Bible Strands

Deuteronomy 18:14

Though these nations, which you will dispossess, listen to conjurers and diviners, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, instructing them before they cross the Jordan. He contrasts their required conduct with the occult practices of the Canaanite nations they are about to dispossess.

The words — The conjunction כִּי (ki) here carries a concessive force, translating literally as "though" or "for." The verb יוֹרֵשׁ (yoresh) means "to dispossess" or "to take possession of," directly referencing the imminent conquest of the land.

The thread — The text explicitly forbids the very practices listed in Deuteronomy 18:10 and later notes in Acts 14:16 that God historically allowed Gentile nations to follow their own spiritual paths.

Why it lands — The passage demands exclusive dependence on Yahweh rather than divination or conjury, requiring the reader to reject alternative spiritual sources and submit solely to divine instruction.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

כִּ֣י׀kiforהַגּוֹיִ֣םha./go.Yimthe/ nationsהָאֵ֗לֶּהha./'E.leh<the>/ theseאֲשֶׁ֤ר'a.Sherwhichאַתָּה֙'a.Tahyouיוֹרֵ֣שׁyo.Resh[are] about to dispossessאוֹתָ֔ם'o.Ta/m<obj.>/ themאֶל־'el-toמְעֹנְנִ֥יםme.'o.ne.Nimsoothsayersוְאֶל־ve./'el-and/ toקֹסְמִ֖יםko.se.Mimdivinersיִשְׁמָ֑עוּyish.Ma.'uthey listenוְאַתָּ֕הve./'a.Tahand/ youלֹ֣אlo'notכֵ֔ןKhenthusנָ֛תַןNa.tanhe has permittedלְךָ֖le./Khato <the>/ youיְהוָ֥הYah.wehYahwehאֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃'e.lo.Hei./khaGod/ your

King James Version

For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

Cross-references