Witch-craft and Sorcery, (which holdeth near affinity with _Idolatry_)
seemeth to have had its first beginning from an imitation of _Gods
Oracles_. _God spake in divers manners_, _Heb. 1. 1._ _By dreams, by
Urim, by Prophets_, _1 Sam. 28. 6, 7._ when the Lord would by none of
these answer King _Saul_, then he sought to a Witch. To these might be
added _Gods_ speaking from between the _Cherubims_, his answering by
_Visions_, _Angels_, and _Voices_: but the chief manners of revealing
himself, observed by the _Hebrew_ Writers, are four, which they
term[486] _four degrees of Prophecy_, or _Divine Revelation_: somewhat
therefore being spoken of these, I purpose to explain the several sorts
of unlawful divinations mentioned in Scripture.
[486] _P. Fagius in Exod. 28._
The first _degree_ was נבואה _Nebuah_, _Prophecy_. This was when _God_
by certain visions and apparitions revealed his Will.
The second was רוח הקדש _Ruach Hacodesch_, _The inspiration of the Holy
Ghost_, whereby the party was inabled without Visions or Apparitions,
to prophesie: some shewing the difference between those two add,[487]
that the gift of Prophecy did cast a man into a trance or extasie, all
his senses being taken from him; but the inspiration of the Holy Ghost
was without any such extasie, or abolition of the senses, as appeareth
in _Job, David, Daniel_. Both these degrees, as likewise _Urim_ and
_Thummim_ ceased in the second Temple, whence their ancient _Doctors_
say, [488] that after the _latter Prophets Haggai_, _Zachary_, and
_Malachy_ were dead, the _Holy Ghost went up or departed from_ Israel.
Howbeit, they had the use of a _voice_ or _eccho_ from _Heaven_. In
which speech we are not to understand that the _Holy Ghost_ wrought
not at all upon the creatures, or that it wrought not then in the
sanctification of men, as in former times, but that this _extraordinary
enabling men to prophesie by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost_, then
ceased; and in this sense the _Holy Ghost was said to have departed
from ~Israel~._ Unto this common received opinion, that passage might
have reference, _Acts 19._ _We have not so much as heard whether there
hath been an Holy Ghost or no._ That they did not doubt the distinction
of persons, appeareth clear, if that be true which some have
noted,[489] that the ancient _Jews_ before _Christ_ were so catechised
in that point, that they observed the _Mystery of the Trinity_ in the
name יהוה _Jehovah_, for though the name consisted of four letters in
number, whence it was called τετραγράμματον _Quadriliterum_, yet there
were but _three sorts of Letters in the name_: י _Jod_ signified the
_Father_, who was the beginning of all things: ו _Vau_ is a conjunction
copulative, and denoted the _third person in Trinity_, which proceedeth
from the _Father_ and the _Son_, ה _He_ signifieth the _Son of God_.
The _Rabbines_ have a saying, that God made all things, _in litera ה
He_. They may allude to this, that he made all things by his Word: he
said, Let there be thus and thus, and it was so: but they may also
allude to the _second person in Trinity_. And furthermore, they note
that ה _He_, is doubled in this name, to demonstrate both Natures of
our blessed Saviour.
[487] _D. Kimchi. Præfat. in Psal._
[488] _Talmud. in Sanhedrin, c. 1._
[489] _P. Fagius in Exod. 28._
The _third degree_, was _Urim_ and _Thummim_. _Urim_ signifieth
light, and _Thummim_ perfection. That they were two ornaments in the
_High-priests brest-plate_, is generally agreed upon: but what manner
of ornaments, or how they gave answer, is hard to resolve. Some[490]
think them to be the four rows of stones in the brest-plate, the
_splendour and brightness_ of which foreshewed victory; and by the
rule of contraries, we may gather, that the _darkness of the stones_
not shining presaged evil. Others[491] say it was the name _Jehovah_
put in the doubling of the brest-plate, for that was double _Exod.
28. 16._ Others[492] declare the manner of consulting with _Urim_ and
_Thummim_ thus: First, they say[493] that only the _King_, or else the
_Father of the Consistory_ had power to consult, or to propose the
matter unto the _Priest_, and the _Priest_ only had power to resolve.
_Secondly_, that the matter proposed must not be trivial, but of moment
and great difficulty. _Thirdly_, that this holy writing, termed _Urim_
and _Thummim_, consisted of all the _Tribes names_, and likewise of
the _Patriarchs_, _Abraham_, _Isaac_ and _Jacob_; so that no letter of
the _Alphabet_ was wanting. The question being proposed, some say that
the letters which gave the answer were כולמות (_i._) _they did arise_
and _eminently appear above the others_. An example they take from _2
Sam. 2. 1._ When _David_ asked the Lord, Shall I go up into any of the
Cities of _Judah_? the Lord answered, עלה _Gnaleh_, _go up_. Here, say
they, ע appeared out of the name of שמעין _Schimeon_, ל
out of the name of לוי _Levi_, ה out of the name of יהודה
_Jehudah_. Others say, that the letters which represented the Oracle
were מצטדפות (_i._) that they did after a strange manner _joyn
themselves into perfect syllables_ and entire words, and made the
answer compleat. Many other opinions might be reckoned up, but he spoke
best, who ingenuously confessed that he knew not what _Urim_ and
_Thummim_ was.[494]
[490] _Joseph. Antiq. l. 3. c. 9._
[491] _R. Solom. quemadmodum refert D. Kimchi in radic._
[492] _Talmud. in Jonah c. 6. vid. P. Fagium in Exod. 28._
[493] _Abbeth din._
[494] _R. David in Radic._
The fourth degree was בת קול _Bath Kol_, _filia vocis_, _the Daughter
of a Voice_, or an _Eccho_; by it is meant a _voice from heaven
declaring the will of God_; it took place in the _second Temple_, when
the three former degrees of Prophecy ceased: it gave testimony of our
Saviour; Lo, a _voice from heaven_, saying, _This is my beloved Son in
whom I am well pleased_ _Mat. 3. 17._ It was in truth the _Prologue_,
_Preface_, or _type of that true voice of the Father_, that _eternal
word which revealed his Fathers will unto mankind_.
These were the extraordinary means by which _God_ revealed himself to
his people of old: ordinarily, he revealed himself by his written word.
Notwithstanding the _Hebrews_ say, that the Law, even from the first
time of its delivery unto _Moses_, was twofold: the one committed to
writing, which they call תורה שבכתב _Thora Schebictab_, the written
Law: the other delivered by tradition, תורה בעל פה _Thora begnal pe_,
it was also termed their _Kabbala_, from קבל _Kibbel_, signifying
_Accipere_, to receive or learn. They say both were delivered by
_God_ unto _Moses_ in Mount _Sinai_, but this latter was delivered
from _Moses to ~Joshua~, from ~Joshua~ to the Elders, from the Elders
to the Prophets, from the Prophets to those of the great Synagogue,
and so successively to after-ages, till at last it was digested
into one Book, containing principally precepts and directions for
those Israelites which inhabited the holy Land. It is called ~Talmud
Hierosolymitanum~. It was composed in the year of our Lord 230._ This
because it containeth but a few constitutions, is but of little use.
About 500 _years after Christ_, then was there a more full and exact
collection of their constitutions, for direction of those _Jews_ which
dwelt in _Babylon_, and other forreign places; this is termed _Talmud
Babylonicum_, and is of greatest use among Authors; it containeth the
body of _their Civil and Canon Law_. This traditional law they hold to
be as authentick as their written word, and that _Moses_ received it
from God, when he received the Law; for, say they, were it not for this
exposition, the _Decalogue_ it self might have been delivered _In hora
veloci_, _in less than an hour_.[495]
[495] _אלח כ שעח Moses Kotsen. in præf._
Here we must note that the word _Kabbala_, when it is applied to the
_Kabbalists_, to difference them from the _Talmudists_, is taken in a
stricter sense, and signifieth those subtleties or mysteries which are
observed from the different writing of some letters in the Scripture,
from the _transposing of them_, from a _mystical kind of Arithmetick_,
&c. This was never wholly committed to writing, of some instances we
have, _Gen. 23. 2._ _Abraham came_ לבכתה _to weep for Sara_. Here
because the letter _Caph_ is less than the rest, they note[496] that
_Abraham wept but little for Sara_, because she was old. Again, the
letter _Aleph_ is found six times in the first verse of _Genesis_:
Hence R. _Elias_ collected that the world should endure but _six
thousand years_: because _Aleph_ in the _Hebrews computation_ standeth
for a thousand. From the transposition _of letters_ they conclude after
this manner; חרם _Cherem_ signifieth _Anathema_ or _Excommunication_,
by a _Metathesis_ or _transposition of letters_, it is made רחם
_Rachem_ signifying _mercy_; by another _transposition_ it is made רמח
_Ramach_, which letters in the _Jews computation_ make 248, which in
their Anatomy, they find to be the just number of members in a mans
body: their conclusion hence is, that if _an excommunicated person
do truly repent then his ~Cherem~ is turned into ~Rachem~, his curse
turned into a blessing: if he do not repent, then his ~Cherem~ entreth
into ~Ramach~, the curse entreth into all his members_, to the utter
destroying of the whole man. Again, איש _Isch_, signifieth _a man_.
אשה _Escha_, _a woman_. Hence they note, that in the _name of the man_
here is י _Jod_ which is not in the _name of the woman_; in the _name
of the woman_ there is ה _He_, which is not in the _name of the man_:
both these make יה _Jah_, one of the names of God: these being taken
away, in both names there remains אש _Esch_ signifying _fire_, to shew,
that as long as man and wife agree, _God is with them_: but when they
disagree, _fire is between them_: Thus we see what vain mysteries their
_Kabbalists_ observe.
[496] _Baal Turin._
CHAP. IX.
_Their Teraphim._
Concerning the _Teraphim_, two things are especially to be enquired.
_First_, what they were? _Secondly_, for what use? the word תרף
_Taraph_, signifieth in general the _compleat Image of a man_. _Michal_
took an _image_, (_a Teraphim_) and laid it in the bed, _1 Sam. 19.
13._ More particularly it signifieth an _Idol_ or _image made for mens
private use in their own houses_, so that these images seem to have
been their _Penates_ or _Lares_, their houshould _gods_; wherefore hast
thou stoln my _gods? my Teraphim_, _Gen. 31. 30._ And this man _Michal_
had _an house of gods_, and made an _Ephod_ and _Teraphim_, _Jud. 17.
5._ Because of the worship exhibited to these _Idols_: Hence from the
_Hebrew_ _Taraph_, as some read it, _Tharaph_, cometh the _Greek_
θεραπεύειν, _To worship_.[497] The manner how these _Images_ were made,
is fondly conceived thus among the _Rabbines_;[498] _They killed a man
that was a first-born son, and wrung off his head, and seasoned it with
salt, and spices, and wrote upon a plate of gold the name of an unclean
spirit, and put it under the head upon a wall, and lighted Candles
before it, and worshipped it_. With such _Laban_ spake, say they. But,
without controversie, the _Teraphim_ which _Michal_ put in the bed,
was a _compleat statur, or Image of a man_. The use of these _Images_
was, to consult with them as with _Oracles_, concerning things for the
present unknown, or future to come. To this purpose they were made by
_Astrologers_[499] under certain constellations, capable of heavenly
influences, whereby they were enabled to speak. The _Teraphims have
spoken vanity_, _Zach. 10. 2._ And among other reasons why _Rachel_
stole away her Fathers Images, this is thought to be one, that _Laban_
might not by consulting with these Images discover what way _Jacob_
took in his flight.
[497] _οὐδ’ ἀθανάτους θεραπεύειν ἤθελον. Hesiod. Ἔργ. καὶ ἡμέρ._
[498] _R. Eliezer. vid. Eliam Thisbit._
[499] _Aben. Ezra. Gen. 31._
CHAP. X.
_The several sorts of Divination forbidden._
We shall find, _Deut. 18. 10, 11._ those _Diviners_, which are by the
Law forbidden, distinguished into _seven kinds_; not because there
were no other, but they were the most usual. 1. _An observer of times._
2. _An Inchanter._ 3. _A Witch._ 4. _A Charmer._ 5. _A consulter with
familiar spirits._ 6. _A Wizard._ 7. A _Nigromancer._ To these we may
add an eighth, out of _Hos. 4. 12._ _Consulting with the staff._ and
a ninth out of _Ezek. 21. 21._ A _consulter with entrails_. 1. The
first is מעונן, an _observer of times_,[500] one that distinguisheth
times and seasons, saying _Such a day is good, or such a day is naught;
such an hour, such a week, such a month is luckie, and such and such
unluckie for such and such businesses_: whence those[501] that derive
the word from עין _Gnajin_, signifying an _eye_ (as if hereby we meant
a _Jugler, or Imposter, who deceived the eyes of his spectators by
casting a mist before them_) utterly mistake: more pertinently they
speak, who derive it from עונה _Gnona_, signifying _Time_. But of all
I approve those who derive it[502] from ענן _Gnanan_, A _Cloud_, as if
the Original signified properly a _Planetary_, or _Star-gazer_. Hereby
he is distinguished from the second sort of unlawful _Diviners_, for
he also was an Observer of times; _the first_ drawing his conclusions
from the _colour or motion of the Clouds: the second from his own
superstitious observation of good and evil events, happening on such
and such dayes, such and such times_: the _first_ seemeth to have drawn
his conclusions, _a priori_, from the _Clouds_ or _Planets, causing
good and bad events_: the second, _a posteriori, from the events
themselves, happening upon such and such times_. This _Planetary_,
when he observed the _clouds_, seemeth to have stood _with his face
Eastward, his back Westward, his right hand towards the South, and
his left hand towards the North_: except it was from this positure of
the _Star-gazers body_ in time of observing, I find no reason why the
_Hebrews_ should term the _Eastern_ part of the world קדים, _Kadim_
i. The _former part of the world_: the _Western part_ אחור, i. e. The
_back part_; the _South part_ ימין _Jamin_, i. e. The _right hand_;
the _North part_ שמאל _Shemol_, i. e. The _left hand_. That the reason
of these denominations is, because _Adam_ was created with his face
toward the _East_, is as vain, as hard to prove.
[500] _Jarchi. Lev. 19. 26._
[501] _D. Kimchi. in rad._
[502] _Aben. Esra. Levit. 19. 26._
2. The second is מנחש, _Menachesch_, rendred an _Inchanter_; it
importeth rather an _Augur_, or _Soothsayer_. The Original signifieth
such an one _who out of his own experience draweth observations to
foretell good or evil to come_, as _Soothsayers_ do, by observing such
and such events, by such and such flying of Birds, screechings, or
kawings. The _Rabbines_ speak in this wise:[503] _He is Menachesch, a
Soothsayer, who will say, because a morsel of bread is fallen out of
his mouth, or his staff out of his hand, or his son called him back, or
a Crow kawed unto him, or a Goat passed by him, or a Serpent was on his
right hand, or a Fox on his left hand, therefore he will say, Do not
this or that to day._ This word is used, _Gen. 30. 27._ I have _learned
by experience_, saith _Laban_, that the Lord hath blessed me for thy
sake. Again, _Gen. 44. 5._ _Is not this the cup in which my Lord
drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth?_ that is, _proveth, or maketh
tryal or experience what manner of men ye are_: The _Heathen_ people
were very superstitious in these observations: Some daies were _Atri_,
others _Albi_, some _unlucky_, others _lucky_; on some daies they
accounted it unfortunate to begin battel, on some months unfortunate to
marry.
[503] _D. Kimchi. radic._
_Mense malum Maio nubere vulgus ait._
_Ovid. Fast._
And as they were _superstitious in observing unlucky signs_, so
likewise in the means used to _avert the evil_ portended: the means
were either _words_ or _deeds_.[504] _Deeds_; thus if any unlucky Bird,
or such like came in their way, _they would fling stones at it_; and
of this sort is _the scratching of a suspected Witch_, which among the
simple sort of people is thought to be a means to cure _Witch-craft_.
By _words_, they thought to elude the evil, signified by such signs,
when they say, Εἰς κεφαλὴν σοὶ, _In caput tuum recidat hoc omen_; _This
evil light on thy own head_.
[504] _Plura istiusmodi ἐνόδια σύμβολα vide apud Theophrastum
Character. περὶ Δεισιδαιμ._
The third is מכשף _Mecascheph_, _a Witch_, properly a _Jugler_. The
Original signifieth such a kind of _Sorcerer who bewitcheth the
senses and minds of men, by changing the forms of things, making them
appear otherwise than indeed they are_. The same word is applied to
the Sorcerers in _Egypt_, who resisted _Moses_ _Exod. 7. 11._ Then
_Pharaoh_ also called _Mecaschphim_, the Sorcerers. Now the _Magicians_
in _Egypt_; they also did in like manner with their _Inchantments_.
This latter part of the Text explaineth what those Sorcerers were.
In that they are called _Magicians_, it implieth their learning,
that they were _wise men_, and _great Philosophers_: the word
_inchantments_ declareth the _manner of the delusion_, and it hath
the signification of such a _slight whereby the eyes are deluded_,
for להטים _Lahatim_, there translated _inchantments_, importeth the
_glistering flame of a fire or sword, wherewith the eyes of men are
dazled_. The _Greek_ version doth not unfitly term them φαρμακοὺς,
_Unguentarios_, _Syplasiarios_, _Compounders of Medicines_, or if you
please _complexion-makers,[505] such Artisans who mask men and womens
faces with paintings and false complexions_. Hence it is that the
_Apostle_ compareth such false teachers, _who under a form and shew
of godliness_, lead captive silly women, to the _Egyptian_ Sorcerers
_Jannes ~and~ Jambres, who resisted ~Moses~,_ _2 Tim. 3. 8._ These
two were of chief note: In the _Talmud_[506] they are all called
_Johanne_ and _Mamre_; by _Numenius_,[507] a _Pythagorean_, _Jannes_
and _Mambres_; by _Pliny_,[508] _Jamnes and Jotape_.
[505] _φαρμακὸς δέ ἐστι μύρεψος. Suidas._
[506] _Talmud. tract. Menachoth. c. 9._
[507] _Origen. contra Celsum. lib. 4._
[508] _Plin. nat. hist. lib. 30, cap. 1._
The fourth is חובר _Chober_, _a Charmer_. The _Hebrew_ word signifies
_conjoyning_ or _consociating_; either from the league and fellowship
which such persons have with the devil, or as _Bodine_ thinketh[509]
_because such kind of Witches have frequent meetings, in which they
dance and make merry together_. _Onkelos_ translateth such a charmer
רטין _Raten_, _a mutterer_, intimating the manner of these Witcheries
to be by the muttering, or soft speaking of some spell or charm. The
description of a _Charmer_ is thus delivered:[510] _He is a character
who speaketh words of a strange language, and without sense, and he
in his foolishness thinketh that these words are profitable: that if
one say so or so unto a Serpent or Scorpion, it cannot hurt a man, and
he that saith so or so unto a man, he cannot be hurt_, &c. _He that
whispereth over a wound, or readeth a verse out of the Bible, likewise
he that readeth over an Infant, that it may not be frighted, or that
layeth the book of the Law, or the Phylacteries upon a child that it
may sleep, such are not only among Inchanters, or Charmers, but of
those that generally deny the law of God, because they make the word of
the Scripture medicine for the body, whereas they are not, but medicine
for the soul._ As it is written, _Prov. 3. 22._ _They shall be life
unto thy soul_. Of this sort was that whereof _Bodinus_[511] speaketh,
_That a child by saying a certain verse out of the Psalms, hindred a
woman that she could not make her butter; by reciting the same verse
backward, he made her butter come presently_.
[509] _Bodin. Mag. dæmon. l. 1. c. 6._
[510] _Maimon. tract. Idolol. c. 11. sect. 10. 12._
[511] _Bodin. Mag. dæmon. l. 2. c. 1._
The fifth, שאל אוב _Schoel Ob_, _a consulter with Ob_, or _with
familiar spirits_. _Ob_ signifieth properly a _bottle_, and is
applied in divers places of Scripture to _Magicians_, because they
being possessed with an evil spirit, speak with a soft and hollow
voice, _as out of a bottle_. The _Greek_ calleth them Ἐγγαστριμύτης
_Ventriloquos_; _such whose voice seemeth to proceed out of their
belly_.[512] Such a _Diviner_ was the Damosel, _Acts 16. 16._ in
St. _Augustines_ judgement,[513] and is probably thought so by most
Expositors, who are of opinion, that the _spirit_ of _Python_ with
which this Damosel was possessed, is the same which the _spirit of Ob_
was amongst the _Hebrews_. Hence the _Witch of Endor_, whom _Saul_
requested to raise up _Samuel_, is said in _Hebrew_ to have consulted
with _Ob_; but among the _Latine_ Expositors she is commonly translated
_Pythonissa_, _one possessed with the spirit of Python_.
[512] _Chrysostom. 1 Cor. 12. Tert. adv. Marcion. l. 4. c. 25._
[513] _August. 1. de doct. Christ. c. 23._
The sixth is, ידעני _Iiddegnoni_, a _Wizard_; in the _Greek_, he is
translated sometimes Γνώστης, a _cunning-man_. In both Languages he had
his name from _knowledge_, which either the _Wizard_ professed himself
to have, or the common people thought him to have. The _Rabbies_
say,[514] he was so called in _Hebrew from a certain beast named by
them ~Jadua~, in shape resembling a man, because these Wizards when
they did utter their Prophecies, held a bone of this Beast between
their teeth_. This haply might be some _Diabolical Sacrament or
Ceremony_, used for the Confirmation of the league between _Satan_ and
the _Wizard_. _Prophane_ History[515] mentioneth Divinations of the
like kind, as that _Magicians_ were wont to eat the principal parts
and members of such beasts which they deemed _Prophetical_, thinking
thereby, that by a kind of μετεμψύχωσις the Soul of such Beasts would
be conveyed into their bodies, whereby they might be enabled for
Prophecy.
[514] _P. Fag. Levit. 19. Verum Athenæus bestiam hanc vocat
καταβλεπάδα. Vid. Bodin. Mag. dæmon. l. 1. c. 6. p. 18._
[515] _Perer. de Mag. p. 57._
The seventh is דורש אל המתים _Doresch el hammethim_; the _Greek_
answereth word for word, ἐπερωτῶν τοὺς νεκροὺς, _An enquirer of the
Dead, a Necromancer_. Such Diviners consulted with _Satan in the shape
of a dead man_. A memorable example we find recorded, _1 Sam. 29._
There, King _Saul_ about to war with the _Philistines_ (God denying to
answer him either by _dreams_, or by _Urim_, or by _Prophets_) upon
the fame of the _Witch of Endor_, he repaired to her, demanding that
_Samuel might be raised up from the dead_, to tell him the issue of the
war. Now that this was not in truth _Samuel_, is easily evinced, both
by testimonies of the learned, and reasons. _First_, it is improbable,
that God who had denied to answer him by any _ordinary means_, should
now deign him an answer so extraordinary. _Secondly_, no Witch or Devil
can disturb the bodies or Souls of such as die in the Lord, because
they rest from their labors, _Rev. 14. 13._ _Thirdly_, if it had been
_Samuel_, he would doubtless have reproved _Saul for consulting with
Witches_.
The eighth is שאל מקלו _Scoel maklo_, _A Consulter with his Staff_.
_Hos. 4. 12._ _Jerome_ saith the manner of this divination was thus:
_That if the doubt were between two or three Cities, which first should
be assaulted; to determin this, they wrote the names of the Cities upon
certain staves or arrows, which being shaked in a quiver together the
first that was pulled out determined the City._ Others[516] deliver
the manner of this consultation to have been thus: _The consulter
measured his staff by spans or by the length of his finger, saying, as
he measured, I will go, I will not go, I will do such a thing, I will
not do it, and as the last span fell out, so he determined_: This was
termed by the Heathens ῥαβδομαντεία or βελομαντεία, _Divination by rod
or arrows_.
[516] _Vid. Drus. in Deut. p. 592._