Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Mike:

Superstitious peoples who want to know the future use various means to try to predict the future. For us as lexicographers trying to decipher Biblical Hebrew, we try to match what we know about such superstitions with terms found in Tanakh. Some are fairly easy, others more difficult. So when looking at Tanakh:

Apparently עמן referred to looking at the shapes of clouds for fortune telling.

It seems that קסם means to work as a professional fortune teller, 2 Kings 17:17, Ezekiel 13:23 in that he is paid to tell a fortune Micah 3:11.

An easy one דרש על מתים to practice necromancy.

Is נחש watching the action of snakes? Or is it used to refer to another action? It’s used for fortunetelling.

Many objects have been spread out for fortunetelling, the ancients often spread out the entrails of sacrificed animals, but other objects as well, so פרש is mentioned in the context of fortunetelling.

These are verbs I have found.

Hope these answer your question.

Karl W. Randolph.

On Sunday, May 12, 2013, Mike Burke wrote:

What exactly do the terms קסם and ענן mean?

 

Michael Gerard Burke