Soothsayer, soothsaying

The Heb. for ' soothsaying ' is cp;?. Qppp, Gr. /^arvi/, ^c«vn7«v, tiatttefjLeL (the last term being also used to tr. [?0J ' augxiry, Nu 2323 II Crp). 'Soothsayer is Drp, which in Is 32 is rendered by rr6x»f^'-(' The Arab, kaiama means properly divide or portion out.* Hence kisjnet is a man's apportioned lot or destiny. The word piy^ is another a1t«mative expression not easy to distinguish from opp (see below).

The term V^>'^' is always closely connected in the OT passages with 3iK, and will be dealt with under * Necromancy ' in art. Sorcery. The other terms cb"in (see below) and the Aram, jntj (Dn 227 4' 6^ do not possess a clear connotation. Soothsaying, though separate from magic, is nevertheless very closely associated with it (see Magic). It niaj' be defined as involving an abnor- mal mode of obtaining knowledge.

Just as magic is the abnormal method of obtaining control over persons or events by means of some supernatural Divine or demonic agency, so soothsaying involves the corresponding abnormal method of obtaining information. The soothsayer is to be found in every primitive religion, and ancient Semitic culture formed no exception to the rule. The comp.

irison of early Arabic religion with that of primitive Israel conducts us irresistibly to the conclusion that the Hebrew priest in early times was also a soothsayer. For the Heb. jnb is tlie Arab, kd/iin, 'soothsayer,' who owned the local shrine and kept watch and ward over it, and gave replies to the inquiring pilgrim. We thus observe how the priest and the prophet in primitive Semitic antiquity started from a common base and blended their functions.

The priest ofi'ered sacrifices, and likewise gave answers to satisfy the worshipper who came to seek information and guidance. Both functions, that of sacrifice and that of divination, were united in one person. Indeed, as we know in the case of the soothsayer and propliet Balaam, sacrifices accompanied the declarations which he made (Nu 22-"' 2.3'- • "• '^- »).

Accordingly, the combination of the functions of divination and sacrifice may be assumed to be characteristic of primitive Israel as it was of ancient Arabia. To the priest belonged the function of giving replies by (a) Urim and Tuummim, (6) by Teuaphim, and, lastly, (c) by El'HOD. Much obscurity Invests the actual nature of all these objects. The most probable view is that the Uraphim were anct^stral images and of human shape (to which I S 1913.16 irresistibly points, cf.

Gn 3119- >), and that the ephod waa a plated itna/e used as a symbol of Jehovah, This seems clear from Jg 8261"-, in which we are told that Gideon made it of the p'old ring captured from the Ishmaelites and Midianites. Both ephud and teraphim are mentioned together in Hos 3-* ; and Ezk 21'^ and Zee 102 clearly prove that the teraphim were employed in the act of divination.

Reference to the emploj-ment of the ephod is to be found in a series of ancient OT passages which describe the consultation of Jehovah in special emergencies. A series of interrogations was put to the deity, one following in logical sequence on the other, each capable of being answered in the alternative form of 'yes' or 'no.'

Of this, perhaps the most instructive example is to be found in 1 S 23^^, in which DaWd inquires through the priest Abiathar by means of the ephod, and a series of categorical affirmative (or in other cases negative) replies are given (cf. 1 S 307- **. and Benzinger, Heb. Arch. pp. 3S2, 4US).

Obviously, information could be eked out by this process only very slowly, and in one ca^e we read that Saul was com- pelled by the exigencies of war (1 S 1419) to interrupt the tardy procedure of the priest as the timiult of the advancing Philistine army increased. Sometimes the omens were unfavourable for obtaining Divine answers (lA. 143^.

The close connexion which certainly subsisted between the ephod which was carried by the priest (1 S 236) and the divination which he practised, seems to point to the conclusion that the ephod was m some way a part at least of the apparatus of inquirj-.' But it is not necessary to suppose that it was more than the symbol or idol which repre- sented the deity whose presence gave validity to the whole procedure.

The actual apparatus of soothsaying probably con- sisted in blunted arrows or, in primitive times, small tViirs; and it is to this rude mechanism of inquiry that Rosea (4i2) refers under {'y (cf. Arab. c;^- in WeUh. BetW, p. 132) • ' In petitioning the deity a sachflce was naturally offered. Throu;;h the sacrifice, whicn was rendered acceptable to the deity by the mediation of the priest, the desired answer to a question was obtained' (Morris Jastrow, ReOgion oS H^Jtbylonia tnd Aajfria, p.

331). and 72?, while Ezk 2121 mentions the arrows. Early Arabic cultus, as Wellhausen has pointed out (I.e. p. 141), bears an unmistakable family likeness to the Hebrew, and it is to ancient Arabic usage that we turn for the most instructive illus- trations of our subject.

Among primitive Arab warrior tribes, as in ancient Israel, campaigns were never conducted without constant resort to the kdhin or priest-soothsayer, who usually be- longed to a family which on-ned the sanctuary and kept guard over its treasures. Ordinarily the answer to the inquiry consists only in * yes ' or 'no,' indicated by one arrow for aflinuative and another for negative. There "might also be complicated alternatives.

The arrows might be marked to meet every possible range of inquiry, and the arrow drawn forth or shaken out was the answer to the question. Soothsaying was constantly resorted to before a militarj- expedition. It is said of nearly all the clan chiefs of the Kuraish that they consulted the lots before their departure to Badr, although Abu Sufian, for whose deli\ eranoe the expedition was made, liad sent them word that they were not to begin by consulting the lots. Strictly speaking, this consult.

ition takes place in the sanctuary bejtyre tAe idol (Well- hausen)^ Amono;the Arabs, money was paid for divination, and sacrifices (as of a camel) preceded or accom- panied the divinin" ceremony. In these respects we find close parallels in the Balaam narrative, to which allusion has already been made. Accord- ingly, in this episode we do not fail to note that the deputations were provided with money pay- ment for the soothsaving (called D-ipfi?

Nu 22'), a feature in the story wliich reminds us of 2 K 5'. As the ancient Hebrews in early times called the soothsayer nx-i or ' seer,' so the primitive Arabs called him a 'gazer.' When 'gazing' he would veil his face. Hence the epithet, dhul chimar, or ' the (man) with the veil,' applied to several seers.t We naturally revert to the veil of the prophet Moses (Ex 34'"'-).

Under the influence of the super- natural spirit or demon a series of short sentences would be uttered, of which four to six would be united together in a strophe by rhyme. This is called in Arabic Saj' , comp. the Heb. yji'lj applied to a prophet (2 K 9"). "This wild ecstatic condition often characterized the primitive Hebrew propliet in pre -exilic times (IS 10""}, and thi« became contagious, and allected those who wit- nessed it (1 S 19" ■••»•■■", cf. 18'").

What the OT ascribed to possession by the spirit of God (Jehovah) the Arab in primitive times ascribed to the spirit • So Moore, art. * Ephod ' in Kncye. Biblica. t The root of the word for ' seer' in Arabic corresponds to th« Heb. Iinl SOOTiiSAYKll, SOOTllSAYIXG SOOTHSAYER, SOOTHSAYi:\G 599 01 demon that dwelt in liim. Amon^ the Moslems a dLiuon vas called a shaiti'in (see under Satan).

The connexion betwein t\\a jinn in early Arabia (and in later times the sluiit&n) and serpents throws iiybl upon the serpent of Gn 3 as well as the '■p,^ of Is C-. Theytn» were con^^idered to reside in ser- pents, and the name shaitdn is applied to a serpent.* They/nn were not necessarily evil. Some might be well disposed to truth (JJoran, 46'''''), like the great male serpent which met Mohammed on the way to Tabiik (cf. Baudissin, Studicn zur semit. licligions- gesrli. i. p. 279 11'. ).

Tliose illustrations from ancient Arabic belief enable us to understand the use of the Heb. tfrt} for ' divine ' (from c'rij ' serpent ') and rnj for ' divina- tion ' (2 K 17" 21», Dt 18'», Lv 19-», Gn 30-'' 44'"). This association of the art of divination with the Berpent arose from a variety of causes. This reptile springs mysteriously from holes in the eartli with the hissing or whispering sound char- acteristic of incantations (see MAGIC, vol. iii. p.

210'' and footnote), and with a fascinating power of the ej-e which made it inevitable that a serpent should be regarded as the embodiment of a demon. Hence cunning and wisdom were ascribed to ser- Sents (Gn 3', Mt 10'"). Thus it w as natural that the enora. Piel wnj came to bo emploj'ed of the sooth- sayer, who was considered to be demon-possessed (like the sorcerer or necromancer, 'ji'T and z\« Si';).

Both in Arabia and in ancient Assyiia the desire to know the course of future events in their bear- ing upon the interests of the inquirer, more espe- cially with respect to the success or non-success of some enterprise, impelled him to find clues of information in the moxements of nature, more especiallv of animals, ^ince these were held to be possessed by demons. The Arabs believed that tlie animal is mu'inur, i.e.

is subject to some higher behest, and has open eyes to see (like Balaam's ass) when human eyes are without vision. Tiie wolf, the dog, the hare, and the fox were omen- giving animals. Comiii" from the right hand, one of these animals would be hailed as portending good ; from the left, bad (Wellh. p. 201 f.) Birds were especially considered to convey omens, viz. the raven, goose, starling, and hoopoe.

The raven was the bird which heralded misfortune, especially the separation of friends from loved ones. The cuneiform records exhibit the wide preva- lence of a jrreat mass of similar beliefs ana prac- tices in Bftlji/lunia, but with this ditlerence, that the omen-tablets mark the distinctions in special cases with a wearisome excess of detail which we do not find in the simpler civilization of the Western Semitic lands, Palestine and Arabia.

The omens may be divided into difierent classes : (1) tliose concerned with da3'8 and heavenly bodies ; (2) those concerned with the features of human childbirth and also with those of birth-giving by animals ; (3) omens concerned with movements of animals. — These will be found fullj' treated in Morris Jastrow's instructive work, Edigion of Jifihylonia and Assyria, chs. xix. and xx. The following is a good example of (1) — * Sun and moon arc Bccn apart (t.0.

at differeot ttmes) ; The kini,' of the country will numifest wifldom. On tile fourteenth day Mun and mooD ore seen together ; Tliere will be loyalty in the l.ind, The gods of Babylonia are favourably inclined, The soldiuo' will be in accord with tlic kind's denlrv, The cattle of Babylonia will pasture in safety. On the fifteenth day the Bun and moon are seen tojjether ; A powerful enemy raises his weapons affainst the land. The enemy will uiiatter the great gate of the city.'

Omens were likewise derived from the particular • I'/IU ( = iiuSo>.»€) is not BO frecpiently employed lo the sing. OS the ptur. fomi of n/mi/dn, which takes the plsoa of jinn Cplur.) ('Wellh. l.c. p. 167 footnote). day of the month on whicli an eclipse takes place; from the appearances ordisajipearances of the planet Venus (Islitar). In Eawl. iv. pi. 32, 33 we have a calendar of the intercalated month Elul.

The deity is mentioned to which each day is sacred, and certain sacrifices are prescribed and precau- tions indicated. The 7th, I4th, 21st, and 28th days are called evil [limnu) ; see art. Sabbath, p. 319; and cf. Schrader, COT L p. 19f., and Jensen in ZA iv. (18S9) p. 274 If. (2) Varied forms of abnormal birth are specified, and the events which they portend — If a woman gives birth to a child with the right ear missing, the days of the ruler will be long.

If a woman givea birth to a child with the left ear missing, distress will enter the land and weaken it.' Ttie abnormal features in the birth of young Iambs were carefully noted and interpreted — ' If the young one has no right ear, the rule of the king will come to an end, his palace will be uprooted, and the jjopuiation of the country will be swept away. The king will lose judg- ment, the produce of the country will be slight, the enemy will cut olT the supply of water.

If the left ear of the young one is missing, the deity will hear the prayer of the king, tlie king will cajiture his enemy's land, the palace of the enemy will be destroyed. (3) The number and variety of cases here as in (1) and (2) are endless. If a dog enters the palace and crouches on the throne, that palace will suffer a distressful fate. If a dog enters a palace and crouches on the couch, no one will enjoy that palace in peace.'

The colour of a dog that enters a palace or of the locusts that enter a house, will aflect the precise form of good which is por- tended by the occurrence. The gods were constantly approached with ques- tions involving the future interests of the State or ailecting the fate of a military campaign. Knud- tzun in his Assijr. Gcbete an den tionnengvti fiir Staat und koniglickes Uaus, has devoted a careful examination to these questions addres.

sed to Samas the Sungod, which are sliown to follow a fixed pattern. Fir.st we have a series of questions which the god is petitioned to answer. The god is then implored not to be angry, and to jjrotect the sup- pliant against errors unwittingly committed in the sacrificial rites — *0 Shamash, great lord, as I ask thee, do thou In true mercy answer me.

' From this day the 3rd day of this month of lyyar to the 11th day of the month Ab of this year, a period of one hundred days and one hundred nights, is the prescribed term for the priestly activity. " ' VVill within this period Kashtariti, together with his soldiery, will the army of the Giniirri, the army of the Medes, will the army of the Manneans, or will any enemy wliat.

>^never succeed in carrying out their plan, whether by stratagem (V) or main force, whether by the force of weapons of war and battle or by the axe, whether by a breach made with war-machinery or battering- rams or by hunger, wliether by the powers residing in the name of a god or goddess . . will these aforementioned, as many as are required to take a cit.v, actually capture the city Kishsossu, in-iictiate into the interior of that same city Kislisassu. . Thy great divine power knows it. .

Will it actually come to )>as8?' We observe that all jiossiblo contingencies are specifled as in a lawyer's deed, and no loophole is left by whieli tlie deity may escape the obligation of a detlnite answer. (See Jastrow, p. 834 B.) How far Israel, and more particularly Judah, at the do.seof the 8th cent, became inlluenced by IJab. or Assyr. practices, it would be very diliicult to say.

That theolder and more highly developed civilization of the Euphrates and Tigris should have afiected the Palestmian tribes at this time is surely more than possible. In the loth and earlier centuries B.C. that influence was powerfully felt through- out the Western border (mM amnrri), as the Tel el- Amarna tablets clearly testify, and it spread into Egypt itself. Moreover, we may infer from cer- tain indications that some inlluenccs from Bab.

and This expression is interpreted to mean tliat the priest Is only asked to give a reply ooDoeming the events of the hundred days specifled In the text. 600 SOOTHSAYER. SOOTHSAYING___JOOT^^ Assyr, divination not improbably lound iboir ^^a^ into tl,e S<,uthem kin;4<lom. (1) \\e know tbat Ahaz was particularly .susceptible to foreign re- f^^ i".'-nco^^ ^a not ^.csrtate to bo.^w ^^T^^'tL^^^ show^ tllai.tl. relation, between Judah and Babyloma .er^ int. mate (> K 20'='-).

(3) The proneness of A laz to Suance with AW-ia at an earUor Per-d may have opened the way for the entrance of Absyro- Kabylonian traditi..us. (4) If we co'"^>"« . f ^,^^ facts with Is ■2\ where relerence is made o the Buperstiliuus tendencies vh.cli lY'^Vp ^^. ',™^'; and where these arc ascribed to the ' .1^^ ^^ " ^inaj^ find the true clue to the >m-anin<; of this tfJ^J"^^^ The true readin" here lias been conjectuiallj re- stored y crTtics with some probabUity in the term f °r,::.

-Jp) -nrp inSd -d 'for they are tull of south- savers from" the East,' which harmonizes with thf parallel clause that foUow;s Tenian (Edom also had its soothsayers (Jer 49', Ob »). W as tue T.;:,tpres:nted parallel phenomena. Divination andt-he practice of occult sciences prevailed in t e Dlains of the Nile as much as in those of the Snates In E.TPt the division of time among the hit'her divine powers was earned to such an Pv?

en["that even every hour of day and night 'vas° Uotttl to some goddess (thougli not to the r»ew"° deities). The character of the divinity determined the destiny of the period over w-hich that divinity presided. By turning up the calen- dar of he days of the month it was thought Dossible to -ail. a glimpse into futuntv and decide vheUier a particuhir day was favourable or unfav- ourable w-hat should be done and what omitted ; and wlmt prospects awaited the d'f j'^" ^l^'''^ born upon it.

We have an example of such a calendar"n the papyrus Sallier iv. belonging to the 19th dyn in whicl. there are instructions cover- J^,' several months of the year. ^^ e select the following in reference to one montli— . 4th Paophi : unfavourable, favourable, ta™"™^'^^*;'',^'-' X' '"f=.?h ■ • unfavourable, unfavourable, unfavourable. By no the crocodile." _ .

To what particular mode of divination allusion ia made in G^n 44», where the silver bowl with which Joseph practised the art is referred to, cannot be determined from ancient Egyptian sources. It has been supposed that some form of Y^'X^JoUet "spoaa^Tdl was in the writer's mind. Ihe goblet vSled with water and the sun's rays were ad- mtued and, as the goblet was moved the circles ^f li'-ht Uiat were formed were closely observed aambiichus. de n.

jsteriis, ■^^■M\-\l^^l<^Z^^l marked with letters and a divining-ring toucliea Suliere or there and conclusions were deduced therefrom (Amm. Marcellinus, 29) ; 'f- ^ '"""• «" loc. These are, however, conjectures onlj ■ Knl»^^ variously rendered in LXX ^^ao.So. ■; I A„.K^»( rin Dn 1™ <ro<4i(TTal, Theudotion S: . '^ir? ib word is prob^ably derived froni t^Xstyi^ for graving words, since the arts o the ■' • Wiedenmnn, JHe lidigion dtr alten Aegypter, p. Ul. ma.'

ician or soothsayer were based, in the mor« elaborate systems of Babylonia and Egypt, upon carefuUv written rituals. ,. , , Dreams.-In ancient ^m6ic belief sleep was con- si.fJred in a mysterious sense to be f ^J^d 'md subject to the control of demons.* All Arabs revirence a man sleeping ; he is, .as it were, in Z^:Xi^^ ;;: z:i;M;of i:^ids they pious^, withdraw, nor will they lightly molest !>"".■ +ft s not surprising, therefore,, that the s.

gnilc^nce attached to dreSms is a universal feature ot anti- quHy Tl"e ancient Eg,jptuins believed in the ^i'nfl^cance of the dream as the state of mind t frou d. which deities entered into persona re- lition-ship with men and gave t leni |;»^ »"^«- Thus Ka Harmachis appeared to king /''Othmes IV when he rested in the chase near the l^reat Sphinx and commanded him to have the statue ^ o,.t of the sand. A sure means of obtaining a l°oi letic dream was to betake oneself .

to one of Ui'e temples that were sacred to divinities -ho vouchsafed oracles, and t>i<=i^« /l<^f ; Jj^^^f S of Serapis was one of the most celebrated of these ^hrSike the temple of -«-"W.ius a Epidauru^ where dreams were bestowed m "'"'h ^rnedes were communicated agamst d'^f^f . >™^*;°'^ as a last resort magic was appealed to in o^de^ «>_ pvtort the dream from the reluctant deity. W lede- mann (i'<^ion der aUcnAcg>ij>ter, p.. 144) cites one of ?he magical texts from a ^"f !

« OTe^f^"^ rnmiiarati\^elv late date preserved in tjie Lejaen Mu?eum! entitled ' AgrctLles' Recipe for sendtng a Dream,' which runs thus— Mommom Thoth, ^''''Vrwho is a"o« the heaven [other name, j!;;i<^%rt»n^?o=£j W -^t -M.. the said dream) ""fSle world fier^gST, put thyself Tn con- power. Lo-d/ '''''^"^anhrr thamara tlat'ha mommom thana- nexionwith N.M. ,^"^", '„" „„ for I wUl pronounce the Sea^'^^r-SS "^^q^fX name^or all needs. Put thyself in conne>L.on with N.

N Here we find soothsaying passing over into magic, to which it stands, as we have already explained so closely related The apparently meaningless mi innatyn'of syllables which the "lagi-n e- r,lnvs contains the names of deities, ^onipare tne Fiame .W,«a/< borrowed from the Jewish Ho y bcrin- tmes to which a mysterious potency was ascribed. 'Ties; must be reproduced in their exact original f.rn!

No translation was tolerated : not only did rr^nde^UieTarm inoperative J^J't br-^^-f ,-> evils upon the magic^ 'tt'^E-jitilns, atCl^ed J UnniXnc":'to d'^eat! cff^JhU wi have two ^^«ll€^'Ent^e^, " , Sb^ni^SS^ ^^l-ria, and tliou ..^t^ tS from tha day. onl. heLnciu''ered the Kinv mtrians who had attacked the people of his land Hues 95-105).-The other passage occurs m col v. 0^-11 Aim-banipal's troops feared to cross the ?

did6 but mar of Arbela appeared to them in a in, and said- 'I go before Asurbanipal, the ■ng"wirm r,^'liands^iave -ade.^ Conliding m this dream, his troops crossed the IdidS saieiy. • Wcllhausen, i.e. p. 163fl. , „ ojoff t Douthly, Araiia Deserta, voL L p. 24»n- SOOTUSAYER SOOTHSAYING SOOTHSAYER, SOOTHSAYING GOl It should be noted that one special branch of the art of the priest-soothsayer in Biib5'lonia con- sisted in the interpretation of the manifold appear- ances in dreams.

A considerable portion of the oinen-documeuts in cuneiform consists of the rules laid down as to what the dili'erent features in a dream may portend. If a lion appear? to a man, it means that a man will carry out bia |)ui'poiif. If a jackal, tliat he will suciire favour in the cyca of llu- '^-aLj. a dOs' portcnda sorrow ; a muuutaiii {;oat, that "the nianV son will die uf some disease ; a stap, that his daughter will die, etc (Bezold'e Catalogve, pp. 1437, 1438, cited by Jastrow).

To this special function of the Babylonian temple ollicials we have reference in Dn 2^, where they are summoned by Nebuchadnezzar to discharge the per[)lexing ta.sk of not only interprei inj; but also of first recalling a dream which the monarch had forgotten (cf. Gn 41*''-). iris is the proper word in Hell, for interpreter of dreams.

Divine revelation through dreams constantly meets us in the OT (Gn 2U»-» SI'"- " 37' 40"^- 41'*- 42", 1 K 3»'», Dn 2'» "', Nu 12«, Job 33", Jg 7'», and in NT Mt l-» 2", Ac 23" 27=^). Dreams were a legitimate mode of Divine manifestation, though we lind warnings against the dreams of false pro- phets, as against magic and soothsaying (Jer 23^-^^ 2'A Zee 10-, Sir 34'- =• »• ').

It is worthy of note that among the Hebrews, as among the Egyptians, im- portance was attached to the dreams « hich came to a man w ho slept in a sanctuary or sacred spot. The dream of Jacob might be included among such visions (Gn 28'-'"), since the scene was at Bethel, tlie renowned sanctuary. The dream recorded in 1 IC S*-" was vouchsafed to Solomon at the high place of Gibeon, where lie had olTered saerilices.

Just as among the Arabs the art of soothsaying began to decline after tlie advent of Mohammed and the monotliei-sm which he taught,* so among the ancient Helirews the prophetic teacliing from the 8th cent, onwards constantly declaimed against the arts of the soothsaj'er, and the burden of this prcohetic TOrah became embodied in legislation ,:••'" IS""-, cf. Lv 20»- -'').

In Is 2« we find mention of c^iij^"] among the other modes of foreign Eastern superstition with wliicli Judali by the time of Isaiah had become familiar. But in tliis special case the original source probably lay at Israel's doors, and the tradition was borrowed from the Canaanites. Of this we have clear evidence in Dt 18'*, and in the 'terebinth (oak) of diviners' (D'3:'iyo Meo- NKNl.M) mentioned as a well-known sacred spot with a 8acre<l tree (Jg SF).

There is a similar • sootlisayer's tree '+ (see MoREH) mentioned in Gn 12« (.Tiio pSx). To this we may find a parallel in the oaks of Dodona, sacred to Zeus, whose rustling branches were supposed to utter oracles (Odijss. xiv. 328) ; of. 2 S sK In Dt 18'» the p'y? stands in close conjunction with the ' diviner of divinations' (O'CJp ccp) and the pnjo. The Greek equivalent of 'v^ is KXitSon^biuvot, meaning one who judges from omens (K\-qbuv) ; cf. Is 2*.

The ety- mology of the Hebrew Poel form [jiy is not easy to determine. To connect it with ;}!( ' cloud ' has no foundation in the known practices of the ancient Israelites. More probable is the etymology which eonnecta it with the root which In in Arabic ^i • For demonolofo^ and Boothaaying were closely interwoven (as in the caae of ma^fic). Now, occordini; to .Mulminmedan Idt-'aa, the devils after Mohammed's advent were prevent*-'! (roin minKJiiii; with the sons of Uod and learning; the s'.'

creU of heaven (f'f. 8ATAII and ref. to Hook of Enoch) When mo dett-cted, the aiiKels pelt them with meteorites and drive them away : ice Sur. S31 ad fin., 37"- ; and cf. Wellhausen, Jifjilf^, p. 138. t It Is by no means certain that the Beb. n^K, [<?K may not to used genenlly lor ■ tree,' llk« Sjr. ]Aj:>-t|, | 1 \ » | ' to snuffle ' (cf. the use of the Heb. O'cscss Is 8" 29*) ; scarcely probable is the suggestion o^ Well- hausen to regard this Poel form as a denominative from the subst.

py 'eye.' Cf. Nowack, Beb. Arch. ii. 274 footnote. The form of soothsaying which the word [ino represents may have been akin to that which was practised by the Roman augur.i or /uiriis/iices. In fact it is diflicult to say how far the [j'lyE dill'ered from the int or primitive llebrew ' seer,' or from the Dcp.

As to the lirst, we do not know what was his mode of procedure, whether it con- sisted in the examination of the entrails or general appearance of the victim in the saerilices, as was done by the Assyrian priests (Jasirow, I.e. p. 337) and the Roman hartispiccs or extUjihcs.

Or it may have taken the form of observing closely the move- ments of animals, as w'as done by the Philistine diviners (o-ppp) in the case of the two cows yoked to the cart on which the ark of God was ]ilaced (1 S &"■) ; or it may have consisted in observing the sounds produceil by wind (as the sound amon^ the tops of the balsam trees in 2 S o'-*) or the special action of rain or dew upon objects (cf. Ig C"-). The 8th cent.

, as well as the 7tli, wit icssed the wide prevalence of these arts as well as that of necromancy (Is S""-)- Probably the Assyrian in- vasions and the disasters which they entailed drove the panic-stricken people to resort to abnormal practices of magic and sooths.aj'ing.* From Is 3- we learn that the soothsayer held an important place in national life, and was regarded as one of the props of the social fabric. He takes his place by tlie side of the judge, prophet, and elder.

The attitude of prophecy towards soothsayinjj was uni- formly uncompromisiu"; and hostile (Mic 5", cf. Jer 27" and Is 57^ this last passage bting descrip- tive of the degenerate practices that still went on in Palestine alter the return from the Exile). In l'"zk 21-"'- we have a vi\id description of the king of Babylon standing at the crossways, shaking the arrows {^cXo/iavrela).

We may assume that there were two arrows in the quiver, one bearinj' the name Jerusalem and the otlier Rabbali, and the result was determined by the particular arrow that was drawn out by the right hand or shaken out. lie also inquires of the teraphim and looks into the liver. The reference to the teraphim is a Pales- tinian trait (the LXX yXwroU suggests D'3sv rather than c'D-in).

When we compare this with Is 47*"" with its closing references to the soothsaying, we can clearly see that the latter writer had become yet more familiar with the practices in divination carried on in Babylonia, and portrays tliem with remarkable vividness :^ 'Thou art wearied with thy counsels ; yes, let them stand by and save you, they who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, announcing month by month whence they {i.e. the events) are to come upon you.'

The account given in the earlier portion of this article of tlie omen- tablets of Babylonia and the calendars of the days of the month, with its lucky and unlucky days, clearly illustrates the accurate delineation given us in Deutero- Isaiah. The phrase 'dividers of the lu'avens ' (C'~V "izh Kt'n') <:i)ntains a reference to the custom of the Baliyhmian astrologers of divid- ing the heavens into districts to take a horoscojie (cf. Jastrow, Rdigian uf liahylunia, p. 309 11.) See also art.

DIVINATION. LiTKUATi'KK. — This has been Indicated In the course of the article. The reader eliouki consult art. ' WahrsuKerei ' in Kiclnn's ItW'B'^; Nowack's and Hciizinjfcr's Heb. Ar<^h.; art. Oivinatiun ' in Knci/c. liil'lica ; Snicnd, A T JUtijjiousnt'Sih. pp. 78 ff., 113, 178, 10,'), 27(1. 200; W. K. Smith, ap. Driver on Ul 18'»'-, and in Journal nf I'liilolmiil, xiii. 273 9., xiv. 113 ft. On Dreams cf. Brecber, />«■« 'IVanscevdentalf ... im Taimuttt H37-«7. Owen C. Whitehouse. Of. W.

R. Smith, Kinship and ilarriage, p. 808, In nterence to the mystic piacuUr rites of the 7th cent. B.c. 602 SOP SOKCERY