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Drug Abuse in Scripture and Other extra-Biblical Writings
THE MEDIEVAL CONCEPT
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- Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live -
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Exodus 22:18 KJV - Hebrew - Greek LXX - NIV
A WITCH
The terms witch and witchcraft have no universal definition, and the words, at different times and in different cultures have developed different meanings. As such it is initially important to note that not all ‘witches’ (from the Old English wicca, meaning ‘interwoven’) as the practitioners of the remnants of pagan folklore or other traditional religions do not necessarily practice diabolism, that is, the worship of evil for Evil’s sake.
In the English Bible sorcery and witchcraft - again from the original Hebrew כשף kashãph, the magical plant ‘off cutter’ of herbal abuses, (and hence in the LXX translation Greek of 250 BCE, the φαρμακύς pharmakús, the literal ‘drug enchanter’) - is condemned at Exodus 22:18. In later times, from the edict of Pope Alexander IV of 1258 and through the Renaissance from the Bull of Pope Innocent in 1485 when witchcraft was seen as heresy and devil worship the word came to mean: ‘A Witch’ One (usually a woman) in league with evil spirits [diabolism] who practices witchcraft, sorcery, and divination’. (Compton’s Commentary, author’s italic).
In the Biblical term the concept of diabolism is derived from Isaiah 28:15-18 q.v. and the Greek cognate διάβολος diabolos ‘the devil’, ‘a slanderer’, in Hebrew שטן Sâtân, ‘an enemy’, ‘accuser’. Etymologically the Greek is derived from διά dia ‘through’ and διαβέβολα, perf. mid. of βάλλω bállo ‘to throw’ i.e. of slander, the lie, the disinformation etc. See also Hebrews 2:14 (RSV).
Confer e.g. the ISBE vol iii pp.2693-6 for a further Greek and Hebrew etymology of these words. Also The Analytical Greek Lexicon (Wigram) p.90 (Free Download PDF) + Dawson’s Greek Lexicon
From what is undoubtedly a dubious exposition of Galatians 3:1, and not apparently from any exegesis of the the original Scriptures at Galatians 5:20 or Revelation 17:5-18:23, according to the medieval torture manual Malleus Malificarum (the legislative ‘Witch Hammer’ of 1486) a chief weapon in the armoury of the witches was not
 the herbal or the drug hex as such, though to some degree, from classical literature, it was acknowledged, but was more ‘a certain fascination cast by the eyes’ (M.M. part 1, q.2, p.1) and many as such, usually women, (the Hebrew פה מכש root kashãph KJV ‘a witch’ at Ex. 22:18 is a feminine singular) - at the whim of the misogynist, predator, or other capricious were often accused of diabolism as the league of Satan and enemies of God with all its terrible and tragic consequences. It is sometimes claimed that over nine-million souls perished in the witchtrials. See column right.
Woodcut: Innocent VIII, Pope from 1484-1492. Original source unknown. Public domain
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Although the ecclesiastical Canon Episcopal of 906 CE had spoken against the erroneous notions associated with witchcraft, the Bull of Innocent VIII, the Summis desiderantes affectibus ‘Desiring with supreme ardor’ launched the Witch Hammer with the full force of the Inquisition throughout Europe. It survived for over 200 years. It is now believed that at least part of the official Letter of Approbation, which the Inquisitors attached to the Hammer, and which apparently conferred the support of the faculty of theology of the University of Cologne, is fraudulent.
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The atrocities recorded in Scripture and other ancient or medieval documentation cannot preclude however the precept of Isaiah 28:15-18 q.v. and those concepts inextricably linked with the occult and the dark arts.
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The Hebrew of Exodus 22:18 translates from the New International Version of 1988
‘Do not allow a sorceress (פה מכש) to live’ again the root is the Hebrew כשף kashãph the magical ‘off cutter’ with drugs.
The Greek of the LXX is explicit:
φαρμακύς ου περιποιήσετε
‘Though shalt not suffer the demon of drug abuse (the φαρμακύς pharmakús) to survive’, literally ‘to have gain or safe acquiring’ (περιποιήσετε)
(Trans JHM)
The Apostolic Bible Polyglot (Charles Van der Pool, 1996) translates this verse:
‘[Those who] administer potions you shall not procure’.
The various reading περιβιωσετε ‘preserve alive’ or ’to live’ is marginalized in both the Apostolic Bible and the Vatican printed text of the Septuaginta Seniorum
The academic Grammar of Septuagint Greek p.173 (F.C. Conybeare and St. George Stock, 1905) leaves a translation footnote:
hence
φαρμακούς pharmakoús = ‘medicine-man’, ‘a sorcerer’ to survive. Exodus 22:18
Public domain
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With or without a synopsis of the more modern lexicography and translations of the Hebrew and LXX Greek, the Inquisition extermination of witches and witchcraft as a universal diabolism can only be seen as one of the darkest epochs ever recorded against the human mind in history. The Churches, both Catholic and Protestant alike, as much for reasons political as religious, chose at this time not to follow the merciful precepts of God, nor Gospel example, but rather to manipulate unmercifully the context of ancient Hebrew laws that were generally designed in the original against the spectre of endemic or epidemic drug abuse in the ancient kingdoms.
On Sunday 12 March 2000, Pope John Paul II celebrated Holy Mass in St Peter's Basilica and asked the Lord's forgiveness for the sins, past and present, of the Church.
Pope John Paul II emphasized "[W]e cannot fail to recognize the infidelities to the Gospel committed by some of our brethren [...] Let us ask pardon for the divisions which have occurred among Christians, for the violence some have used in the service of the truth".
This would include, as noted by the media, the excesses of the Inquisition.
A full transcript is available from the International Theological Commission Memory and Reconciliation: the Church and the Faults of the Past.
Day of Pardon
For a further brief introduction to the History of Witchcraft and the corresponding uses and abuses of the medieval herbal, with a more detailed synopsis of the Inquisition pogrom.
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