King James Bible Dictionary

Occurs only in Exodus 22:18, as the rendering of mekhashshepheh, the feminine form of the word, meaning "enchantress" (R.V., "sorceress"), and in Deuteronomy 18:10, as the rendering of mekhashshepheth, the masculine form of the word, meaning "enchanter."

WITCH, noun

1. A woman who by compact with the devil, practices sorcery or enchantment.

2. A woman who is given to unlawful arts.

3. A winding sinuous bank.

WITCH, verb transitive To bewitch; to fascinate; to enchant.

Ill witch sweet ladies with my words and looks.

[DIVINATION; MAGIC, MAGICIANS]

(1 Samuel 15:23; 2 Kings 9:22; 2 Chronicles 33:6; Micah 5:12; Nahum 3:4; Galatians 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" (1 Samuel 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.

Law concerning
Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:6; Leviticus 20:27

Witch of En-Dor
1 Samuel 28:7-25

Witches destroyed
1 Samuel 28:3; 1 Samuel 28:9
Sorcery

WITCHCRAFT, [witch and craft.]

1. The practices of witches; sorcery; enchantments; intercourse with the devil.

2. Power more than natural.

He hath a witchcraft over the king ins tongue.

WITCH-ELM, noun A kind of elm.

WITCHERY, noun

1. Sorcery; enchantment.

2. Fascination.

WITCH-HAZEL, noun

1. A species of elm, (Ulmus montana.)

2. The hop-hornbeam, (carpinus ostrya.)

The Virginian witch-hazel is the Hamemelis virginica, a shrub which flowers in autumn when its leaves are falling.