But the versions of the Sept and Vnlg. give quite I different turn to our ^naa, and point to that part >f the augurial art which consisted of omens from birds, * e. omkhomancy (dpvtBofiavrtia, ocWto/ioc, hpvtBooKo- nicfi). The Syriac and Arabic versions fevor this view [=augurari ab animali aktio). Birds in their flight »ver the earth were supposed to observe men's secret ictions, and to be cognizant of accidents, etc. (comp. ilccl. X, 20). Aristophanes (Birds) says, **None but ome bird, perhaps, knows of my treasure :'* so that the )irds assume prerogatives of deity ; *' We are as good as oracles and gods to you, "etc. The notes, the JSght, and ^e feeding of birds were the main phenomena (Bo- :hart, ed. Leusd. ii, 19). Homer is fiUl of this divina- ion(/iLxii,310; Orf. xv, 160, et passim). So the Latin classics ; see Servius, Virg, JEn. iii, 361 (" aves oscines, prapetes") ; also Cicero, Fam. vi, 6, 18 ; De Divin. ii, ^2, etc. ; and Livy, x, 40 (tripudktm solistimum). For ptoHties of various birds, see Potter, xv, and Occult Sciences, p. 142, 148. This divination was much in rogue m the East also ; so Philostratns ( Vit. Apotton. i, i4) and Porphyry (De Abstin. Animal, ii!) say. Rab- binical doctors discover augury among king Solomon's
attainments, in such passages as Eccl. x, 20, and 1 Kings iv, 80. Rashi comments niBim "jl^ba DSH, learned in the tongue of birds ; so Eomchi and the Mid- bar Rabba, xix. See Enchanter.
The root dro has the primary sense of a low hus- ing, whispering sound; from this arises the derivative tz5n3, a serpent, of frequent occurrence in the 0. T. Ge« senius, Thes. p. 875 ; Lex, by Robinson, p. 665 ; and POrst, Hebr, Wdrterb, p. 81, prefer to derive from the primary sense (q. d. divinare vel augurari as general terms) ; but Bochart, ii, 21, 22, peremptorily derives from the secondary sense of the serpent, and discovers in this lDn3^ the divination called ophiomancy (6<^0' fjuiVTtia). Ftirst admits thb as " tolerable." Clas- sical instances of divining by serpents occur in Iliad, ii, 808 ; jEneid, v, 84 ; Cicero, De Div, i, 18, 86 ; Valer. Maxim, i, 6, 8 ; Terent. Phorm, iv, 4, 26 ; Clem. Alex. Strom, vii; Horace, Carm, iii, 27, 5. (According to Hesychius, s. v. oiutv6g, and Suidas, s. v. oicjvurrudj, omens fit>m serpents as well as from birds formed a usual branch of the augur's art; hence probably the general phrase employed in the Sept and other ver- sions.) Serpent-charming, referred to in Psa. Iviii, 5, and Jer. viii, 17, is a part of this divination. Frequent mention of this art also occurs in both ancient and modem writers. (See Kalisch on Exod. vii, 12, who refers to ^lian, Hist. Amm. xvii, 5 ; SU. Italic, iii, 800 ; Strabo, xii, 814; Gellius, AToc^ ^«ic. xvi, 11; Shaw, Travels, p. 854 ; Niebuhr, Travels, i, 189 ; Bochart, Mi- eros. iii, 162 ; Description derEgypte,viu,'i08; xviii, 1, 338 [in i, 159, there is a description of the feats of some Cairo jugglers with the serpent Baje"] ; Quatrero^re, Mh». sur VEgypte, i, 202; Minutoli, Travels, p. 226; Hengstenberg, Mos. and Egypt, p. 97-103 ; Lane, Mod, Egypt, ii, 230). The serpent was the symbol of health and healing (Plin. xxiv, 4, 22) ; Moses's brazen ser- pent (Num. xxi, 9), which was a symbol of deliverance (Wisd. xvi, 6 ; comp. John iii, 14), was at length made an object of idolatrous worship. Hezekiah, to destroy the charm, reduced its name to its mere material (ntt3nm ©np = indn?), 2 Kings xviii, 4. See Ne- HUSHTAK. These menadteMn, therefore, were prob- ably ophiomants — ^people who, lilce the ancient Psylli (Pliny, ^. iV: vii, 2; xviii, 4) and Marmarid« (SU. Ital. iii, 801), were supposed to render serpents innocu- ous and obedient (Exod. vii, 9 ; Jer. viii, 17 ; Eccl. x, 11), chiefly by the power of music (Nicand. Meriac, 162 ; Lucan, ix, 891 ; .£n, vii, 753), but also, no doubt, by the jfbesession of some genuine and often heredi- tary secret (Lane, Mod. Egypt, ii, 106 sq. ; Amob. adv. Gent, ii, 82). They had a similar power over scorpions (Francklen's Tour to Persia). See Charmer.
4. t)%'5?, mekashshq)h' (Sept (ftapfuiKos ; Vulg. ma- fe/fci«;"Auth. Vers, "witch"). This word has al- ways a bad sense in the Old Test in the twelve in- stances in which the verb [always Piel'] and the noun are used. The Syriac, however (hasap), bears the good sense of prayer and public service to God (^<V*C» ^fiTovpyia, in Acts iy, 31; xiii, 2). The Arabic (hashaf) suggests the meaning of the miss- ing Ka] = **to reveal." In Exod. vii, 11, this word describes (in pi|r.) the magicians of Pharaoh, who are also there callOTQ'^^sn, sages, and (as also in vii, 22; comp. Gen. xli, 8, 24) D'^^aiD'in, upoypafifiaTiic (Clem. Alex, vi, 688), or sacred scribes of Egypt. This latter title identifies these with the Magi, or sacerdotes, of the Chaldnan court (see Dan. ii, 10, 27). The prophet was himself made by the king of Babylon 'j'^ttta'nn n^, " master of the magicians" (Dan. v, 11). The arts of these diviners (d'^I?n^, Exod. vii, 11, D-^Isb, ver. 22), which enabled them to withstand Moses, were doubt- less imposing, but so inferior to the muncles by which they were ultimately foUed (viii, 19), and their gods