Where does the bible say: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"?

Question

Does this conflict with "Thou shalt not kill"?

Should you kill witches?

Answer 1

It didn't specifically say "witch" until it was changed by King James I. It was orginally "Thou shalt not suffer a poisoner to live". King James I was extremely paranoid when it came to hexes and spells, witchcraft and whatnot so when he had the bible re-written that translation was changed to say witches.

Answer 2

This is part of the Mosaic code, which allowed for capital punishment for a number of offenses. Thou shalt not kill is actually "You shall not murder." However, the word for witch must be translated very carefully. In some places it actually means necromancer (one who tries to make a corpse into a zombie) and in other places it can mean one who uses potions or poisons to control another person's mind. I think you can see why ancient Israelite society would have been harmed by both those practices. Society wouldn't be thrilled with either of those practices today; however, people who practice witchcraft today are protected by law and should be left in peace.

Although I know you aren't really advocating killing witches, I feel bad for witches whenever this question comes up. People who don't know what the text really says use it as an excuse to persecute and hate them.

Answer 3

Exodus 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

Under the Levitical Law, witches among the Israelites were looked upon as idol worshipers. The danger was that others of the Israelites would be impressed by them and begin to follow the witches rather than follow God.

Answer 4

Exodus 22:18

As to the violation of the commandment: it actually seems fairly mild compared to the wholesale genocide of the indigenous population of Cannan explicitly commanded elsewhere in the text. Fortunately, the legal code of Western nations is not Biblically based, and the killing of witches in a modern context will lead to a murder indictment rather than a favorable mention in a religious document.

Answer 5

kjv 1611, Only two times witch is mentioned :)

Exd 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

Deu 18:10 There shall not be found among you [any one] that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, [or] that useth divination, [or] an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,

Answer 6

There was a time when God was training a nation to be righteous for a Savior to come from. This nation was Israel. The laws for them were such to make sure that all godless people could not infect that nation with evil. Those laws called for the death of those who turned to anything or anyone for guidance instead of their God. Those laws are now obsolete. The Old means the New has made those laws obsolete.

Answer 7

Exodus 22:18

Answer 8

But wait, are you suggesting that, because we no longer stone witches or disobedient children, that the bible isn't really much of a moral compass; that perhaps we get our morality from the the society in which we find ourselves, not dusty old books written by patriarchal, superstitious goatherders ...?

Answer 9

You might enjoy this article.
http://jestkidding.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/magic-and-the-bible.pdf

Exodus 22:18
Do not allow a sorceress to live.

This does not conflict with "Thou shalt not kill."
One could interpret Exodus 22:18 to mean that you should help a witch to change and turn from her witchcraft. You should kill the witch in her, the practice of witchcraft.

The word "witchcraft" in the Hebrew doesn't mean the same thing that it means today. I once translated that whole verse into Hebrew. I can't remember what it means in Hebrew though.

These are good sites.
http://www.awarenessshop.com/KnowledgeBase/biblicalreferenc.html
http://www.logosresourcepages.org/Occult/witch_define.htm
http://www.draknet.com/proteus/Suffer.htm

Answer 10

It doesn't conflict, because witches were (and still are) evil. And the Israelites were to get rid of all evilness. so witches, rebellious children, and those who broke the Ten Commandments were stoned to death.