Familiar
Familiar [1]
fa -mil´yar : Is found as an adjective qualifying "friend" and "spirit."
(1) Used, in a number of Old Testament passages, of spirits which were supposed to come at the call of one who had power over them. אוב , 'ōbh , literally, something "hollow"; compare אוב , 'ōbh , "bottle" ( Job 32:19 the King James Version); because the voice of the spirit might have been supposed to come from the one possessed, as from a bottle, or because of the hollow sound which characterized the utterance, as out of the ground ( Isaiah 29:4 ); or, as some have conjectured, akin to אוּב , 'ūbh , "return" ( νεκρόμαντις , nekrómantis ). Probably called "familiar" because it was regarded as a servant ( famulus ), belonging to the family ( familiaris ), who might be summoned to do the commands of the one possessing it. The practice of consulting familiar spirits was forbidden by the Mosaic law ( Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:6 , Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:11 ). King Saul put this away early in his reign, but consulted the witch of Endor, who "had a familiar spirit" ( 1 Samuel 28:3 , 1 Samuel 28:7 , 1 Samuel 28:8 , 1 Samuel 28:9; 1 Chronicles 10:13 ). King Manasseh fell into the same sin ( 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chronicles 33:6 ); but Josiah put those who dealt with familiar spirits out of the land ( 2 Kings 23:24 ).
It seems probable, however, that the practice prevailed more or less among the people till the exile ( Isaiah 8:19; Isaiah 19:3 ). See "Divination by the 'Ôb " in Expository Times , IX, 157; Astrology , 1; Communion With Demons .
(2) "Familiars," "familiar friend," from ידע , yādha‛ , "to know," hence, "acquaintance," one intimately attached ( Job 19:14 ); but more frequently of 'ĕnōsh shālōm , "man of (my or thy) peace," that is, one to whom the salutation of peace is given ( Psalm 41:9; Jeremiah 20:10; Jeremiah 38:22; also in Obadiah 1:7 , rendered "the men that were at peace with thee").
