“Mediums At Large”

Wednesday, May 02, 2018

In both 1 Samuel 28:3 and 2 Kings 23:24, did kings Saul and Josiah execute the mediums, or did they just throw them out of the land?  Many versions say "got rid", "put away", "removed", etc., so I'm not sure whether this means they were put to death or were just expelled.

Sincerely,
Dead Or Alive

Dear Dead Or Alive,

When Saul removed the mediums from the land in 1 Sam 28:3, the word used means “put away or removed”.  Saul cast them out of the land but didn’t necessarily destroy them.  The word is ambiguous and leaves room for either expulsion or destruction.  The witch of Endor believed that Saul would kill her for practicing her dark arts (1 Sam 28:9).

However, when Josiah removed the occult practitioners from the land, the word used in 2 Kgs 23:24 is a different Hebrew word that means ‘burn up or destroy’.  This language is backed up by the Greek Septuagint, which translates the word as ‘to parch, wither’.  The stronger language used seems to imply that Josiah put to death all the mediums and spiritists.

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