Magic and the Bible reconsidered

Magic in the Biblical World: From the Rod of Aaron to the Ring of Solomon. Edited by TODD KLUTZ. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 245. London: T. & T. Clark, 2003.

Magic and its practitioners have long captured the attention and curiosity of the general public. In recent times, we can point to the heightened interest in astrology and horoscopes, not to mention the worldwide Harry Potter phenomenon. Notwithstanding the intense interest in such popular culture areas, serious scholarly study of magic and magical phenomena is still very much in its infancy. Scholars working in the last quarter century have identified a significant deficiency in the received corpus of scholarship on magic. This criticism relates primarily to the definitions employed by early students of magic that continue into the present and the ideological basis that engenders this understanding.

Many modern scholarly treatments of magic tend to begin with definitions nurtured within their contemporary rational and confessional milieu. Magic is often depicted as a deviant social phenomenon clearly inferior and more "primitive" than "true" religion. This creation of a binary relationship between magic and religion is commonplace. Most treatments identify magic as the earliest form of religious experience. As societies advance, the importance of magic diminishes and is ultimately replaced by religion (i.e., western religion). Though modern scholars have for the most part recognized the inadequacy of this earlier model, many continue to discuss magic and magical phenomena without careful attention to the precise definitions and categories that must sustain any study in this field.

These difficulties are especially present when attempting to define magic in the Hebrew Bible, New Testament and the larger ancient world in which they were produced. Deuteronomy 18:9-14, with its outright condemnation of magic, divination, and necromancy, often serves as the starting point for the study of magic in the Hebrew Bible and in later Judaism and Christianity. The Deuteronomic prohibition of magic and all associated phenomena, however, does not attempt to define any of these magical acts. Later biblical texts are equally inconsistent in their understanding of what exactly falls under the rubric of Deuteronomy's prohibited magic. For example, 1 Samuel 28 narrates how Saul solicits the aid of a necromancer in order to consult the now dead Samuel. In presenting the actions of the necromancer, the text clearly identifies her behavior as a flagrant violation of the Deuteronomic strictures. At the same time, the stories of Elijah and Elisha are replete with examples of many wondrous deeds that could easily be classified as magical phenomena. For example, Elijah and Elisha raise people from the dead (1 Kings 17:17-24; cf. 2 Kings 13:20-21), foretell the future through the use of signs (2 Kings 13:14-19), and perform other supernatural acts (1 Kings 17:7-16). Never, however, are Elijah and Elisha condemned as soothsayers nor is their behavior classified as a violation of Deuteronomy.

Magic in the Biblical World: From the Rod of Aaron to the Ring of Solomon represents an additional entry into this difficult terrain. Collected here are twelve papers that were read and discussed at a colloquium held at the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield in 1999 entitled "Magic in the World of the Bible." The articles themselves are divided into three sections entitled "'Magic' in Jewish Scripture and at Qumran," "'Magic' in the New Testament and its Graeco-Roman Milieu," and "'Magic' in Disreputable Books from Late Antiquity." By the editor's own admission (8-9), the focal point of this volume is the second section. Treatment of the evidence from the Hebrew Bible is intended to identify the appropriate literary and theological antecedents for the New Testament material. Likewise, the three non-canonical texts examined in part three are intended to conceptualize what ancient Christians likely considered as magic. Notwithstanding this uneven organizational pattern, the first set of essays concerning the Hebrew Bible and Qumran successfully stand alone as an attempt to define magic and delineate its relationship to religion solely within a Jewish context.

In the introduction, the editor T. Klutz identifies two major trajectories of advancement in the study of magic in the last quarter of a century. Foremost, the publication of many important magical texts in the original language with translations has greatly expanded the available data for the investigation of magical phenomena. This publication record includes many Jewish, Christian, and Greco-Roman magical texts. For example, Babylonian Aramaic Incantation Bowls, though available in published form for nearly a century, have received renewed interest due to their appearance in two recent volumes together with amulets and other Jewish magical texts from late antiquity. (1) The Greek Magical Papyri and other Greek magical texts are also easily available in attractive editions containing translation and commentary. (2)