---
title: כָּשַׁף — practice sorcery · The Tanakh dictionary
description: כָּשַׁף (3784), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 6 times: practice sorcery. BDB 1906: vb. denom. practice sorcery. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# כָּשַׁף

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«כָּשַׁף» in the Tanakh dictionary: **practice sorcery** — 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:** 6 times · **Key:** 3784 · **BDB:** כִּשֵּׁף

### Glosses

sorcerers (3); a.sorcerer (1); a.sorceress (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

practice sorcery [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1499/3784/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. denom. practice sorcery [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1499/3784/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** vb. denom. practice sorcery (Assyrian kašâpu, id.);—Pf. 3 ms.: וְעוֹנֵן וְנִחֵשׁ וְכִשֵּׁף וְעָשָׂה אוֹב וְיִדְּעוֹנִ֑י 2 Ch 33:6 (of Manasseh); elsewhere only Pt. as subst. ms. sorcerer, in Israel, מְכַשֵּׁף Dt 18:10 (following קֹסֵם קְסָמִים מְעוֹנֵן וּמְנַחֵשׁ); fs. מְכַשֵּׁפָה = sorceress Ex 22:17 (E); mpl. מְכַשְּׁפִים Mal 3:5 (named with adulterers and false-swearers); of diviners, or astrologers in Egypt (חַרְטֻמִּים q.v.) Ex 7:11 (P; ‖ חֲכָמִים); in Babylon Dn 2:2 (+ חַרְטֻמִּים, אַשָּׁפִים, כַּשְׂדִּים).

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Why these entries: BDB: same consonants, part of speech agrees, 6 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses (5 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 2 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (3 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «כָּשַׁף» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1499/3784/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Exodus 22:17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/EXO.22.17/)

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מְכַשֵּׁפָ֖ה לֹ֥א תְחַיֶּֽה׃ס

*Word for word:* a.sorceress not you.will.let.live

*JPS 1917:* Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live.

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[Deuteronomy 18:10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU.18.10/)

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לֹֽא־יִמָּצֵ֣א בְךָ֔ מַעֲבִ֥יר בְּנֽוֹ־וּבִתּ֖וֹ בָּאֵ֑שׁ קֹסֵ֣ם קְסָמִ֔ים מְעוֹנֵ֥ן וּמְנַחֵ֖שׁ וּמְכַשֵּֽׁף׃

*Word for word:* not he.will.be.found among you \[one.who\].makes.pass son his and daughter his in the fire \[one.who\].divines divinations a.soothsayer and \[one.who\].practices.divination and a.sorcerer

*JPS 1917:* There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one that useth divination, a soothsayer, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer,

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