Bible Strands
Leviticus 19:26
You must not eat anything with blood still in it. You must not practice divination or sorcery.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses the Israelite assembly in the wilderness, inserting these prohibitions between agricultural harvest rules and grooming regulations. The speaker establishes covenant boundaries for the community during their journey.
The words — תְנַחֲשׁוּ (te.na.cha.Shu) translates as "you will practice divination," and תְעוֹנֵנוּ (te.'o.Ne.nu) means "you will practice soothsaying." Both appear as direct negative imperatives in the Hebrew syntax.
The thread — The ban on divination and soothsaying appears in Deuteronomy 18:10, 2 Kings 17:17, and 2 Chronicles 33:6. These passages consistently pair the forbidden practices with idolatrous sacrifice and covenant violation.
Why it lands — The text commands abstention from consuming un-drained blood and a complete rejection of occult consultation. Readers must treat these restrictions as fixed community boundaries rather than negotiable customs.
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
King James Version
Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 18:10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,
- 2 Kings 17:17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6 He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Deuteronomy 12:23 Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.
- 2 Kings 21:6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Leviticus 3:17 This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.”
- Leviticus 7:26 You must not eat the blood of any bird or animal in any of your dwellings.
- Leviticus 17:10 If anyone from the house of Israel or a foreigner living among them eats any blood, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from among his people.
- Jeremiah 10:2 This is what the LORD says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by the signs in the heavens, though the nations themselves are terrified by them.
- Exodus 7:11 But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.