There Are No Witches In The Bible

Considering how much energy, time and money is spent in Ghanaian (African) churches casting out witchcraft spirits and praying against the evil activities of witches, asking if there are witches in the Bible seems like an unreasonably redundant question. Some of our Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian brothers and sisters would answer with certainty and confidence, "of course, there are witches in the Bible”. The Bible verse "suffer not a witch to live" would roll off their tongues triumphantly.

WHO IS A WITCH

A witch is believed to be an evil person, usually a woman or a child, and in some few cases a man, who is alleged to have acquired spiritual/satanic powers from the Devil, willingly or unwillingly, to do harmful and destructive things to people.

SUFFER NOT A WITCH TO LIVE- Exodus 22:18

King James Version: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Good News Version: Put to death any woman who practices magic.
Revised Standard Version: You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

There is no single agreeable translation because there is no word synonymous to “witch” in Hebrew. So the words’ magician’, ‘sorcerer’ and ‘witch’ are interchangeably used by Bible scholars and translators. Witchcraft as we know it today was not a part of the culture of the people of Israel in Bible times. Abraham, Moses, Saul and Paul did not have witches in their culture, what they had were medicine-men, psychics, herbalists and astrologers. So when the King James Bible says ‘witch’ it is referring to a juju man, bokor (Ewe), okomfo (Akan), ninsini (Akan), wonts3 (Ga), or what is mallam..
The Hebrew word used in the verse is the participle of the verb (kishsheph), denoting "to practice the magical article."

Deuteronomy 18:10-11 sheds more light on the issue. “No one shall be found among you who practices divination, or is a soothsayer or an augur, or a sorcerer, or one who cast spells or who consults ghosts and spirits, or who seeks oracles from the dead. In some translations the word ‘witchcraft’ is used, but clearly the above verse refers to a medicine or juju man..

WHAT ABOUT THE WITCH AT ENDOR?
In the entire Bible, the Endor woman King Saul consulted is the first and only time we come face to face with a ‘witch’. There are other references to witchcraft but no specifics. She summons the spirit of Samuel from the dead. Do you consult a witch to summon the spirit of a dead person? No. You consult a psychic, a medium, jujuman, or ‘witch doctor’. This woman of Endor had a place of work, where she plied her trade. She was not a witch, she was a psychic, a bokor or okomfo. She was consulted and probably got paid for her spiritual services.

The word ‘witch’ was not used in the original Hebrew Bible verse. What has been misinterpreted is the Hebrew 'esheth ba`alath 'obhby "a woman that has a familiar spirit." Literally meaning "a woman who is mistress of an 'obh or ghost," i.e. one able to call the spirit of the dead to return and to talk to the living.
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ARE THERE WITCHES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

The New Testament was originally written in Greek. Witchcraft appears only once in the King James version and sorcery twice--Galatians 5:20, Revelation 9:21 and 18:23. The word in the Greek New Testament in all three cases is pharmakeia, derived from the word pharmakon ("drug"), the source of the English word pharmacy. (pharmakous) is the Greek word used in Revelation 21:8 and 22:15 which is translated "mixer of poisons" as well as "magician." The root of both words, pharmakon, literally means "poison" or "drug."..The word is about the act of administering drugs and then of giving magical potions.

IS SIMON A NEW TESTAMENT WITCH?

Acts 8:9-11 (NIV)- Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery (witchcraft) in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.
This man was clearly a juju man, medicine man, sangoma, witch-doctor or magician like Kwaku Bonsam.
. DID JESUS MENTION WITCHES?

No! Jesus never said anything about witches or witchcraft in the entire Bible. However, not a day goes by today without some pastors in Ghana hammering on the issue of witches and witchcraft, spreading fear, sowing discord, destroying friendships and tearing families apart.

WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO CONFESS TO BEING WITCHES?

Many delusional people have claimed to be Jesus Christ? Some of these people seriously believe they are Christ. Some are not liars or con men. They are simply mentally unstable. Do we believe them because they claim to be Jesus? Most people accused of being ‘witches’ are forced and tortured to confess. What about those who have not been forced? Many people in mental institutions or on anti-psychotic medications in industrialized countries would be labeled witches in Ghana.

It is not uncommon for some pastors and medicine men to suffer from delusions too. In their sick delusional states, they accuse innocent women and children of witchcraft and other spiritual crimes.
Quite interestingly, those accused of witchcraft, are never the rich, influential or powerful in society.

If you live in Sweden or Germany or Canada, and you seriously claim that you are a vampire and that you drink human blood, fly at night, and have lived for three hundred years, your friends and family would drag you to a hospital right away. They know you have delusions. In Ghana, you are labeled a witch.

BELIEVE IN THE DEVIL, BELIEVE IN WITCHES?

No, this is false. Believing that the Devil is real as a Christian does not mean we have to believe in
witches, vampires, fairies, unicorns or Santa Claus.

ARE WITCHES REAL?

Many cultures believe strongly in many things that are not real. We cannot accept them simply because people believe in them. Old people accused of witchcraft are just powerless seniors suffering from old age illnesses like Dementia and Alzheimer’s, and other brain disorders. As Christians, there is no basis for believing in witchcraft. It is unchristian and unbiblical. There are no witches in the Bible.

WHERE DID THE IDEA OF WITCHRAFT COME FROM IN GHANAIAN CHURCHES?

I shall tackle this in my next article.

Author: T. F. Africabi,
War Against Witch- Hunting (W.A.W.)

W.A.W is a non-profit organization that fights to protect the human rights of innocent people, especially women and children accused of witchcraft and other unsubstantiated spiritual crimes.
innocentwaw@aol.com