Hebrew word · H3784

כָּשַׁף

umekhashef

to practice sorcery

'To practise sorcery, cast spells, bewitch'. This is active magic that aims to cause effects (harm, binding, protection) through spoken spells and ritual actions. The related noun keshāfîm means 'spells, sorceries'.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

1) (Piel) to practice witchcraft or sorcery, use witchcraft

1a) sorcerer, sorceress (participle)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Deuteronomy 18:10

Range of meaning: 'To practise sorcery, cast spells, bewitch'. This is active magic that aims to cause effects (harm, binding, protection) through spoken spells and ritual actions. The related noun keshāfîm means 'spells, sorceries'.
Against the English: KJV renders it 'witch'. Modern versions use 'sorcerer' (WEB, NASB, ESV) or 'practices sorcery' (BSB). NIV and NLT use 'witchcraft' language.
How it drifted: In 1611, 'witch' could refer to a practitioner of harmful magic of either sex. Today it brings to mind a woman, Halloween images, or the modern religion of Wicca. The Hebrew here is masculine and refers to an ancient specialist in spells.
Used elsewhere in the period: The word is a cognate of Akkadian kashāpu, 'to bewitch', and kishpū, 'witchcraft'. Mesopotamia had a whole counter-ritual series, Maqlû ('Burning'), for burning images of the kashshāpu/kashshāptu (male or female sorcerer) believed to be causing illness. In the Bible, Pharaoh's magicians are məkhashshəfîm (Exod 7:11), and so are Nebuchadnezzar's (Dan 2:2). Nineveh is 'mistress of sorceries' (Nah 3:4). Manasseh 'practised sorcery' (2 Chr 33:6). Exod 22:18 [Heb 22:17] uses the feminine form. The Septuagint renders it pharmakos, the root behind the New Testament pharmakeia ('sorcery') in Gal 5:20 and the pharmakoi of Rev 21:8; 22:15.

From the study of Exodus 22:18

Range of meaning: The verb kashaph (used in the intensive Piel form) means 'to practise sorcery, to work spells'. Related nouns: keshaphim 'sorceries, spells' (2 Kgs 9:22; Isa 47:9, 12; Mic 5:12; Nah 3:4) and kashshaph 'sorcerer' (Jer 27:9). The word covers covert ritual power: muttered incantations, knots and charms, and possibly potions or substances used in rites. All of it was aimed at affecting people or events outside the ordinary channels of worship. It is listed beside, but kept separate from, divination (qesem), omen-reading, mediums (ov) and spiritists (yidde'oni) in Deut 18:10–11.
Against the English: KJV 'witch'; most modern versions 'sorceress'. 'Sorceress' is closer. 'Witch' carries the later European picture of a woman who has made a pact with the devil and attends sabbaths, and the modern picture of Halloween or Wicca. The Hebrew word contains none of these.
How it drifted: In 1611 'witch' was a legal and theological category shaped by the European witch-hunts and England's Witchcraft Act of 1604. That category included a devil-pact, a demonic familiar and night gatherings. Translating the verse as 'witch' tied it to that category, and the verse was quoted in witch-hunting literature and trials. Later the word shifted again toward fairy-tale witches and modern neopagan religion.
Used elsewhere in the period: Its closest relative is Akkadian kašāpu 'to bewitch', with kišpū 'witchcraft' and kaššāpu / kaššaptu 'sorcerer / sorceress'. In Mesopotamia, harmful witchcraft was a crime. Laws of Hammurabi §2 handles a charge of kišpū by a river ordeal and executes a false accuser. Middle Assyrian Laws A §47 orders that a man or woman caught practising witchcraft be put to death. The Maqlû ('Burning') incantation series is a ritual for destroying the power of a kaššaptu, a female witch. In the Hebrew Bible the root is used of Pharaoh's magicians (Exod 7:11), Jezebel (2 Kgs 9:22), Babylon (Isa 47:9, 12), Nineveh (Nah 3:4), Manasseh (2 Chr 33:6) and the Babylonian court experts (Dan 2:2). The Greek Septuagint usually translates it with pharmakos/pharmakeia, 'sorcerer/sorcery'.

From the study of Daniel 2:2

Range of meaning: A participle of kāšap, 'to practise sorcery', from the noun kešep, spell or witchcraft. It belongs to Israel's vocabulary of forbidden magic: Pharaoh's 'sorcerers' (Exod 7:11), 'you shall not let a sorceress live' (Exod 22:18), the banned practices of Deut 18:10, the condemned sorcerers of Mal 3:5, and Manasseh's sins (2 Chr 33:6). The Akkadian cognate kašāpu means 'to bewitch', and kaššāpu/kaššaptu is the malicious witch.
Against the English: 'Sorcerers' is standard and fair. The English word does not carry the legal and moral weight the Hebrew had for an Israelite hearer.
Used elsewhere in the period: Babylonian anti-witchcraft rituals such as the Maqlû ('Burning') series treat the kaššāpu/kaššaptu as an enemy for the āšipu to defeat, not as a respectable court official. No Babylonian king would have listed 'witches' among his official scholars.

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

Exodus 7:11 וְלַֽמְכַשְּׁפִ֑ים and <to> the sorcerers

But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.

Here: People who practise spells meant to bind, harm or control. Elsewhere in the Torah this is a banned practice (Exodus 22:18; Deuteronomy 18:10), so an Israelite listener hears a hostile label.
Exodus 22:18 מְכַשֵּׁפָ֖ה a sorceress

You must not allow a sorceress to live.

Here: A feminine participle, literally 'a woman who practises kashaph'. Kashaph is spell-work: incantations and rites meant to harm, bind or control people by hidden supernatural means. It is placed first in the sentence for emphasis: 'A sorceress: you are not to keep her alive.'

Deuteronomy · 1

Deuteronomy 18:10 וּמְכַשֵּֽׁף׃ and a sorcerer

Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,

Here: 'And one who works spells.' The form is masculine. It means an active magician who uses spells and rituals to bring about effects, often harmful ones. It is the same word used for Pharaoh's court magicians (Exod 7:11). The list moves here from reading the future to changing it.

2 Chronicles · 1

2 Chronicles 33:6 וְֽכִשֵּׁ֔ף and he practiced sorcery

He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

Here: Working spells and ritual magic meant to cause effects, often harmful ones (Akkadian kišpū, 'sorcery'). The Chronicler adds it to the Kings list.

Daniel · 1

Daniel 2:2 וְלַֽמְכַשְּׁפִים֙ and <to> the sorcerers

So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to explain his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,

Here: Those who practise kešep, the spell-casting magic that the Torah bans outright (Exod 22:18; Deut 18:10). Putting them in the list labels the king's experts by Israel's own category of forbidden practice.

Malachi · 1

Malachi 3:5 בַּֽמְכַשְּׁפִים֙ on the sorcerers

“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

Here: People who practise ritual magic, meaning spells and harmful rites meant to manipulate unseen powers. The Torah forbids it outright (Exod 22:18; Deut 18:10). It comes first in the list.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.