Exodus 22:18
““You shall not allow a sorceress to live.”
What does Exodus 22:18 mean?
This command from ancient Israel's legal code addressed a specific concern of that time: sorcery was often connected to deception, manipulation, and harm—practices that threatened community trust and safety. The Old Testament law codes took seriously anything that pulled people away from faith in God toward reliance on hidden powers or false promises instead. Understanding this in context doesn't mean we apply it literally today, but rather helps us see what it was protecting: a community's foundation of truth and genuine relationship with God. Modern readers might ask what the deeper principle means for us now—perhaps that we're called to be cautious about things that exploit people's fears or vulnerabilities, and to build lives and communities on honesty rather than deception.