Ghosts, Demons, and Dybbuks... Oh My!

(31) Do not turn to ghosts and do not inquire of familiar spirits, to be defiled by them: I the LORD am your God.

(1) אל תפנו DO NOT TURN [TO THE אבת NOR TO THE ידענים] — This is a warning addressed to the necromancers and the charmers themselves (not to the people who consult these tricksters). The בעל אוב, the controller of the spirit אוב, as the necromancer is called (cf. I Samuel 28:7), is identical with the פיתום (in Greek: πύξωυ); he is one who speaks out of his arm-pit; ידעני is one who puts a bone of an animal the name of which is ידוע into his mouth and the bone speaks (Sanhedrin 65b). (2) אל תבקשו means DO NOT SEEK to busy yourselves with them, for if you busy yourselves with them, you will become defiled in My sight and I shall abhor you. (3) אני ה' אלהיכם I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD — Just think Whom you are changing (by these practices which lead to idolatry) for whom! (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 7 11)

(9) When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. (10) There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one that useth divination, a soothsayer, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, (11) or a charmer, or one that consulteth a ghost or a familiar spirit, or a necromancer. (12) For whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto the LORD; and because of these abominations the LORD thy God is driving them out from before thee. (13) Thou shalt be whole-hearted with the LORD thy God.

(1) '‎כי יהיה בהם אוב וגו‎ [A MAN ALSO, OR A WOMAN] THAT HATH THE SPIRIT אוב, [OR THAT IS A WIZARD SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH] — Here the penalty of death by stoning is mentioned for them, and above (Leviticus 20:6) it mentions excision! But the explanation is: If there were witnesses to the offense and the necessary warning had been given them, death by stoning is the punishment. If he acted wittingly but had not been warned, he is punishable with excision and if he breaks the law regarding them (the אוב or ידעוני) inadvertently, he has to bring a sin offering. And the same rules apply in the case of all persons who are subject to the death penalty, where excision is mentioned (i. e. in all such cases “stoning" or a sin offering is the punishment according to the circumstances).

Now Samuel had died and all Israel made lament for him; and he was buried in his own town of Ramah. And Saul had forbidden [recourse to] ghosts and familiar spirits in the land. (4) The Philistines mustered and they marched to Shunem and encamped; and Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. (5) When Saul saw the Philistine force, his heart trembled with fear. (6) And Saul inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets. (7) Then Saul said to his courtiers, “Find me a woman who consults ghosts, so that I can go to her and inquire through her.” And his courtiers told him that there was a woman in En-dor who consulted ghosts. (8) Saul disguised himself; he put on different clothes and set out with two men. They came to the woman by night, and he said, “Please divine for me by a ghost. Bring up for me the one I shall name to you.” (9) But the woman answered him, “You know what Saul has done, how he has banned [the use of] ghosts and familiar spirits in the land. So why are you laying a trap for me, to get me killed?” (10) Saul swore to her by the LORD: “As the LORD lives, you won’t get into trouble over this.” (11) At that, the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He answered, “Bring up Samuel for me.” (12) Then the woman recognized Samuel, and she shrieked loudly, and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” (13) The king answered her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a divine being coming up from the earth.” (14) “What does he look like?” he asked her. “It is an old man coming up,” she said, “and he is wrapped in a robe.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel; and he bowed low in homage with his face to the ground. (15) Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me and brought me up?” And Saul answered, “I am in great trouble. The Philistines are attacking me and God has turned away from me; He no longer answers me, either by prophets or in dreams. So I have called you to tell me what I am to do.” (16) Samuel said, “Why do you ask me, seeing that the LORD has turned away from you and has become your adversary? (17) The LORD has done for Himself as He foretold through me: The LORD has torn the kingship out of your hands and has given it to your fellow, to David, (18) because you did not obey the LORD and did not execute His wrath upon the Amalekites. That is why the LORD has done this to you today. (19) Further, the LORD will deliver the Israelites who are with you into the hands of the Philistines. Tomorrow your sons and you will be with me; and the LORD will also deliver the Israelite forces into the hands of the Philistines.” (20) At once Saul flung himself prone on the ground, terrified by Samuel’s words. Besides, there was no strength in him, for he had not eaten anything all day and all night. (21) The woman went up to Saul and, seeing how greatly disturbed he was, she said to him, “Your handmaid listened to you; I took my life in my hands and heeded the request you made of me. (22) So now you listen to me: Let me set before you a bit of food. Eat, and then you will have the strength to go on your way.” (23) He refused, saying, “I will not eat.” But when his courtiers as well as the woman urged him, he listened to them; he got up from the ground and sat on the bed. (24) The woman had a stall-fed calf in the house; she hastily slaughtered it, and took flour and kneaded it, and baked some unleavened cakes. (25) She set this before Saul and his courtiers, and they ate.

The Gemara relates that Rabbi Ḥiyya and Rabbi Yonatan were walking in a cemetery and the sky-blue string of Rabbi Yonatan’s ritual fringes was cast to the ground and dragging across the graves. Rabbi Ḥiyya said to him: Lift it, so the dead will not say: Tomorrow, when their day comes, they will come to be buried with us, and now they are insulting us. Rabbi Yonatan said to him: Do the dead know so much? Isn’t it stated: “And the dead know nothing” (Ecclesiastes 9:5)? Rabbi Ḥiyya said to him: If you read the verse, you did not read it a second time, and if you read it a second time, you did not read it a third time, and if you read it a third time, they did not explain it to you properly. The meaning of the verse: “For the living know that they will die, and the dead know nothing and have no more reward, for their memory has been forgotten” (Ecclesiastes 9:5)