Instruction on Natural Magic and its Medical Use

among the Arabs denotes a knowledgeable person, as Ludovicus de Dieu has observed.

As often as the word אשפים magi/enchanters appears in Daniel’s prophecies, the seventy interpreters have explained it as Magos. However, אשף, as Eduardus Leigh notes from Spanheim, means one who knows something ex afflatu by divine inspiration, or who observes the stars at the time of dusk, sometimes a philosopher in general, sometimes an astrologer or physician in particular. Most critics, along with Plato, Strabo, Herodotus, and others, hold that the word Magus is Persian in origin, and means as much as a wise man. Therefore Suidas says: Magi are wise

people among the Persians who love God. The same is to be held for the word Magia magic that follows from its origin. For that it is an ambiguous word is testified by Hesychius, when he speaks: A Magus has been called a deceptive sorcerer; but the Persians have called a pious (c) theologian and priest by this name.

Truth seems to come closest to the opinion of Drusius, who reports the following: Elimas, i.e., עלימא a wise man (which is חרטם magician/wise man in Hebrew), which meaning still remains to this day among the Arabs. For Φίσις nature is called אלעלם knowledge in Arabic; hence comes אלטבעי אלעלם natural science Φυσικη σοφία, natural art, and אלרהי אלעלם divine knowledge Theologia, theology, etc. Grotius also means the same when he says: Elimas means as much as a Magus, namely in the Arabic language: For עלימא are Magi. Therefore one should not consider it unreasonable that this man was an Arab. See Bibl. Critic. Bibliotheca Critica/Critical Library on this passage.