Leviticus 19:26 Commentary: Blood and Occult Prohibitions Linked

Leviticus 19 is part of what scholars call the Holiness Code (chapters 17, 26), a collection of laws urging Israel to be holy because Yahweh is holy. The prohibitions in verse 26 appear in a cluster of commands against practices common among the Canaanites and Egyptians.

Eating meat with blood was forbidden in itself because “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11). Blood belonged to God for atonement. Yet the prohibition here carries an additional weight. Gill cites Maimonides on the Zabians, a pagan sect who believed blood was food for demons. They would slaughter an animal, collect the blood in a pit, and eat the flesh around it, hoping to gain friendship with spirits and power to predict the future. Eating blood thus became a ritual of divination, a way to summon forbidden knowledge.

The words translated “enchantments” and “observe times” are just as embedded in ancient occult practice. Nachash (from the root for serpent) likely refers to divination through snakes (Clarke, JFB) or to general fortune-telling by signs. Onan (linked to clouds or eye) meant reading omens from cloud formations or distinguishing lucky from unlucky days (Jarchi, quoted in Gill). Both were standard tools of pagan soothsayers in the ancient Near East. Deuteronomy 18:10, 12 later groups divination, sorcery, and interpreting omens together as practices abhorrent to God.

By placing these two commands side by side, the text exposes a shared logic: Israel must not seek hidden knowledge or control over the future through any means except trusting Yahweh. The same heart that would manipulate blood for spiritual gain is the heart that consults the stars, the entrails, or the flight of birds. Both are a refusal of the Lord’s authority and care.

The consulted sources note only one significant textual variant. The LXX (Septuagint) reads “upon the mountains” instead of “with the blood” (Cambridge Bible). This reading likely reflects an assimilation to Ezekiel 18:6, 22:9, which speak of eating upon mountains (a phrase for idolatrous feasts). The Masoretic Text is preserved in all Hebrew manuscripts, and no other major variations are cited by the supplied sources. The Hebrew verbs for “practice divination” (tenachashu) and “practice soothsaying” (teonenunu) are consistently stable across versions.

In Jewish tradition, this verse was read as a core prohibition against both improper slaughter (eating blood) and all forms of divination. The Talmud (b. Sanhedrin 65a, 66a) discusses the types of enchantment forbidden, including various forms of fortune-telling. The early church, facing Greco-Roman occult practices, saw the verse as a model for purity. The apostolic decree (Acts 15:28, 29) retained the prohibition on blood for Gentile believers, reinforcing the link between dietary holiness and separation from pagan spirituality.

During the Reformation, commentators such as Calvin and Wesley applied the second prohibition directly to Christians: “observe times” became a warning against superstitious regard for days, hours, or seasons. Wesley called fortune-telling and charms “an intolerable affront to the Lord Jesus.” In modern times, the verse has been used by many Christian teachers to address astrology, horoscopes, and New Age practices, arguing that any search for guidance outside God’s Word and Spirit repeats the error of ancient Israel.

Three-point outline

1. Blood belongs to God alone. The prohibition against eating blood is not hygiene but theology, life and atonement are God’s domain (Leviticus 17:11). Pagans used blood to bargain with spirits; Israel must not bargain with God. Instead, they receive life as a gift.
2. The occult trades in half-truths and fear. Enchantments and time-observing promise a shortcut to guidance. But they bypass prayer, prophecy, and trust in God’s providence. Such practices reveal a heart that doubts, “Is God really enough?”
3. Holiness means being distinct in everyday choices. The verse sits among laws about farming, tattoos, and sexual ethics. Following God touches what we eat and what we consult, both the physical and the spiritual must submit to Him.

Five-point outline

1. Exposition: The rule against eating blood (its background in Leviticus 17 and Canaanite practice).
2. Exposition: The rule against divination and soothsaying (the specific terms and their meanings).
3. Connection: Why these two belong together, both are attempts to access the spiritual realm without God.
4. Application: What forms of “blood eating” and “divination” exist today? Not literal, but the same heart, turning to horoscopes, fortune telling, or even “lucky” rituals for control.
5. Gospel: In Christ, we have all the guidance we need. He is the Word, the Light, and the final revelation. We do not need to seek omens because we have a Shepherd.

Illustration hooks

• Lucky socks. An athlete who always wears the same socks before a game “to win.” That impulse, trusting a charm over hard work or God’s sovereignty, is the same impulse as ancient cloud-reading.
• Horoscope check. A believer who glances at their horoscope “for fun” but secretly wants reassurance about the day ahead. The verse calls us to ask God directly instead of glancing at stars.
• Bargaining with God. “If I give up X, God will give me Y.” That transactional spirit echoes eating blood to manipulate the gods. Grace is free; we do not have to trade.

Questions your congregation is asking

• “Is it a sin to read a horoscope if I don’t believe in it?”
• “Aren’t these Old Testament rules obsolete for Christians? Does Acts 15 apply here?”
• “What about using superstitions like knocking on wood or throwing salt over a shoulder, is that forbidden?”

This verse sits in a chapter full of “You shall not” commands, but each one is a fence around something precious: the holiness of life, the uniqueness of God, the dependence of His people. The two prohibitions, blood and occult, touch on a single root: a heart that looks for power and knowledge anywhere but in God. As you read Leviticus 19:26 together, let the text search your group’s assumptions. Where do you turn when you need guidance? Where does your culture tell you to turn? How does Christ’s full revelation change the way we seek His will?

Discussion questions

1. Observation: What two things does this verse forbid? What words for occult practices appear in the passage and in the cross-references (Deuteronomy 18:10, 12)?
2. Interpretation: Look at Leviticus 17:10, 14, which is a longer explanation of the blood prohibition. Why does God say blood is special?
3. Interpretation: The word for “enchantments” is nachash, which shares a root with “serpent.” Why might that word be chosen? (Consider the serpent’s role in Genesis 3, offering knowledge apart from God.)
4. Connection: The verse links a dietary rule with a spiritual one. What does this tell us about how God views all of life, including what we eat and what we consult?
5. Application: In your own words, what would be the modern equivalent of “using enchantments” or “observing times”? Are there practices in your life or community that have the same shape?
6. Application: The book of Acts (15:28, 29) tells Gentile believers to abstain from blood and from sexual immorality, as well as from things strangled and from idols. How does the apostolic decree show that this principle still matters for New Covenant believers?
7. Gospel hope: If we have turned to other sources for guidance (a horoscope, a feeling, a lucky ritual), how does Jesus offer us something better than a method, He offers Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life?