Introduction to Studies on Magic and Divination in the Biblical World

8/15/2019 Introduction to Studies on Magic and Divination in the Biblical World

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INTRODUCTION

Historically, the practice, or allegations of the performing of magicand divination has resulted in torture, trials and corporeal

punishment. Were one to take a social psychological approach tothe study of mantic practices — loosely defined as the invocation ofthe supernatural — we might conclude that the scholars in this

volume are excavating a trauma linked to a form of persecutionstretching back more than 2,000 years. Even today, there manyacademic researchers who bristle at what they perceive as troublingand unscientific content matter being studied seriously. However, agrowing number of scholars are challenging this mind-set (Klutz2003, 2). The contributors to this volume are very much in this

vein.It will quickly become apparent to anyone who reads this

collection that the definition of magic and divination by twenty-first century biblical scholars is variously interpreted. These essaysare mainly based on presentations given to the research group on“Magic and Divination in the Biblical World” at the European

Association of Biblical Studies (EABS) in Tartu, 2010, and Thessaloniki, 2011. The thematic parameters of the papers were very wide as the editors defined “biblical world” to apply to anytext or artefact from any historical period that illuminated orencompassed the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament. Somecontributors chose to analyse or interpret certain biblical narratives

where it pertained to magic and divination. Others focused entirely,or partly, on building theoretical models which could be used tounderstand the different nuanced categories of biblical toleranceand intolerance towards the manipulation of reality.

In order to find a method of introduction, a performative

model might offer a means of drawing the parts together, ratherthan simply writing a summary of each chapter within their ownparameters, according to their sequence in the Table of Contents.


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As the texts under study themselves often involve rituals of onekind or another, one may turn to the rules of drama writing offered

by the playwright Bernard Kops whose classes I attended inLondon. He advised his students that the basis of literary theatricalpraxis could be summed up by the principles: “Conflict is drama,”(thereby inverting the aphorism, “All drama is conflict”) and“Character is action” (inverting the phrase, “Action is character”).Furthermore, audiences must understand dramatic actions from thepoint of view, that is, the intellectual perspective, of the characters.

From the point of view of this book, the heart of the“conflict” is contained within the laws against magic and divination

canonised in Deut 18:9 – 22 and elsewhere. In any theatrical dramathe protagonist must transform from the physical or psychologicalstate in which she, or he, began in the first scene, to another formof existence or consciousness in the final scene. The conflict, tomake the play dramatic, consists of obstacles which the protagonistmust overcome. The magic ritual is dramatic because magic isapparently prohibited in biblical law; hence, there is “conflict” withthe status quo. From another point of view, magic is dramaticbecause the ritual is intended to lead to some kind of change in theperson who is the object of the ritual.

Turning to this book’s authors, our geographical backgrounds,mainly from different parts of Europe and the Middle East, meansthat the combined experiences, family histories, and intellectualcultures bring to the table a particular kind of diversity, its ownmix, and flavor. The papers are now summarized thematically inrelation to each other and they are occasionally described withinthe context of other scholarly research, which is also part of this

theatre. Applying ritual theory and particular anthropologicalconcepts to Paul, Anders Petersen argues that if the features of amagic ritual are preserved and are adopted by a dominant religion,the concept of “magicality,” that is, the notion of irrationality andtransformation, is accepted and replaced by a belief in a higher,supernatural (authorised) agency. Correspondingly, the apparentbiblical prohibition is excised or neutralised; the magic ritualbecomes religious rite. Petersen proposes a new definition of magicin order to understand it contextually and to comprehend the

thinking of Paul in an insightful way.He contends that in order to change magic ritual into religious

rite, theologians “have had to adjust their definition of magic in


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order to see magic as ‘Other’ and religion as ‘Us.’” Similarly,Shawna Dolansky (2008, 86) gives the example of the scapegoat

ritual of Lev 16, arguing that the lack of causal connection betweenthe confession and the banishment of the scapegoat means there isa belief in the power of the ritual, thus a belief in magic. The resultis that the sins are banished and moral purity is restored in the“Us” universe.

Petersen’s applied theoretical model echoes the paradigm putforward by Heiko Wenzel on the internal biblical distinctionbetween true and false prophets. Wenzel analyses the criteria inDeut 13:2 – 6 and Deut 18:9 – 15 to identify legitimate and

illegitimate prophecy. He argues that there is a fine line betweenprophecy and divination and that it is unclear from the biblicaltexts how one is to distinguish between the two. Wenzel’s analysisis in many ways at the theoretical heart of this book’s collectiveargument that magic and divination in the biblical world aredefined politically, and are not defined intrinsically by the actionsthemselves.

His discussion recalls that of Thomas C. Römer (2003, 22) who examined the paradox of approved and unapproved magicthrough the lens of the contest between Moses and Aaron and theEgyptian magicians before Pharoah (Exod 7:8 – 13). Here, Kops’srule, “Character is action” comes into play, since the character’sstatus rather than the role, a magician, is significant in Jewishliterature on magic. Römer concluded that the difference betweenmagic and miracles was that the latter, by definition, were related toa belief in YHWH; not so with magic. He also noted that magicalknowledge was not denigrated in late antique Jewish tradition. One

might add that the object of the ritual was Pharoah whom Mosesand Aaron wished to change, but who the Egyptian magicians didnot.

In his article that won the Graduate Student essay prize fromthe European Association of Biblical Studies in 2010, Chaim NatanMarx explores the use of two biblical verses (Gen 48:16; 49:22)

which appear in different forms in the Babylonian Talmud(Berakhot 20a, 55b). The verses can used to protect thedescendants of Joseph against the “evil eye,” thus unquestionably,

an unproblematic acceptance of magic. The essay supports thestatement by Swartz (2003, 161), “there is ample evidence that therabbis were no strangers to divination practices and their status as


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magical practitioners is well known.” What makes Marx’ scontribution appealing is its momentum and writing style, the

description of the characters in the stories, and what they do tomake themselves targets of the evil eye. The dramatic conflict isreversed: the senders of the evil eye are also the receivers ofprotection and blessing. The essay reminds us that content, conflictand character are not the only factors in our exploration of biblicalmagic and divination; context in time and space, the setting, isanother kind of character. It is enjoyable if the reader can be takeninto a different, intriguing and unfamiliar place.

Marx’s paper is complemented by the selection of a particular

kind of Aramaic apotropaic incantation bowls of the late Sassanid-period compiled by Christa Müller-Kessler. The Jewish bowls

witness the use of Deut 6:4 and Psalm 91, amongst other texts.Some verses are written in reverse order, possibly to give themamuletic power and some bowls carry crude drawings of demons.

This “magic bowl” catalogue echoes another recurring theme inthis book, that of Jewish and Mesopotamian preventative magic.Müller-Kessler’s contribution is a valuable resource of theseprimary sources on Jewish magic and a fascinating introduction tothis specialist field. The artefacts reflect an earlier use of a similarpractice in early Judaism: writing in reverse order can be found inthe Dead Sea Scrolls, in the astrological physiognomic text, 4Q186.Furthermore, Deut 6:4 and Psalm 91 are known in apotropaiccontexts from Qumran (see Fröhlich’s discussion this psalm, andalso Goldstein’s exploration of it ).

The question of drama, conflict and character is explored byKaspar Dalgaard in his essay on the portrayal of Simon Magus in

the third century C.E apocryphal book, Acts of Peter . Simon Magusappears elsewhere in early Christian writings, representing themagician, “the Other” (Tuzlak 2002, 425), or to use Wenzels’sterminology, the “illegitimate” face of the manipulation of thesupernatural. Dalgaard presents probably one of the most detailedstudies of Simon Magus in this complex, early Christian book. Hereis another magic contest: between a character who is represented asa sorcerer, Simon Magus, and Peter, a true magician or miracle

worker. Simon’s magic is represented as the work of the devil.

Dalgaard states that the conflict is between “God and Satan” andbetween “light and darkness.” In a memorable scene Simon


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endeavors to make a dead man rise, a common biblical theme. Hefails where Peter succeeds.

There is a sense that Deuteronomy 18:9 – 22, the underlyinganti-magic and divination rule-book, is consistently beingdramatised using the techniques of theatre writing, and that magiccontests are a recurring biblical motif. According to ErkkiKoskenniemi (2005, 2), a miracle “is a fortuitous breaking of what

we (although not the writers) call the laws of nature and whichGod or his agent allegedly causes.” The miracle here is thelegitimate, divine supernatural power, God, channeled by acharacter with official status, Peter.

Of course, biblical legal texts are not necessarily performative,but they can describe rituals. Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudmehandles ritual theory in relation to the ordeal of the Law of Jealousyin Numbers 5:11 – 30, one of the most challenging ritualistic biblicallaws. This is an example of where the definition of magic as abiblically prohibited performance is overturned. Gudme supportsthe view that the drinking of the bitter waters, the ordeal to whichthe accused wife is subjected, was physically harmless to her andthat it functioned as a psychological release valve for the jealoushusband. Gudme suggests that the passage is itself a literarytechnique and that the ordeal is a metaphor for the breakdown inthe relationship between YHWH and his people, Israel. Thus, thetext operates on several levels. The legalistic ritual owes much tothe ordeal in the ancient Near East, “a kind of magic,” as Gudmeexplains, and the recurring theme in biblical literature offaithfulness to one God. Gudme, thus takes an original multi-faceted theoretical approach to her subject.

Philippe Guillaume also discusses a drinking ordeal, but within the context of biblical literary narrative and character,outside of the legal material. He examines the contradictionbetween the stories of the sin of the Golden Calf in Exod 32 andDeut 9:8 –21, in particular the differing accounts of Aaron’s role asan actor in the events and the extent of his culpability. Aaron theperson, character and brother of Moses is separate from his role asthe High Priest. Guillaume concurs with the argument that there isa relationship between the narratives of the Golden Calf and the

Law of Jealousy; however, Gudme does not share the view that thetrial of the Israelites for making the Golden Calf was an ordeal.

The disagreement illustrates the problem of how exactly “magic”


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can be defined (Brooke 2003, 66), and indeed, divination.Guillaume examines the redactive processes in the biblical accounts

and traces the different versions of the Golden Calf narratives inthe work of later commentators. The result is an absorbing textualpaper-trail of tradition and transmission.

A different perspective on the sin of the Golden Calf is takenby Marion Broida who examines the technical construction ofdirect speech in the case of an appeal to God in a form that sheterms “apotropaic intercession.” She is interested in Moses’srepresentations to YHWH in the context of ancient Near East

verbal ritual texts, arguing that biblical writers used ordinary speech

for human intercessors, and causative, or magical, speech for YHWH (with the exception of Josh 10:12 – 13). By taking acomparative philological approach to theological performativetechniques, Broida casts fresh light on the nuances of biblical ritualdialogues between God and his human prophets. She shows that

with one exception, mentioned above, the biblical intercessors werecareful not to use miracle-working language in their speech. This isin contrast to the invocations by priests in a number of oral ancientNear East intercessionary rites addressed to the gods that Broidaexplores in detail. Her linguistic study of these fascinating mantictexts complements Francesca Rochberg’s analysis (Rochberg 2003)of various procedures used by Mesopotamian diviners to persuadethe deities to prevent the occurrence of predicted evil events thathave been foretold from celestial omens.

Scholarship in magic and divination in the combined areas ofancient Near East and biblical studies benefits from RonnieGoldstein’s expertise in identifying Hebrew -Akkadian wordplays

and the use of Akkadian loan-words in poetic biblical texts.Goldstein’s study of Isa 14:29, Isa 2:18 – 21 and Ps 91:7, 8, 11illuminates multiple layers of meanings, metaphors and imagery,effecting what he describes as smoother interpretations of these

verses. He references ancient Near Eastern magical ritual texts,arguing that these would explicate the etymology of unclear,curious, or ambiguous Hebrew words or phrases. In some casesGoldstein produces a complete re-reading of the poetry in the lightof Akkadian literature or magical rituals. In terms of progressing

current literary theory, Goldstein’s study is a contribution to thediscourse of what the writer writes and how the reader, oraudience, reads or hears poetry over time, geographical space and


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changing linguistic knowledge. While uncovering the bilingual wordplays and references to ANE literary and ritual texts, he does

not underestimate the ancient-to-contemporary audience’sexperience of the literature, which has its own value. However, thepoint is made that the philological insights presented here would, inantiquity, have enhanced the understanding of the verses and theaudience’s appreciation of the literary skills and cultural knowledgeof the composer, and that this intellectual depth needs to berecovered today.

András Bácskay’s study of demonology in Mesopotamia offerssome background to understanding the way that demons are

reflected in biblical literature. In terms of the conflict paradigm, itis shown that demons are implicitly associated with disease,echoing a struggle between heaven and earth, a recurrent topos inancient Near Eastern ritual texts and mythology. Bácskay arguesthat more attention should be paid to the context of demonology

within the Bible, in particular, to the different demons that were well-known in Mesopotamia, in order to perceive allusions to themin biblical texts. He argues that this view should be integrated

within the current scholarly movement to re-evaluate the literaryuse of Near Eastern demonology in biblical literature (see also Blair2009, 216).

Ida Fröhlich continues the interest in the theme ofdemonology and sickness by offering a new study of four psalmsfrom Qumran 11QApocryphal Psalms (11Q11), three of which werenot known before the scroll was discovered. They are generallyaccepted to be the four “songs for the stricken,” which areunderstood to mean possession by demons that are referred to in

the Qumran hymn known as David’s Compositions , (11Q5 col. 27),also a previously unknown work. The four songs of 11QApocryphalPsalms are taken to mean that each may be used specifically at adifferent time of the year. However, due to their fragmentary state,scholars have not been able to assess when these songs may havebeen ritually performed by a priest. Using references fromMesopotamia, Fröhlich assigns the four psalms to particularseasons, suggesting that they may have been recited by a healer,possibly according to the 364-day calendar known from the book

of Jubilees ( Jub . 6:23 – 38) and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Talmon et al,2001).


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Exploring the calendar theme in the Book of Esther, Helen R. Jacobus claims that the ancient Jewish calendars had significance in

ways other than simply to mark time and the festivals. The essayargues that apotropaic number manipulation was mediated by anintercessor (echoing Broida’s model— with modifications, as Godis not mentioned in this Book), that is, by Esther, in order to savethe Jews from destruction. The magic contest between Esther andHaman takes the form of Esther changing the calendar so that thenumber 13 prevailed. This is a lucky number in the hands of arighteous Jew. The contribution also argues that one of the farce,or carnivalesque, elements in the book (see Jackson 2012, 198 – 220)

is that the Jews of Sushan were fighting while the Jews in theprovinces were celebrating Passover. The study includes anexamination of the Persian king lists, Babylonian astronomy, and anew theory about the calendars used in the Book of Esther and the

Jubilees -Qumran 364-day calendar that is described in Fröhlich’sessay.

Eleni Soumani’s study on biblical dream divination andinterpretation argues that it is unclear whether oneiromancy isforbidden under the list in Deuteronomy 19 of prohibited manticpractices. It is scorned in some parts of the Hebrew Bible, which isnot the same thing as being a capital crime, or one deserving ofexile. Elsewhere in the Bible it is part of the narrative if thedreamer or dream interpreter is divinely authorised. Soumaniexplains that ancient audiences may have been familiar with thepractice of sleeping at a sacred site in order to receive a divinerevelation in a dream. Using comparative literary narratives inancient Near Eastern texts, the essay distinguishes between

different types of dream messages and oracles in the Bible, anddream interpreters, including narratives relevant to Abraham,

Jacob, Joseph, Pharoah, Daniel and Ben Sirach.Hadi Ghantous offers his own theory on the practice of

bibliomancy — selecting an oracle from the lists of oracles recordedin the prophetic books — postulating that this form of divinationreplaced prophecy after Elijah. He argues that the prophetic acts ofElisha were a diminution of that of his predecessor, Elijah, andsupports his ideas with exegetical accounts of narratives within the

Elijah and Elisha cycles. His essay is imaginative and challenging,using philology and his own interpretation of the symbolic actionof Elijah in passing his mantle to Elisha. On the way, he discusses


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other less well known divinatory practices, such as the reading ofurine on the wall.

In his second contribution here, Philippe Guillaume putsforward an intriguing new hypothesis of how the High Priest’sephod and mounted onyx stones and decorations described inExod 28 and Exod 39 functioned mantically. He approaches hissubject in meticulous detail using comparative texts to analyse the

vocabulary and to argue for a new interpretation of the artefactsand the High Priest’s actions.

Both individually and collectively the essays in this volumeilluminate the ways in which drama theory can be used in biblical

studies to reveal the significance of conflict, character, status andcontext connected with magic and divination. These often bold,original or radical readings of the texts reflect the heterogeneity ofthe authors contributing to this volume and our differingperspectives, departures and convergences. The field is clearlydynamic and, we hope, will provide a springboard, perhaps evensome inspiration, for further exploration, discussion andinterpretations.

Helen R. JacobusLondon

March 2013

Introduction to Studies on Magic and Divination in the Biblical World

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