Leviticus 19:26 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

Bible Comments

Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times. Neither shall ye use enchantment - לא תנחשו lo thenachashu. Conjecture itself can do little towards a proper explanation of the terms used in this verse. נחש nachash; See note at Genesis 3:1 (note), we translate serpent, and with very little propriety; but though the word may not signify a serpent in that place, it has that signification in others. Possibly, therefore, the superstition here prohibited may be what the Greeks called Ophiomanteia, or divination by serpents.

Nor observe times - ולא תעוננו velo teonenu, ye shall not divine by clouds, which was also a superstition much in practice among the heathens, as well as divination by the flight of birds. What these prohibitions may particularly refer to, we know not. See Clarke's note on Genesis 41:8.

Leviticus 19:26

26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.