The Undiscovered "Witches" of the Bible: On the Absence of Ezekiel 13:17–23 in the Early Modern Witchcraft Debate

Abstract:In the Hebrew Bible we find a diatribe against false prophetesses in Ezekiel 13:17–23. The prophet's verbal attack on these women is preserved in a highly complex text, riddled with text-critical issues and hapax legomena. Ezekiel accuses them of entrapping souls and manipulating life and death. Many scholars have interpreted this obscure text as a reference to witchcraft; these women are understood by Ezekiel to be engaged in harmful magic. However, it has also been argued that the prophet is delivering a polemic against necromancy or certain midwifery rituals. Although the precise nature of the women's activities remains shrouded in mystery, their description contains elements that are reminiscent of the learned concept of witchcraft as it circulated throughout Europe in the early modern period. Nevertheless, despite the demonologies being full of scriptural references, Ezekiel 13:17–23 is noticeably absent. This article compares the depiction of these women and their activities with the portrayal of the witch and her maleficiumin the early modern witchcraft debate. It further explains why the demonologists overlooked this passage by examining its reception history from the period of the early church onward.