---
title: אוֹב — skin-bottle · The Tanakh dictionary
description: אוֹב (178), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 16 times: skin-bottle. BDB 1906: n.m. skin-bottle, necromancer ghost. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# אוֹב

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«אוֹב» in the Tanakh dictionary: **skin-bottle** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 16 times · **Key:** 178 · **BDB:** אוֹב

### Glosses

necromancers (7); a.necromancer (3); necromancer (2)

### Meaning (OSHB)

skin-bottle [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/178/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. skin-bottle, necromancer ghost [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/178/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. Jb 32:19 skin-bottle, necromancer, etc.—abs. א׳ Lv 20:27 + 8 times; pl. אֹבוֹת Lv 19:31 + 7 times— skin-bottle, only pl. אֹבוֹת חֲדָשִׁים new (wine-) skins Jb 32:19. necromancer, in phr. אוֹב אוֹיִדְּעֹנִי necrom. or wizard Lv 20:27 (H; usually tr. ‘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 suff. reason for exceptional use of phrase here); א׳ וְיִדְּעֹנִי Dt 18:11 2 Ch 33:6 = 2 K 21:6 (where א׳ וידענים); הָאֹבוֹת וְהַיִּדְּעֹנִים Lv 19:31; 20:6 (H) 1 S 28:3, 9 2 K 23:24 Is 8:19 (where repres. as chirping \& muttering, in practice of their art of seeking dead for instruction, prob. ventriloquism, \& so 𝔊) 19:3. ghost, Is 29:4 וְהָיָה כְּאוֹב מֵאֶרֶץ קוֹלֵךְ וּמֵעָפָר אִמְרָתֵךְ 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 al., but chirping might be of necromancer, as 8:19). necromancy אֵשֶׁת בַּעֲלַת־אוֹב a woman who was mistress of necromancy 1 S 28:7(×2); (JPh. xiv, 127 f makes אוֹב primarily a subterranean spirit, and signif. 2 only an abbrev. of בעלתא׳ etc.); קסם בָּאוֹב divine by necromancy 1 S 28:8, which seems to be interpr. of 1 Ch 10:13 שׁאל בא׳ inquire by necromancy. (In these three exx. אוֹב is usually interpreted as ghost or familiar spirit conceived as dwelling in necromancer; but this apparently not the ancient conception.)

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 15 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (12 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 2 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (10 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «אוֹב» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/178/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Deuteronomy 18:11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU.18.11/)

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וְחֹבֵ֖ר חָ֑בֶר וְשֹׁאֵ֥ל אוֹב֙ וְיִדְּעֹנִ֔י וְדֹרֵ֖שׁ אֶל־הַמֵּתִֽים׃

*Word for word:* and \[one.who\].casts a.spell and \[one.who\].consults a.necromancer and a.soothsayer and \[one.who\].consults (to) the dead

*JPS 1917:* or a charmer, or one that consulteth a ghost or a familiar spirit, or a necromancer.

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[Leviticus 19:31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/LEV.19.31/)

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אַל־תִּפְנ֤וּ אֶל־הָאֹבֹת֙ וְאֶל־הַיִּדְּעֹנִ֔ים אַל־תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּ לְטָמְאָ֣ה בָהֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃

*Word for word:* do.not turn to the necromancers and to the soothsayers do.not seek.\[them\] to become.unclean by them I \[am\].Yahweh God your

*JPS 1917:* Turn ye not unto the ghosts, nor unto familiar spirits; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

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