Mosaic Prophecy versus Divination: Deuteronomy 18:9–22 and Selected Prophetic Texts

Abstract

Deuteronomy 18:9–22 condemns divinatory practices including קסם (“divination”) and places it as an antithesis of prophecy. This activity is placed at the head of the list of divinatory activities in Deut 18:10–11, suggesting that it is a generic term for divination in the Hebrew Bible. The term קסם, however, is strongly correlated with prophecy in parts of prophetic literature. Why is there such a variance between Deut 18 and these parts of prophetic literature in the assessment of this activity? I view the antithetical separation of נביא (“prophet”) and קסם in Deuteronomy as a literary phenomenon that does not entirely represent the historical relationship between these terms as presented in preexilic texts like Mic 3:5–7. Nor is the antithetical relationship reflective of the relationship of נביא and קסם in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The negative assessment of קסם and other activities in the list of divinatory activities in Deut 18 is the consequence of a reassessment of mantic activites that took place as part of a broader Deuteronomistic theological reflection on the fall of Jerusalem. This same scheme led to the reservation of the word נביא for a brand of mediation that is Mosaic in character and considered Israelite in origin.