Sorcerer

A sorcerer (from Latin sortiarius, one who casts lots or tells fortunes) is one who claims supernatural power through occult means — magic, incantation, potions, or spirit-contact. The Hebrew mekhashphim (mutterers or whisperers) denotes those who practice secret arts, including the sorcerers summoned by Pharaoh against Moses (Ex. 7:11) and by Nebuchadnezzar against Daniel (Dan. 2:2). Malachi warns that God will be a swift witness against sorcerers (Mal. 3:5).

The New Testament records direct apostolic confrontations with sorcery: Simon Magus, who practiced sorcery in Samaria and astonished the people (Acts 8:9), and Elymas Bar-Jesus, the Jewish sorcerer who opposed Paul on Cyprus and was struck blind (Acts 13:8). Sorcery appears in Paul's list of the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:20, Gr. pharmakeia) and is among the sins that exclude from the kingdom in Revelation (Rev. 21:8; 22:15). The new believers at Ephesus publicly burned their books of sorcery valued at fifty thousand pieces of silver (Acts 19:19).