Medium (One Who Has a Familiar Spirit)

Biblical Occurrences

The Korean term sinjeop (神接) means "a spirit descending upon a person's body and communicating through it." In the New Korean Revised Version, the term for a medium appears mainly in the prohibitions of the Law and in the narratives of Israel's kings.

• The Law: Leviticus 19:31 and 20:6 command Israel not to seek after mediums and wizards and so defile themselves. Leviticus 20:27 prescribes death for anyone who has a familiar spirit. Deuteronomy 18:9-14 lists diviners, witches, charmers, consulters with familiar spirits, wizards, and necromancers together as abominable practices of the Canaanite nations and forbids tolerating them in Israel.
• Saul and the woman of Endor: In 1 Samuel 28, Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land (28:3). Yet before battle with the Philistines, when he received no answer by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets, he disguised himself, went to a woman at Endor who had a familiar spirit, and asked her to bring up the dead Samuel. 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 cites Saul's consulting a medium as one of the reasons for his death.
• The monarchy: 2 Kings 21:6 records that Manasseh dealt with familiar spirits and wizards, and 23:24 records that Josiah put them away.
• The Prophets: Isaiah 8:19 rebukes those who inquire of the dead on behalf of the living and calls the people to seek God instead.

Background and Terminology

Scholars disagree about what the Hebrew word ʾôb (אוֹב), translated "medium" or "familiar spirit," refers to. Proposals include a pit used to summon spirits, the spirit of the dead person who is summoned, and the person who performs the practice. The accompanying term yiddeʿōnî (יִדְּעֹנִי) is thought to derive from the verb "to know"; the New Korean Revised Version renders it baksu (male shaman), corresponding to the KJV's "wizard." The Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament, usually translates ʾôb with a word meaning "one who speaks from the belly" (a ventriloquist). Consulting the dead about the future is known to have been widely practiced in the ancient Near East. The Law forbade this practice, regarding it as a form of pagan idolatry.

Broader Biblical Significance

Immediately after these prohibitions, Deuteronomy 18 promises "a Prophet ... like unto me" (18:15). The passage thus implies that God's will is made known not through mediums but through the prophets whom God raises up. In the New Testament, Acts 16:16-18 tells of a slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination, and Paul casts out the spirit. Galatians 5:20 lists "witchcraft" among the works of the flesh, and Revelation 21:8 and 22:15 likewise place those who practice sorcery outside the New Jerusalem.

Interpretations and Issues

The oldest debate concerns whether the figure who appeared at Endor was really Samuel. Interpretations generally fall into three groups:

• God specially caused Samuel to appear.
• It was an evil spirit impersonating Samuel.
• It was a deception by the woman.

The text states that Samuel spoke but does not explain how. Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 46:20, which the Catholic Church accepts as canonical, states that Samuel prophesied even after his death.

The woman is commonly called the "Witch of Endor," but the text calls her only "a woman that hath a familiar spirit" and does not use the word "witch."

In the Korean Church

Korean Bibles translate these terms with words drawn from Korean folk religion, such as mudang (shaman), baksu (male shaman), and chohon (summoning the souls of the dead). As a result, Korean Christians readily associate these passages with Korean shamanism. Many churches cite these passages in teaching believers to avoid fortune-tellers, saju (fortune-telling based on the time of one's birth), and gut (shamanic rituals). At the same time, some discussions critically examine the blessing-seeking and shamanistic elements that remain within the Korean church (→ The Korean Church and Shamanism).