Others contend that these conjurors were aided by familiar spirits or infernal agents, with the Divine permission, in the performance of their wonderful feats. 'Earth, air and ocean,' says a sensible writer, 'may contain many things of which our philosophy has never dreamt. If this consideration tend to humble the pride of learn ing, it may remind the Christian that secret things belong not to him, but to a higher power.' It is reasonable to suppose that as Moses never had been in any other civilized country, all the allusions contained in his writings to the various forms of divination were those which were prac ticed in Egypt, and, indeed, so strong a taste had his countrymen imbibed there for this species of superstition that throughout the whole course of their history it seems to have infected the na tional character and habits.
(15) Divination a Snare to the Hebrews. The diviners, who abounded both amongst the aborigines of Canaan and their Philistine neigh bors (Ig. ii :61, proved a great snare to the Israel ites after their settlement in the promised land, and yet, notwithstanding the stern prohibitions of the law, no vigorous efforts were made to put an end to the crime by extirpating the practitioners of the unhallowed art, until the days of Saul, who himself. however, violated the statute on the night previous to his disastrous fall (I Sam. xxviii).
(16) Chaldma, the Mother Country of Divin ers. But it was Chaldwa to which the distinction belongs of being the mother country of diviners. Such a degree of power and influence had they at tained in that country (see CHALD'EA) that they formed the highest caste and enjoyed a place at court ; nay, so indispensable were they in alai dxan society that no step could be taken, not a relation could be formed, a house built, a journey undertaken, a campaign begun, until the diviners had ascertained the lucky day and promised a happy issue.
A great influx of these impostors had, at vari ous times, poured from Chalehea and Arabia into the land of Israel to pursue their gainful occupa Lion, more especially during the reign of the later kings (Is. Yin :to), and we find Manasseh not only their liberal patron, but zealous to appear as one of their most expert accomplices (2 Kings xxi :6 ; 2 Chron. xxxiii :6). The long captivities
in Babylon spread more widely than ever among the Jews a devoted attachment to this supersti tion, for after their return to their own country, having entirely renounced idolatry, and, at the same time, no longer enjoying the gift of prophecy or access to the sacred oracles, they gradually abandoned themselves, as Lightfoot has satisfac torily shown, before the advent of Christ. to all the prevailing forms of divination (Comment. on Matt.).
(17) Mosaic Denunciations Against. Against every species and degree of this seductive super stition the sternest denunciations of the Mosaic law were directed (Exod. xxii:18; Lev. xix:26, 31 ; xx :27 ; Deut. xviii :to, tt ), as fostering a love for unlawful knowledge and withdrawing the mind from God who only is wise ; while, at the same time, repeated and distinct promises were given that in place of diviners and all who used enchantments God would send them prophets. messengers of truth, who would declare the Divine will. reveal futurity and afford them all the useful knowledge which was vainly sought for from those pretended oracles of wisdom. Much discussion, however, has been carried on by learned men to determine the question whether the ancient tribe of diviners merely pretended to the powers they exercised, or were actually assisted by demoniacal agency. The latter opinion is em braced by almost all the fathers of the primitive church.
(18) A System of Imposture. On the other hand, it has been with great ability and erudition maintained that the whole arts of divination were a system of imposture, and that Scripture itself frequently ridicules those who practiced them as utterly helpless and incapable of accomplishing anything beyond the ordinary powers of nature (Is. xlvii :t 1-13 ; xliv :25 Jer. xiv :14 ; Jonah ii :3 ; see Faber's Origin of Pagan Idolatry; Farmer's Dissert. on Miracles; Lightfoot's Works; Pot ter's Antiq. i :354 Stolherg's Hilt. of Relig. Goodwin's Moses and Aaron, p. 216; Rosenmiil ler's Geog. Vil :101, 102; Gesenins's Comment. on Isaiah, app. xi; Richardson's Dissertation on the Manners of Eastern Nations). J.