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8.7.4 Perversion of justice is serious offense, and the one who takes
money to punish or execute an innocent man incurs the communal
curse of Deuteronomy 27:25.8.8 Slander
8.8.1 Spreading malicious rumors is forbidden (Lev. 19:16).
8.8.2 One may accuse one’s wife of adultery. However, a man who
falsely accused his wife of not being a virgin bride is flogged, pays
one hundred shekels to his wife’s father, and can never divorce her
(Deut. 22:19).8.9 Witchcraft
8.9.1 A witch is to be put to death (Exod. 22:17).
8.9.2 Divination procedures are forbidden (Lev. 19:26). The verse,
which also mentions not eating blood, refers to divination in which
blood is libated, such as the summoning of ghosts.8.9.3 Necromancy and mediums pollute Israel (Lev. 19:31). The
sanction is extirpation of lineage (Lev. 20:6). They were outlawed
by Saul (1 Sam. 28:9–10).8.10 Blasphemy and Other Misuse of the Divine Name
8.10.1 In a legal “storyette,” the son of an Israelite woman and an
Egyptian man cursed someone during a fight and used the divine
name. He was detained until God decreed that he should be taken
out of the camp, where all who heard the curse laid their hands on
his head and stoned him. The law declares that all, Israelite or ger,
who curse God bear divine sanction, but one who adjures with the
name of God is to be stoned. The passage then provides key Israelite
legal provisions: talionic punishment for battery, execution for homi-
cide, and restitution for damage to animals (Lev. 24:10–23).8.10.2 The danger of cursing prompted Jeremiah’s trial, which con-
sidered whether a prophet who believed he was speaking God’s word
was cursing when he pronounced destruction of the temple ( Jer. 26).westbrook_f27-975-1046 8/27/03 1:36 PM Page 1040