Augury, in the context of the Bible, refers to the practice of interpreting omens or signs to predict future events. This practice was common among ancient cultures and often involved observing the behavior of birds, animals, or other natural phenomena. In the biblical narrative, augury is consistently portrayed as contrary to the will of God and is associated with pagan practices.

Biblical References and Prohibitions

The Bible explicitly condemns augury and similar practices as forms of divination. In Deuteronomy 18:10-12 , God commands the Israelites: "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable things the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you."

This passage clearly categorizes augury alongside other forbidden practices, emphasizing its incompatibility with the worship of Yahweh. The Israelites were to be distinct from the surrounding nations, many of whom relied on such practices for guidance.

Historical Context

In the ancient Near East, augury was a widespread practice. Cultures such as the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Canaanites often employed diviners and soothsayers to interpret signs and predict the future. These practices were deeply intertwined with their religious systems and were believed to provide insight into the will of the gods.

The Israelites, however, were called to rely solely on God for guidance. The use of augury was seen as a lack of trust in God's sovereignty and provision. Instead of seeking omens, the Israelites were to seek God's will through prayer, the Law, and the prophets.

Examples in Scripture

While the Bible does not provide detailed accounts of augury being practiced by the Israelites, it does mention instances where foreign nations or individuals engaged in similar practices. For example, in 2 Kings 17:17 , the Israelites are condemned for adopting the practices of the nations around them: "They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and sorcery. They sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger."

Additionally, the account of Balaam in Numbers 22-24 illustrates the tension between divination and the true word of God. Although Balaam was a diviner, God intervened to ensure that only His words were spoken through Balaam, demonstrating God's ultimate authority over any form of human divination.

Theological Implications

From a theological perspective, the prohibition of augury underscores the importance of faith and reliance on God. The practice of augury is seen as an attempt to control or predict the future apart from God's revelation. It reflects a desire for certainty and control that is contrary to the biblical call to trust in God's providence and timing.

The Bible's stance against augury serves as a reminder of the sufficiency of God's word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Believers are encouraged to seek wisdom and direction through prayer, Scripture, and the counsel of godly individuals, rather than through forbidden practices that seek to circumvent God's established means of communication.1. (n.) The art or practice of foretelling events by observing the actions of birds, etc.; divination.

2. (n.) An omen; prediction; prognostication; indication of the future; presage.

3. (n.) A rite, ceremony, or observation of an augur.

AUGURY

o'-gu-ri o'-gur-i: This word occurs in the Revised Version (British and American) in Leviticus 19:26 Deuteronomy 18:10, 14 2 Kings 21:6, and the parallel in 2 Chronicles 33:6. In all these cases the verb "practice augury" is in the King James Version "to observe times." The verb thus translated is `onen, which means probably to utter a low croaking sound as was done in divining. See DIVINATION.

I. Definition.

The derivation of "augur" is doubtful, but that it means strictly to divine from the flight of birds is suggested by its likeliest etymology (avis, gur) and especially from the fact that in early Latin the augur was called auspex (= avi spex). But both words came to be applied to all forms of divining from omens.

II. Augury among the Romans.

The Roman augur was a government official, paid to guide the councils of the nation in times of peace and of war. The principal signs from which these augurs deduced their omens were these:

(1) celestial signs, chiefly lightning and thunder, the direction of the former (right to left a good sign, and vice versa);

(2) signs from the flight, cries and feeding of birds;

(3) signs from the movements and audible sounds of animals, including serpents;

(4) signs from the examination of the entrails of animals;

(5) belomancy, or divination by arrows;

(6) sortilege, or divination by lot. Among the Romans as among other nations (Babylonians, etc.), a sacrifice was offered before omens were taken, so as to propitiate the gods.

III. Augury among the Greeks.

Almost the only kind of divination practiced or even known among the Romans was that by signs or omens, though Cicero (de Div. i.1) notices another kind which may be called divining by direct inspiration from the gods. It is this higher and more spiritual mode of divining that obtained most largely among the Greeks, whose chief word for diviner implies this. Yet the lower kind of divination known as augury was to some extent practiced among the Greeks.

IV. Augury among the Hebrews.

In general it may be said that the religion of Israel set itself steadfastly and consistently against augury; a very remarkable fact when one remembers how rife it was among the surrounding peoples-Arabs, Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, etc. Surely there is in this evidence of special Divine guidance, for those ancient Hebrews are not fit to be compared with the Babylonians or Egyptians or Romans for achievements in art and general secular literature. For the attitude of the Old Testament toward augury see the passages enumerated in the opening of this article. Several kinds of augury are mentioned in the Old Testament, and in some eases without explicit condemnation.

1. Belomancy:

Belomancy was a method of divination by arrows, a number of which were marked in certain ways, then mixed and drawn at random. We have a reference to this in Hosea 4:12: `My people ask counsel from their wood [literally, "tree"] and their staff [i. e. "arrow"] tells them (their oracles)'; and also in Ezekiel 21:21: `For the king of Babylon. used divination, shaking the arrows to and fro.' The first passage shows that belomancy was practiced by Israelites though the prophet condemned it. The second is interesting as showing how the Babylonian used his arrows. It is to be noticed that the prophet Ezekiel records the incident without making any comment on it, favorable or otherwise. He would, however, had he spoken, almost certainly have condemned it. Mohammed forbade this use of arrows as "an abomination of Satan's work" (Koran, Sur. 5 92).

2. Hydromancy:

Hydromancy, or divination by water, was practiced by Joseph (Genesis 44:3-5) without any censure on the part of the writer. There were among the Romans and other ancient nations, as among modern Arabs, etc., many modes of divining by means of water. Generally a piece of silver or gold or a precious stone was thrown into a vessel containing water: the resulting movements of the water and the figures formed were interpreted according to certain fixed signs. See August., de Civ. Dei, vii0.31; Strabo xvi0.110.39; Iamblichus, de Myst., iii0.4.

3. Sortliege:

Of sortliege, or divination by lot, we have instances in Leviticus 16:8 Matthew 27:35 1 Chronicles 25:8; Jonah 1:2; Acts 1:26, etc. The Urim and Thummim was simply a case of sortilege, though in this case, as in the cases enumerated above, God was supposed to control the result. A proper translation of 1 Samuel 14:41, based on a text corrected according to the Septuagint of Lucian, is the following: "And Saul said, O Lord the God of Israel, why hast thou not answered thy servant this day? If the iniquity be in me or in Jonathan my son, give Urim; and if thou sayest thus, The..." It iniquity is in the people, give Thummim. seems almost certain that these words refer to two balls put into the high priest's ephod and drawn by him at random, the one divining one answer, and the other the contrary.

4. Other Methods:

We meet with several other signs. The prophet Elisha directs King Joash to throw two arrows through the window in order to find out whether the king will be victorious or not (2 Kings 13:14-19). If Gideon's fleece were wet and the ground dry this was to be a sign of coming victory over the Midianites. There is nothing in the narrative disapproving of the course taken (Judges 6:36-40). In 1 Samuel 14:8 Jonathan is represented as deciding whether or not he is to attack the Philistines by the words he will hear them speak. See further Genesis 24:12-19 2 Kings 20:9.

5. Dreams:

Dreams are very commonly mentioned in the Bible as a means of forecasting the future. See Genesis 20:3, 6 (Abimelech); 31:10-13 (Jacob); 37:05:00; 40:3 (Joseph), and also Judges 7:13 1 Kings 3:5; Matthew 1:20; Matthew 2:12; 27:19, etc. The part of the Pentateuch ascribed by Wellhausen, etc., to Elohist abounds with accounts of such significant dreams.

6. Astrology:

That omens were taken from the heavenly bodies by the Babylonians, and other ancient nations is matter of definite knowledge, but it is never countenanced in the Old Testament. Indeed the only explicit reference to it in the Hebrew Scriptures occurs in Isaiah 47:13 where the Exilic author mockingly urges Babylon to turn to her astrologers that they may save her from her threatened doom.

Several cuneiform inscriptions give lists of celestial omens by which Babylonian augurs prognosticated the future. In Matthew 2 the wise men received their first intimation of the birth of the child Jesus from a bright star which they saw in the East.

V. Higher Character of Hebrew Prophecy.

Though Old Testament prophecy in its lowest forms has features in common with heathen divination, it stands on an infinitely higher level. The prophet speaks under a strong impulse and from a sense of duty. The heathen diviner plied his calling for money. The Greek mantis worked himself into a state of frenzy, thought to imply inspiration, by music and certain drugs. The prophet believed himself directly guided by God. See ASTROLOGY, 1; DIVINATION.

LITERATURE.

T. Witton Davies, Magic. Divination and Demonology among the Hebrews, 1898, 72; articles on "Divination" in Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible (five volumes) (Jevons); Encyclopedia Biblica (T. Witton Davies), and on "Augury" in Jewish Encyclopedia (Blau), valuable as giving the rabbinical side as well.

T. Witton Davies

4738. miqsam -- divination
... Word Origin from the same as qesem Definition divination NASB Word Usage divination
(2). divination. From qacam; an augury -- divination. see HEBREW qacam. ...
/hebrew/4738.htm - 6k

5173. nachash -- divination, enchantment
... enchantment. From nachash; an incantation or augury -- enchantment. see HEBREW
nachash. 5172, 5173. nachash. 5174 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/5173.htm - 6k

Of the Falsity of the Augury by which the Strength and Stability ...
... Book IV. Chapter 29."Of the Falsity of the Augury by Which the Strength and
Stability of the Roman Empire Was Considered to Be Indicated. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city of god/chapter 29 of the falsity of.htm

But Besides, if Birds of Augury Converse with one Another...
... Chapter XCI. But besides, if birds of augury converse with one another?
But besides, if birds of augury converse with one another ...
/.../origen/origen against celsus/chapter xci but besides if.htm

And Wishing to Show at Greater Length that Even the Thoughts of ...
... not only among the Greeks, but also among the Barbarians, who have either discovered
or learned from certain demons some things about birds of augury and other ...
/.../origen/origen against celsus/chapter lxxxviii and wishing to.htm

Concerning Felicity, whom the Romans, who Venerate Many Gods, for ...
... Therefore, if it is thought they can be consulted by augury, or in any other way,
the gods themselves should be consulted about this thing, whether they may ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 23 concerning felicity whom the.htm

Whether we Ought to Distinguish Several Species of Divination?
... the movements and cries of birds or of any animals, or the sneezing of men, or the
sudden movements of limbs, this belongs in general to "augury," which is so ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether we ought to distinguish.htm

First Tractate.
... Augury, it is urged, is able from these indications to foretell what is to happen
not merely to the universe as a whole, but even to individuals, and this not ...
//christianbookshelf.org/plotinus/the six enneads/first tractate 3.htm

The Greeks Claim, Without Reason, the Invention of the Arts.
... invented the art of divining by dreams; the Carians, that of prognosticating by
the stars; the Phrygians and the most ancient Isaurians, augury by the flight ...
/.../tatian/tatians address to the greeks/chapter i the greeks claim without.htm

The Folly of this Heresy it Dissects and Mutilates the Deity. ...
... [6655] And in this we have the first augury of our victory; because even merely
to point out that which is concealed with so great an outlay of artifice, [6656 ...
/.../tertullian/against the valentinians/chapter iii the folly of this.htm

On the Government of God
... Assyrians, 198, 206. Asylum, 150. Athens, 230. Athletes, 162. Attic wisdom, 221.
Attila, 140. Augury, 161. Augustine, St., 21, 22, 43; Bon. coniug., 221n; Contra ...
//christianbookshelf.org/salvian/on the government of god/index 2.htm

Argument: Moreover, God not Only Takes Care of the Universal World ...
... I pass over the Persians who gathered the augury for their chieftainship from the
neighing of horses; [1766] and I do not quote that absolutely dead fable of ...
/.../the octavius of minucius felix/chapter xviii argument moreover god not.htm

Augury (5 Occurrences)
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. AUGURY. ... But both words came to be applied to
all forms of divining from omens. II. Augury among the Romans. ...
/a/augury.htm - 17k

Augur's
... o'-gurs' ok: If we translated the Hebrew verb `onen, "to practice augury" (see AUGURY)
we should in Judges 9:37 for "the oak of Meonemm" render "the augurs' oak ...
/a/augur's.htm - 8k

Enchantment (4 Occurrences)
... They included enchantment, sorcery, witchcraft, sooth-saying, augury, necromancy,
divination in numberless forms, and all kinds of magic article Nine varieties ...
/e/enchantment.htm - 16k

Oak (22 Occurrences)
... o'-gurs' ok: If we translated the Hebrew verb `onen, "to practice augury" (see AUGURY)
we should in Judges 9:37 for "the oak of Meonemm" render "the augurs' oak ...
/o/oak.htm - 33k

Soothsaying (4 Occurrences)
... Leviticus 19:26 Ye shall not eat anything with the blood: neither shall
ye use enchantments, nor practise augury. (See JPS NAS). ...
/s/soothsaying.htm - 8k

Divined (6 Occurrences)
... 2 Kings 21:6 And he made his son to pass through the fire, and practised augury,
and used enchantments, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with ...
/d/divined.htm - 8k

Practised (13 Occurrences)
... 2 Kings 21:6 And he made his son to pass through the fire, and practised augury,
and used enchantments, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with ...
/p/practised.htm - 10k

Astrology
... 1. Methods of Soothsaying: The forms of soothsaying mentioned in this catalogue
are as follows: "One that practiceth augury" (me`onen) is of uncertain etymology ...
/a/astrology.htm - 38k

Divination (25 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) An indication of what is future or secret; augury omen; conjectural presage;
prediction. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. DIVINATION. ... See AUGURY. ...
/d/divination.htm - 45k

Practise (52 Occurrences)
... (ASV). Leviticus 19:26 Ye shall not eat anything with the blood: neither shall
ye use enchantments, nor practise augury. (See JPS ASV DBY). ...
/p/practise.htm - 22k

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