Hebrew word · H4738

מִקְסָם

umiksam

divination

An oracle or result obtained by divination (qesem). The root q-s-m covers ways of reading the will of the gods from signs: casting lots or arrows, consulting household images, examining livers. The noun miqsām occurs only here and in Ezek 13:7.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

divination

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 Ezekiel 12:24

Range of meaning

An oracle or result obtained by divination (qesem). The root q-s-m covers ways of reading the will of the gods from signs: casting lots or arrows, consulting household images, examining livers. The noun miqsām occurs only here and in Ezek 13:7.

Against the English

All the major versions say 'divination' (NLT reportedly paraphrases it as 'predictions'). The word is accurate, but modern readers may picture a carnival fortune-teller instead of a respected, technical religious practice.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 18:10, 14 bans qesem outright and sets the true prophet against it (18:15–22). Num 22:7 and Josh 13:22: Balaam the diviner. 1 Sam 15:23: 'rebellion is the sin of divination'. Ezek 21:21 [Heb 21:26]: the king of Babylon 'practises divination' at the crossroads by shaking arrows, consulting teraphim and looking at the liver. Mic 3:6–7, 11: prophets who 'divine for money'.

Where it appears

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 12:24 וּמִקְסַ֣ם and divination of

    For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations within the house of Israel,

    Here: An oracle got by divining techniques, a practice Deuteronomy bans outright. Putting it next to 'vision' implies that some of Israel's 'prophets' were really diviners, or worked like them.

  2. Ezekiel 13:7 וּמִקְסַ֥ם and divination of

    Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken?

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