
Witchcraft and divination in the Hebrew Bible

Various forms of witchcraft and divination are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament), generally (but not always) in a disapproving tone.
Hebrew Bible.
The Torah assigns the death penalty to practitioners of certain forms of witchcraft and divination; the Holiness Code of Leviticus ascribes the death penalty for two of the three necromantic practices, namely "Ba'al ob" and "Yidde'oni", while the Covenant Code of Exodus ascribes it for "kashaph".
According to Ann Jeffers, necromancy was practiced throughout Israel's history, as evidenced by the presence of laws forbidding it.
The Masoretic Text forbids:
Description.
Many of these condemnations come from Deuteronomy 18:9-14 which is the only part of the Hebrew Bible referring to legal precepts which portrays these forms of divination as of foreign origin. Leviticus makes no such claim.
The exact difference between the three forbidden forms of necromancy is a matter of uncertainty; "yidde'oni" is always used together with "ob", and its semantic similarity to "doresh el ha-metim" raises the question of why all three are mentioned in the same verse of Deuteronomy. Rashi describes the "doresh el ha-metim" as a person who would sleep in cemeteries, after having starved themselves, in order to become possessed.