Meaning
Witchcraft (1Sam 15:23; 2Kings 9:22; 2Chr 33:6; Micah 5:12; Nahum 3:4; Gal 5:20). In the popular sense of the word no mention is made either of witches or of witchcraft in Scripture.
The "witch of En-dor" (1Sam 28) was a necromancer, i.e., one who feigned to hold converse with the dead. The damsel with "a spirit of divination" (Acts 16:16) was possessed by an evil spirit, or, as the words are literally rendered, "having a spirit, a pithon." The reference is to the heathen god Apollo, who was regarded as the god of prophecy.
