Hebrew word · H6049

עָנַן

me'onenim

to divine

From the verb ʿānan II, found only in an intensive verb form meaning 'to practise soothsaying, divine'. The participle names a professional or habitual diviner. The technique is uncertain. In every case it means getting hidden knowledge from non-Yahwistic omens.

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) (Poel) to practise soothsaying, conjure

1a) to observe times, practice soothsaying or spiritism or magic or augury or witchcraft

1b) soothsayer, enchanter, sorceress, diviner, fortuneteller, barbarian, Meonenim (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 Isaiah 57:3

Range of meaning

From the verb ʿānan II, found only in an intensive verb form meaning 'to practise soothsaying, divine'. The participle names a professional or habitual diviner. The technique is uncertain. Proposals include reading clouds (ʿānān means 'cloud'), reading other signs in the sky, or a humming or murmuring style of speech (from an Arabic cognate). In every case it means getting hidden knowledge from non-Yahwistic omens.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT and ESV say 'sorceress'. Modern English hears casting spells and witchcraft. The Hebrew word is about fortune-telling and reading omens. It is about getting hidden information, not mainly about working magic on people. 'Soothsayer' or 'diviner' is closer.

How it drifted

The English 'sorcerer/sorceress' (from Old French sorcier, 'one who casts lots') once meant divination. Over time it shifted toward spell-casting and fantasy magic, and the feminine form picked up the European idea of the 'witch'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 19:26 and Deut 18:10, 14 forbid it. 2 Kgs 21:6 lists it among Manasseh's practices. Isa 2:6 complains that Judah has 'soothsayers like the Philistines'. Mic 5:12 promises to remove soothsayers. Judg 9:37 names a 'Diviners' Oak' (ʾēlôn məʿônənîm), which links the practice to sacred trees, the same setting as Isa 57:5 ('among the oaks'). The Septuagint here gives the general 'lawless sons'. The Vulgate gives filii auguratricis, 'sons of a female augur'.

From the study of Deuteronomy 18:10

Range of meaning

A practitioner of a kind of soothsaying whose exact technique is uncertain. Proposed derivations: (1) from ʿānān 'cloud', so reading the sky or clouds; (2) from ʿônâ 'time, season', so fixing lucky and unlucky days; (3) from a root seen in Arabic for a humming or nasal sound, so murmured oracles; (4) 'to cause to appear', so conjuring.

Against the English

KJV 'observer of times' follows rabbinic tradition. YLT 'observer of clouds' follows the cloud derivation. WEB and others use 'one who tells fortunes'. NASB uses 'witchcraft'. BSB's 'conjury' is attached to the preceding phrase. These are not different words in Hebrew, only different guesses about one word.

How it drifted

Translators had to commit to one etymology, and each English choice makes the practice look more specific than the evidence allows.

Used elsewhere in the period

It is paired with omen-taking in Lev 19:26 and 2 Kgs 21:6. Isaiah 2:6 says the people are 'full of soothsayers (ʿōnənîm) like the Philistines'. Mic 5:12 [Heb 5:11] mentions it alongside spells. In early rabbinic interpretation (Sifre Deut. 171; b. Sanhedrin 65b), Rabbi Akiva explains it as 'those who calculate times and hours', and others as people who 'deceive the eyes' with illusions. The Septuagint uses klēdonizomenos, 'one who takes omens from chance utterances'.

From the study of Jeremiah 27:9

Range of meaning

A practitioner of some kind of omen-reading or soothsaying. The method is unclear. Suggested links are to ʿānān 'cloud' (reading the clouds), to a root for 'murmuring or crooning' (chanting spells), or to ʿayin 'eye' (the evil eye). None of these is proven.

Against the English

KJV has 'enchanters', WEB and NASB 'soothsayers', YLT 'observers of clouds', and BSB and NIV 'mediums'. 'Mediums' implies talking to the dead, which Hebrew assigns to a different word (ʾôḇ, Deut 18:11). YLT's 'cloud' rendering is a guess from the word's root.

How it drifted

Translators have tried to make five distinct, sometimes obscure professions sound different in English, and 'medium' was the modern-sounding word to hand.

Used elsewhere in the period

It appears in the lists of banned practices in Lev 19:26 and Deut 18:10, 14. It is listed with Manasseh's sins (2 Kgs 21:6) and with Philistine practice in Isa 2:6. Isa 57:3 has the feminine ʿōnĕnāh, 'sorceress'. Mic 5:11 (English 5:12) announces the end of soothsayers.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 9:14 בְּעַֽנְנִ֥י when bring cloud I

    Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,

    Here: A verb built from the noun "cloud", literally "in my clouding". It occurs only here with this meaning. God is the one who brings the clouds, so even rain clouds come under his control and his promise.

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 19:26 תְעוֹנֵֽנוּ׃ you will practice soothsaying

    You must not eat anything with blood still in it. You must not practice divination or sorcery.

    Here: "You shall not practise soothsaying." It was a known kind of fortune-telling (Isaiah links it with the Philistines), but its exact technique is uncertain. Ancient guesses include reading clouds, calculating lucky and unlucky times, and murmured spells.

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 18:10 מְעוֹנֵ֥ן a soothsayer

    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: A practitioner of some kind of reading of signs. The exact method is lost. Ancient and modern guesses include watching clouds, calculating lucky and unlucky times, and a humming or murmuring style of speaking oracles. Its pairing with 'omen-taking' (Lev 19:26; 2 Kgs 21:6) shows it belongs to the same family of practices.

  2. Deuteronomy 18:14 מְעֹנְנִ֥ים soothsayers

    Though these nations, which you will dispossess, listen to conjurers and diviners, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 9:37 מְעוֹנְנִֽים׃ [the] soothsayer

    Then Gaal spoke up again, “Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming by way of the Diviners’ Oak.”

    Here: 'Those who practise soothsaying'. The verb form describes a professional activity. The tree was known as the place where diviners gave omens, a practice Deut. 18:10, 14 forbids to Israel.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 21:6 וְעוֹנֵ֣ן and he practiced soothsaying

    He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

    Here: A kind of fortune-telling whose exact technique is uncertain. Proposed meanings include reading clouds (from 'anan, 'cloud'; hence YLT 'observed clouds'), humming or crooning incantations, and making hidden things appear. KJV 'observed times' follows a rabbinic interpretation. The word is listed among practices forbidden in Deut 18:10.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 33:6 וְעוֹנֵ֤ן and he practiced soothsaying

    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: A kind of divination whose exact technique is uncertain. It may be reading clouds or signs, or making a spirit appear. It is on the forbidden list in Deuteronomy 18:10.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 2:6 וְעֹֽנְנִ֖ים and soothsayers

    For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners.

    Here: 'And soothsayers': specialists who read hidden signs to learn the future or the will of the gods. The Torah bans this practice by name (Lev 19:26; Deut 18:10, 14). Grammatically it may be a second thing they are 'full' of, or a description of what they have become.

  2. Isaiah 57:3 עֹנְנָ֑ה a soothsayer

    “But come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!

    Here: A feminine participle: 'a woman who practises soothsaying', a female diviner. Their 'mother' is pictured as someone who looked for hidden knowledge through the omen practices the Law forbade (Lev 19:26; Deut 18:10).

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 27:9 עֹֽנְנֵיכֶ֖ם soothsayers your

    But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’

    Here: 'Your soothsayers': a kind of omen-reader whose exact technique is unknown (it may have involved clouds, as YLT guesses). It does not mean consulting the dead.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 5:12 וּֽמְעוֹנְנִ֖ים and soothsayers

    I will cut the sorceries from your hand, and you will have no fortune-tellers.

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