Witchcraft

Witchcraft in Scripture denotes the practice of divination, sorcery, and occult arts in general — the attempt to access supernatural knowledge or power through means other than direct approach to the LORD. Samuel equates Saul's disobedience with witchcraft: "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry" (1 Samuel 15:23), indicating that witchcraft's core sin is the rejection of God's authority in favour of one's own will. Jezebel's influence over Israel is characterised as witchcraft (2 Kings 9:22). Manasseh's apostasy included witchcraft (2 Chronicles 33:6). Micah prophesies that God will cut off witchcraft from the land (Micah 5:12) as part of the purification of the messianic age. In the New Testament, the Greek pharmakeia (from which "pharmacy" derives) — usually translated "sorcery" or "witchcraft" — appears in Galatians 5:20 as a work of the flesh and in Revelation 9:21; 18:23; 21:8; 22:15 as a characteristic sin of the unredeemed. The term's root in drug-use suggests that ancient sorcery often involved the use of substances to induce altered states.