Witchcraft and divination in the Hebrew Bible

Various forms of witchcraft and divination are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, which are expressly forbidden.

Prohibitions

Laws prohibiting various forms of witchcraft and divination can be found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. These include the following is always used together with ov "consulter with familiar spirits", and its semantic similarity to doresh el hametim raises the question of why all three are mentioned in the same verse. The Jewish tractate Sanhedrin makes the distinction that a doresh el hametim was a person who would sleep in a cemetery after having starved himself, in order to become possessed.
A prophetic passage in the Book of Micah states that witchcraft and soothsaying will be eliminated in the Messianic Age.

Instances in Biblical narrative

In the Book of Exodus, Egyptian magicians replicate several of the signs delivered to the Biblical Pharaoh by Moses and Aaron.
In 1 Samuel 28, Saul enlists the Witch of Endor to summon the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel, who rebukes him for using witchcraft.