... The most noteworthy description of necromancy is found in the famous story of Saul’s consulting the "witch" of Endor in 1 Samuel 28:3-25. The location of the conjuring pit, the ʾōb, seems to have been inside the home of the baʿălat ʾōb. We suppose that the ʾōb inside the house was comparable to similar installations such as the pits or cisterns that were common in Iron Age Israelite houses. Although this text refers to an old tradition that provides insight into practices of divination by death spirits, it is dependent on the Deuteronomic pronouncements against necromancy. In following the Deuteronomistic guidelines, Chronicles also considered necromancy to be a punishable crime. King Asa’s consultation of the rĕpāʾîm in 2 Chronicles 16:12 actually led to his death. Prophetic polemics such as Isaiah 8:19-20 also alluded to Deuteronomy 18 ...