a good omen.
Islam and Divination.
It has already been stated 3 that although Mohammed condemned divination, he was himself too superstitious to entirely dispense with it. Yet his general attitude towards it was hostile.
Mu'awiyah ibn Hakam relates that he asked the Prophet if it were right to consult fortune-tellers about future events, and he replied, J4 Since you have em- braced Islam you must not consult them." 3
Oat'an ibn Qabisah says : " The Prophet forbade
1 p. 158 f. 2 Sufra, p. 22.v 3 Hughes, p. 130a.
DIVINATION 93
taking omens from the running of animals, the flight of birds, and from throwing pebbles, which were (was) done by the idolaters of Arabia." *
For some time after Mohammed's death many arose in Islam who claimed in the manner of the ^^ to forecast the future. But their number soon declined, owing mostly oto the acceptance of complete mono- theism, tte authority of the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet.
The Moslem doctors say that up to the time of Jesus the Jinns had liberty to enter any of the seveii heavens. With His birth they were excluded from three of them. Mohammed's birth caused them to be shut out of the remaining four. Yet even afterwards they continued to ascend the boundaries of the first heaven, and could hear the angels converse of God's decrees. In this way they obtained a knowledge of the future, which under certain conditions they imparted to men.
Babylonian and Assyrian Divination.
The diviner among these peoples was called bdru} seer, from barii to see. Compare with this the Kebreiy HNH and the more poetical n?fh Biblical terms for u prophet," both denoting literally " seer." The office of diviner among the Babylonians and Assyrians was called barutu) a word denoting literally the il act of seeing," cf. the corresponding abstract Hebrew term JDtrr. The barii, like the eYsepu, belonged to a priestly caste, his special function being that of prognostication. The signs or omens were of the kind common among
1 Mishkat, Book xxi. 2, quoted by Hughes, p. 114b.
)
1
94 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
Greeks, Romans, Arabs, etc.; full descriptions of these are found on the clay tablets discovered among the ruins of Nineveh. These tablets formed part of the. library of Assurbanipal, the last of the Assyrian kings. Among these omens may be mentioned the cries and flight of birds, the movements of animals, dreams, and,' especially, the position and motions of the heavenly bodies. Astrology is generally believed to have taken- its rise among the Babylonians. However uncertain' this may be, its prevalence in Babylon from the earliest historical times is not to be questioned. Next in importance to observation of the heavenly bodies,' dreams were consulted by the baru. Assyrian kings and generals were often guided in their policy by divination. We have an instructive example in Ezek. xxi., where King Esarhaddon takes omens from the fall of arrows and from the liver of animals offered in sacrifice. For further and fuller details, see Lenormant's " La Divina- tion," etc., and A. Bouche Leclerq's " Histoire de la Divination dans l'Antiquite."
Egyptian Divination.
The newest book discussing divination as it prevailed among the Egyptians is Wiedemann's already referred to. I can do no more here than refer to p. 36 1 ff. of this work for a treatment of the subject)