casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead.
One would not think there had been so much need as it seems there was to arm the people of Israel against the infection of the idolatrous customs of the Canaanites. Was it possible that a people so blessed with divine institutions should ever admit the brutish and barbarous inventions of men and devils?
Commenting on Deuteronomy 18:9-14
Or a charmer,.... That pretends to cure diseases by charms, or a charmer of serpents; according to Jarchi, one that gathers together serpents and scorpions, and other animals, into one place; with which agree the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem,"which bind serpents and scorpions, and all kind of creeping things;''but, according to Aben Ezra, one that says certain words to gather demons together: or a...
THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE NATIONS ARE TO BE AVOIDED. (Deu 18:9-14) thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations--(See on Lev 18:21; Lev 19:26; Lev 19:31; Lev 20:4). In spite of this express command, the people of Canaan, especially the Philistines, were a constant snare and stumbling block to the Israelites, on account of their divinations and superstitious practices.
Commenting on Deuteronomy 18:9-14