Bible Dictionary
Familiar spirit
A familiar spirit refers to a spirit associated with a sorcerer or necromancer who claimed to communicate with the dead. Scripture condemns consulting such spirits and forbids divination and necromancy.
Definition
A familiar spirit refers to a spirit associated with a sorcerer or necromancer who claimed to call up the dead and answer questions. The Hebrew term also denoted the person who possessed or consulted such a spirit.
Biblical Usage
Scripture condemns consulting familiar spirits and associates the practice with sorcery, divination, and necromancy. Such practices are forbidden in the law and condemned in the prophetic writings.
Historical Background
The Hebrew word ’ob properly means a leathern bottle. Sorcerers were regarded as vessels containing an inspiring demon. The word “familiar” comes from Latin familiaris, meaning a household servant, expressing the idea of a spirit ready to obey its master.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Sorcerers or necormancers, who professed to call up the dead to answer questions, were said to have a “familiar spirit” (Deut. 18:11; 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chr. 33:6; Lev. 19:31; 20:6; Isa. 8:19; 29:4). Such a person was called by the Hebrews an ’ob, which properly means a leathern bottle; for sorcerers were regarded as vessels containing the inspiring demon. This Hebrew word was equivalent to the pytho of the Greeks, and was used to denote both the person and the spirit which possessed him (Lev. 20:27; 1 Sam. 28:8; comp. Acts 16:16). The word “familiar” is from the Latin familiaris, meaning a “household servant,” and was intended to express the idea that sorcerers had spirits as their servants ready to obey their commands.