Deuteronomy 18:11-13

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Deuteronomy 18:11 tn Heb “a binder of binding” (חֹבֵר חָבֶר, khover khaver). The connotation is that of immobilizing (“binding”) someone or something by the use of magical words (cf. Ps 58:6; Isa 47:9, 12).
2. Deuteronomy 18:11 tn Heb “asker of a [dead] spirit” (שֹׁאֵל אוֹב, shoʾel ʾov). This is a form of necromancy (cf. Lev 19:31; 20:6; 1 Sam 28:8, 9; Isa 8:19; 19:3; 29:4).
3. Deuteronomy 18:11 tn Heb “a knowing [or “familiar”] [spirit]” (יִדְּעֹנִי, yidd^eʿoniy), i.e., one who is expert in mantic arts (cf. Lev 19:31; 20:6, 27; 1 Sam 28:3, 9; 2 Kgs 21:6; Isa 8:19; 19:3).
4. Deuteronomy 18:11 tn Heb “a seeker of the dead.” This is much the same as “one who conjures up spirits” (cf. 1 Sam 28:6-7).
5. Deuteronomy 18:12 tn Heb “these abhorrent things.” The repetition is emphatic. For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, the same term used earlier in the verse has been translated “detestable” here.
6. Deuteronomy 18:12 tn The translation understands the Hebrew participial form as having an imminent future sense here.