Sorcerers or necormancers, who professed to call up the dead to answer questions, were said to have a "familiar spirit" (Deut. 18:11; This unified study connects 3 installed resource categories without replacing their source records.
Move from the subject to its key Scripture, original-language evidence, and connected studies. The trail organizes research without deciding a theological conclusion.
1. Examine the Text2. Check the Context3. Test the Tradition4. Follow the Evidence5. Reach the Verdict
properly, a mumble, i.e. a water skin (from its hollow sound)
hence a necromancer (ventriloquist, as from a jar)
Greek lexical coverage
No safely matched Greek Strong’s entry
G—
The installed lexicons do not contain a sufficiently exact Greek word-level match for this study. UNLEARN leaves this language unassigned instead of displaying an unrelated Strong’s record.
Complete dictionary entries
Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)
Familiar spirit
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.