Timeline

Sympathetic Magic

Sympathetic magic works on the principle that acting on one thing produces a matching effect in another, either because the two resemble each other or because they were once in contact. Ancient Near Eastern ritual practice relied on it constantly. Mesopotamian incantation priests peeled an onion so that a man's guilt would come apart the same way, Egyptian temple staff burned drawings of the chaos serpent Apophis in order to destroy the serpent itself, and Assyrian vassals swore loyalty over a wax figure set alight and a clay one dropped in water so that their own bodies would burn and sink if they broke the oath. The same logic runs through the Hebrew Bible in the bronze snake raised on a pole to cure snakebite, the peeled branches Jacob sets in front of the flocks so the lambs are born streaked, the wood Elisha throws into the Jordan to lift a sunken iron ax head, and the rituals that settle suspected unfaithfulness by having someone drink dust mixed with water. Later Jewish and Christian traditions kept these scenes and reasoned from them, treating the outcomes as evidence of prophetic authority rather than as ritual technique.

Timeline

Surpu V / 2 Kings 6:6
1. 1200 BCE
  
  Surpu V
  
  Ancient Near East, Babylonian
  
  By pronouncing the charm of Ea the oath May be peeled off like this onion, Stripped off like these dates, Unraveled like this matting. Oath, be adjured by the name of heaven,
2. 600–501 BCE
  
  2 Kings 6:6
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  5 As one of them was felling a tree, the ax head dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no, my master! It was borrowed!” 6 The prophet asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the ax head float. 7 He said, “Lift it out.” So he reached out his hand and grabbed it.
Genesis 30:38 / 2 Kings 6:6
1. 750–400 BCE
  
  Genesis 30:38
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  37 But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible. 38 Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink. 39 When the sheep mated in front of the branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.
2. 600–501 BCE
  
  2 Kings 6:6
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  5 As one of them was felling a tree, the ax head dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no, my master! It was borrowed!” 6 The prophet asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the ax head float. 7 He said, “Lift it out.” So he reached out his hand and grabbed it.
Exodus 32:20 / Numbers 5:17
1. 750–400 BCE
  
  Exodus 32:20
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  19 When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. 20 He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, poured it out on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. 21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?”
2. 750–400 BCE
  
  Numbers 5:17
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  17 The priest will then take holy water in a pottery jar, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and put it into the water. 18 Then the priest will have the woman stand before the Lord, and he will uncover the woman’s head and put the grain offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of suspicion. The priest will hold in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 Then the priest will put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no other man has gone to bed with you, and if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be free from this bitter water that brings a curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had sexual relations with you—” 21 (then the priest will put the woman under the oath of the curse and will say to her) “the Lord make you an attested curse among your people if the Lord makes your thigh fall away and your abdomen swell, 22 and this water that causes the curse will go into your stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thigh rot.” Then the woman must say, “Amen, amen.” 23 “‘Then the priest will write these curses on a scroll and then scrape them off into the bitter water. 24 He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings a curse will enter her to produce bitterness.
Numbers 5:18 / Protoevangelium of James 16
1. 750–400 BCE
  
  Numbers 5:18
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  17 The priest will then take holy water in a pottery jar, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and put it into the water. 18 Then the priest will have the woman stand before the Lord, and he will uncover the woman’s head and put the grain offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of suspicion. The priest will hold in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 Then the priest will put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no other man has gone to bed with you, and if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be free from this bitter water that brings a curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had sexual relations with you—” 21 (then the priest will put the woman under the oath of the curse and will say to her) “the Lord make you an attested curse among your people if the Lord makes your thigh fall away and your abdomen swell, 22 and this water that causes the curse will go into your stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thigh rot.” Then the woman must say, “Amen, amen.”
2. 150–200 CE
  
  Protoevangelium of James 16
  
  Early Christian
  
  16 The priest said, “Give up the virgin you received from the temple of the Lord.” Joseph broke down in tears. The priest continued, “I will make you drink the water of the Lord’s ordeal, and He will reveal your sins to you.” The priest took the water, gave it to Joseph to drink, and sent him to the hill country. Joseph returned unharmed. Then the priest gave the water to Mary, sent her to the hill country as well, and she too returned unharmed. Everyone was amazed that no sin was found in them. The priest said, “If the Lord God hasn’t revealed your sins, then I do not judge you.” He sent them away, and Joseph took Mary and went home, rejoicing and praising the God of Israel.
Numbers 21:6 / Jeremiah 8:17
1. 750–400 BCE
  
  Numbers 21:6
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, but the people became impatient along the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we detest this worthless food.” 6 So the Lord sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”
2. 500–401 BCE
  
  Jeremiah 8:17
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  15 We hoped for good fortune, but nothing good has come of it. We hoped for a time of relief, but instead we experience terror. 16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses is already being heard in the city of Dan. The sound of the neighing of their stallions causes the whole land to tremble with fear. They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it. They are coming to destroy the cities and everyone who lives in them.” 17 The Lord says, “Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes that cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you.” 18 Then I said, “There is no cure for my grief! I am sick at heart! 19 I hear my dear people crying out throughout the length and breadth of the land. They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion? Is her divine King no longer there?’” The Lord answers, “Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?”
Numbers 21:8 / John 3:14
1. 750–400 BCE
  
  Numbers 21:8
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we detest this worthless food.” 6 So the Lord sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived. 10 The Israelites traveled on and camped in Oboth.
2. 90–110 CE
  
  John 3:14
  
  New Testament
  
  10 Jesus answered, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I tell you the solemn truth, we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” 16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Numbers 21:9 / 2 Kings 18:4
1. 750–400 BCE
  
  Numbers 21:9
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived. 10 The Israelites traveled on and camped in Oboth. 11 Then they traveled on from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that is before Moab on the eastern side.
2. 600–501 BCE
  
  2 Kings 18:4
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done. 4 He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after. 6 He was loyal to the Lord and did not abandon him. He obeyed the commandments that the Lord had given to Moses.
The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon §89 / 2 Kings 6:6
1. 672 BCE
  
  The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon §89
  
  Ancient Near East, Assyrian
  
  606 (Ditto, ditto;) may they strangle you, your women, your brothers, your sons and your daughters with a cord. 608 Just as an image of wax is burnt in the fire and one of clay dissolved in water, (so) may your figure be burnt in the fire and sunk in water.
2. 600–501 BCE
  
  2 Kings 6:6
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  5 As one of them was felling a tree, the ax head dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no, my master! It was borrowed!” 6 The prophet asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the ax head float. 7 He said, “Lift it out.” So he reached out his hand and grabbed it.
2 Kings 6:6 / Mekhilta d'Rabbi Ishmael 13:19
1. 600–501 BCE
  
  2 Kings 6:6
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  4 So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they started cutting down trees. 5 As one of them was felling a tree, the ax head dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no, my master! It was borrowed!” 6 The prophet asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the ax head float. 7 He said, “Lift it out.” So he reached out his hand and grabbed it.
2. 135 CE
  
  Mekhilta d'Rabbi Ishmael 13:19
  
  Rabbinic
  
  (Exodus 13:19) "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him": This apprises us of the wisdom and saintliness of Moses. All of Israel were occupying themselves with the spoils (of Egypt), and Moses was occupying himself with the mitzvah of the bones of Joseph. Of him it is written (Mishlei 10:8) "The wise of heart will take mitzvoth." And how did Moses know where Joseph was buried? It was said: Serach the daughter of Asher was left of that generation, and she showed Moses the grave of Joseph, saying to him: In that spot did they place him. The Egyptians made a metal casket for him and sank it in the Nile. (Moses) thereupon stood at the Nile, threw a stone into it, and shouted: "Joseph, Joseph, the oath that the Holy One Blessed be He swore to our father Abraham that He would redeem His children, has materialized. Accord honor to the L rd, the G d of Israel, and do not delay our redemption, for it is on your behalf that we are delayed. If you reveal yourself, good; if not we are absolved of your oath (to take your bones with us)" — whereupon Joseph's casket rose to the surface and Moses took it. And do not wonder at this phenomenon. For it is written (II Kings 6:5-6) "As one of them was felling a tree, the ax blade fell into the water, and he cried out 'Alas, master, (Elisha); it was borrowed!' And the man of G d said: 'Where did it fall?' And he showed him the place and he (Elisha) cut off a stick and threw it there, and the iron floated." Now does this not follow a fortiori, viz.: If iron floated for Elisha, the disciple of Eliyahu, how much more so for Moses, the master of Eliyahu! ... R. Nathan says: Joseph was buried in the tombs of the kings. To teach us that as one metes it out to others, so is it meted out to him. Miriam waited a short time for Moses, viz. (Ibid. 2:4) "And his sister stood from afar to know what would be done with him" — and the L rd held back for her in the desert the ark, the Shechinah, the Cohanim, and the Levites and all of Israel for seven days with the seven clouds of glory, viz. (Numbers 12:15) "And the people did not travel until Miriam was gathered back." ...
2 Kings 6:6 / Book of Overthrowing Apophis
1. 600–501 BCE
  
  2 Kings 6:6
  
  Hebrew Bible
  
  5 As one of them was felling a tree, the ax head dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no, my master! It was borrowed!” 6 The prophet asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the ax head float. 7 He said, “Lift it out.” So he reached out his hand and grabbed it.
2. 310 BCE
  
  Book of Overthrowing Apophis
  
  Ancient Near East, Egyptian
  
  His egg shall not last, nor shall his seed knit together. His soul, his corpse, his state of glory, his shadow, and his magic are not. His bones are not and his skin is not. He is fallen and overthrown. I have driven away and annihilated Apophis. Re is triumphant over his every fallen enemy. This spell is to be recited over Apophis drawn on a new sheet of papyrus in green color and put inside a box on which his name is set, he being tied and bound and put on the fire every day, wiped out with your left foot and spat upon four times in the course of every day.