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Strong's
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The Blue Letter Bible

Lexicon :: Strong's H178 - 'ôḇ

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אוֹב
Transliteration
'ôḇ
Pronunciation
obe
Listen
Part of Speech
masculine noun
Root Word (Etymology)
From the same as אָב (H1) (apparently through the idea of prattling a father's name)
Dictionary Aids

TWOT Reference: 37a

Strong’s Definitions

אוֹב ʼôwb, obe; from the same as H1 (apparently through the idea of prattling a father's name); properly, a mumble, i.e. a water-skin (from its hollow sound); hence a necromancer (ventriloquist, as from a jar):—bottle, familiar spirit.

KJV Translation Count — Total: 17x

The KJV translates Strong's H178 in the following manner: familiar spirit(s) (16x), bottles (1x).

KJV Translation Count — Total: 17x
The KJV translates Strong's H178 in the following manner: familiar spirit(s) (16x), bottles (1x).

  1. water skin bottle

  2. necromancer

    1. necromancer, one who evokes the dead

    2. ghost, spirit of a dead one

    3. practice of necromancy

  3. one that has a familiar spirit

Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
אוֹב ʼôwb, obe; from the same as H1 (apparently through the idea of prattling a father's name); properly, a mumble, i.e. a water-skin (from its hollow sound); hence a necromancer (ventriloquist, as from a jar):—bottle, familiar spirit.
STRONGS H178: Abbreviations
אוֺב noun masculineJob 32:19 skin-bottle, necromancer, etc. — absolute א׳ Leviticus 20:27 + 8 times; plural אֹבוֺת Leviticus 19:31 + 7 times —
1. skin-bottle, only plural אֹבוֺת חֲדָשִׁים new (wine-) skins Job 32:19.
2. necromancer, in phrase אוֺב אוֺ יִדְּעֹנִי necromancer or wizard Leviticus 20:27 (H; usually translated 'a man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit or that is a wizard' RV; but better a man or a woman, if there should be among them, a necromancer or wizard; no sufficient reason for exceptional use of phrase here); וְיִדְּעֹנִי א׳ Deuteronomy 18:11; 2 Chronicles 33:6 = 2 Kings 21:6 (where וידענים א׳); הָאֹבוֺת וְהַיִּדְּעֹנִים Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:6 (H) 1 Samuel 28:3, 9; 2 Kings 23:24; Isaiah 8:19 (where repres. as chirping & muttering, in practice of their art of seeking dead for instruction, probably ventriloquism, & so Greek Version of the LXX) Isaiah 19:3.
3. ghost, Isaiah 29:4 וְהָיָה כְּאוֺב מֵאֶרֶץ קוֺלֵח וּמֵעָפָר אִמְרָתֵח תְּצַפְצֵף and thy voice shall be as a ghost from the ground and from the dust thy speech shall chirp (so Ge MV Ew De Che and others, but chirping might be of necromancer, as Isaiah 8:19).
4. necromancy אֵשֶׁת בַּעֲלַת־אוֺב a woman who was mistress of necromancy 1 Samuel 28:7 (twice in verse); (> RSJPh xiv, 127 f makes אוֺב primarily a subterranean spirit, and significant. 2 only an abbreviation of בעלתא׳ etc.); קסם בּאוֺב divine by necromancy 1 Samuel 28:8, which seems to be interpretation of 1 Chronicles 10:13 שׁאל בא׳ inquire by necromancy. (In these three examples אוֺב is usually interpreted as ghost or familiar spirit conceived as dwelling in necromancer; but this apparently not the ancient conception.)
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc.
All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com

BLB Scripture Index of Brown-Driver-Briggs

Leviticus

19:31; 19:31; 20:6; 20:27; 20:27

Deuteronomy

18:11

1 Samuel

28:3; 28:7; 28:8; 28:9

2 Kings

21:6; 23:24

1 Chronicles

10:13

2 Chronicles

33:6

Job

32:19; 32:19

Isaiah

8:19; 8:19; 19:3; 29:4

H178

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Word / Phrase / Strong's Search

Strong's Number H178 matches the Hebrew אוֹב ('ôḇ),
which occurs 17 times in 16 verses in the WLC Hebrew.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Lev 19:31

Unchecked Copy BoxLev 19:31 - “ ‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lev 20:6

Unchecked Copy BoxLev 20:6 - “ ‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lev 20:27

Unchecked Copy BoxLev 20:27 - “ ‘A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.’ ”

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Unchecked Copy Box Deu 18:11

Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 18:11 - or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 28:3

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 28:3 - Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 28:7

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 28:7 - Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” “There is one in Endor,” they said.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 28:8

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 28:8 - So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 28:9

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 28:9 - But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 21:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 21:6 - He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:24

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:24 - Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the LORD.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ch 10:13

Unchecked Copy Box1Ch 10:13 - Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ch 33:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Ch 33:6 - He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 32:19

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 32:19 - inside I am like bottled-up wine, like new wineskins ready to burst.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 8:19

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 8:19 - When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 19:3

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 19:3 - The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 29:4

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 29:4 - Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper.
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