Charles Ellicott Commentary Deuteronomy 18:11

"or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer." — Deuteronomy 18:11 (ASV)

Charmer. —Literally one who ties knots, used here for the first time in the Old Testament.

Consulter with familiar spirits. —Literally, one who consults ôb .

A Wizard. —One who knows or pretends to know the secrets of the unseen world. (See Leviticus 19:31.)

Necromancer. —One who inquires of the dead. Four of the above practices are ascribed to King Manasseh in 2 Chronicles 33:6. It is hardly possible that all of them were mere imposture and deceit.