RT Article
T1 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" (Exod 22:18) and contemporary Akan Christian belief and practice : a translational and hermeneutical problem
JF Old Testament essays
VO 29
IS 1
SP 11
OP 32
A1 Adu-Gyamfi, Yaw 1956-
LA English
PB SA ePublications
YR 2016
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1879014955
AB The King James Version (KJV) of Exod 22:18, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," has been used by some contemporary ordinary Akan Christians in Ghana to justify praying for the death and destruction of witches and wizards. Instructions such as "Pray for the death of any witch in your family or business; pray that Holy Ghost fire will consume any witch holding your destiny," have become a common statement at some Akan Christian prayer meetings in Ghana. This article seeks to show this belief and practice is a translational and hermeneutical problem because the Hebrew word תפּשּׂבֿטּ which the KJV translates as "witch" and subsequently translated in early Asante Bible as obayifo2 is a representational term used by the redactor of Exod 22:18 to reflect the semantic range of idolatrous practices condemned by YHWH among the Israelites. The article also purports to show that the phrase תּההאּלּ does not necessarily mean to kill the offender, and that the prohibition can be understood as being essentially religious rather than merely legal.
K1 KJV
K1 Obaa ntafowayifo
K1 Obaa-ayen
K1 hermeneutical and translational problem
K1 Witch