Leviticus 20:27

My Notes

What Does Leviticus 20:27 Mean?

"A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them." The prohibition against mediums and wizards carries the death penalty — for both men and women equally. The phrase "their blood shall be upon them" means the executed person bears the responsibility for their own death: they chose the practice that produces the penalty. The community isn't guilty for the execution. The practitioner is guilty for the practice.

The severity reveals the seriousness: consulting the dead or practicing divination isn't a minor infraction. It's a capital offense — categorized alongside murder and adultery. The reason: these practices represent allegiance to spiritual powers other than the LORD and corrupt the community's relationship with the one true God.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What does the death penalty for occult practice teach about God's exclusivity as the only source of spiritual guidance?
• 2.How does 'their blood shall be upon them' (personal responsibility) model the principle that choosing certain practices produces consequences?
• 3.Where does the modern equivalent of 'consulting mediums' (horoscopes, divination, spiritual practices that bypass God) operate in your life?
• 4.How does the severity of this command challenge the casualness with which modern culture treats occult practices?

Devotional

Death. For the medium. For the wizard. Man or woman. The penalty for trafficking in the occult is the most severe the law provides — and the blood of the execution falls on the person who chose the practice, not on the community that enforces the law.

A man also or woman. The gender equality in the penalty is notable: both men and women who practice mediumship or wizardry receive the same death sentence. The law doesn't treat female practitioners differently than male ones. The spiritual corruption is the same regardless of gender. The penalty is the same because the offense is the same.

That hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard. Two categories: those who channel spirits (ob — a familiar spirit, a medium who communicates with the dead) and those who practice divination (yiddeoni — a wizard, a knowing one, someone who claims supernatural knowledge apart from God). Both categories represent access to spiritual information through channels God didn't authorize. The medium contacts the dead. The wizard accesses hidden knowledge. Both bypass the one legitimate source of spiritual guidance: the LORD.

Shall surely be put to death. Moth yumath — dying they shall die. The emphatic construction means: absolutely, without exception, executed. The penalty is capital because the offense is cosmic: the medium and wizard introduce alternative spiritual authorities into a community that's supposed to have one. The LORD alone guides. The LORD alone reveals. And the practitioner who offers an alternative revelation is attacking the exclusivity of God's authority.

Their blood shall be upon them. The responsibility for the death belongs to the dead. Not to the community that stones them. The phrase is a legal clarification: the executioners aren't guilty of murder. The executed person chose the path that produced the penalty. The blood — the liability for the death — rests on the practitioner, not the punisher.

The severity challenges modern sensibilities. But the principle behind it is consistent throughout Scripture: God alone directs his people. Alternative spiritual authorities — mediums, diviners, wizards, astrologers — represent competing claims to guidance that God reserves for himself. The death penalty communicates the non-negotiable nature of the exclusivity: there is no second source. The LORD alone. And the practices that introduce alternatives are treated with the same severity as the practices that destroy life — because, in God's assessment, they DO destroy life. Spiritual life. Communal integrity. Covenantal faithfulness.

The New Testament doesn't prescribe stoning for occult practitioners. But the principle persists: Acts 19:19 records converted Ephesians burning their magic books (worth fifty thousand pieces of silver). The method of dealing with the occult has changed. The seriousness hasn't.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture