owb (obe) [178]

Meaning

a.  From the same as 1 (apparently through the idea of prattling a father's name).

b.  Probably a mumble, i.e. a water-skin (from its hollow sound); hence, a necromancer (ventriloquist, as from a jar)

Phonetics: owb

1.  Owb means "spirit (of the dead); necromancer; pit."

2.  The word usually represents the troubled spirit (or spirits) of the dead.  This meaning appears unquestionably in Isaiah 29:4, "And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit [owb;178], out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. "

3.  Its second meaning, "necromancer," refers to a professional who claims to summon forth such spirits when requested (or hired) to do so, Leviticus 19:31 (first mention), "Regard not them that have familiar spirits [owb;178], neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. "

These mediums summoned their "guides" from a hole in the ground. Saul asked the medium (witch) of Endor, 1 Samuel 28:8, "And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit [owb; 178], and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. "

4.  God forbade Israel to seek information by this means, which was so common among the pagans; Deuteronomy 18:10-11, "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits [owb;178], or a wizard, or a necromancer. "

Perhaps the pagan belief in manipulating one's basic relationship to a god (or gods) explains the relative silence of the Old Testament regarding life after death.  Yet God's people believed in life after death, from early times, example Genesis 37:35, "And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. " and Isaiah 14:15, "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. "

5.  Necromancy was so contrary to God's commands that its practitioners were under the death penalty; Deuteronomy 13.

6.  Necromancy's unusual experiences do not prove that they truly had power to summon the dead.  For example, the medium of Endor could not snatch Samuel out of God's hands against His wishes.  But in this particular incident, it seems that God rebuked Saul's apostasy, either through a revived Samuel or through a vision of Samuel.  Mediums do not have power to summon the spirits of the dead, since this is reprehensible to God and contrary to His will.

Syn: 7307 (ruach)

Phonetics: