Magic

Magic in the biblical world referred to the attempt to control supernatural powers or obtain hidden knowledge through techniques such as divination, sorcery, incantation, and the consultation of spirits. The Old Testament categorically prohibits all such practices for Israel: Deuteronomy 18:10–12 lists divination, augury, sorcery, charming, consulting mediums or spiritists, and necromancy as abominations to the LORD, practiced by the nations being dispossessed, and specifically forbidden to Israel as incompatible with exclusive trust in God's prophetic revelation.

The confrontation between Moses and the Egyptian magicians (Exodus 7–8) acknowledges the reality of the magicians' craft while demonstrating the superior power of God's acts through Moses. The same pattern recurs in Daniel 1–2, where the Babylonian wise men and magicians fail to interpret the king's dream while Daniel succeeds through divine revelation. In the New Testament, Simon Magus (Acts 8:9–24) and Bar-Jesus (Acts 13:6–12) represent the opposition of magical practice to the gospel, both being confounded by apostolic power. The burning of magic books at Ephesus (Acts 19:19) symbolizes the decisive break with occult practice that Christian conversion required.