Various forms of magic and sorcery, witchcraft, contact with the otherworld, divination by the stars, and other forms of occultism have been known since deep antiquity. The Bible mentions both the occult practices of that time and the people who resorted to them more than once. The Old Testament distinguishes between the hartummim, the sorcerers and magicians at Pharaoh's court, and the hashshefim, magicians, diviners, and sorcerers who were widespread in Babylonia, Assyria, and Palestine. The first group were, in all probability, Egyptian priests, known chiefly because they repeated some of the wonders that Moses and Aaron performed before Pharaoh. Their power goes no farther than this: the great wonders God performs to save the chosen people remain beyond their reach. The power of the hartummim, though real, appears limited in the biblical account. The second group, the hashshefim, were most often not priests, though their activity was connected with paganism in one way or another, especially in Palestine. Diviners and astrologers, those who summoned the dead, and makers of love potions were widespread throughout the ancient East and were popular among the local tribes.

For Israel the hashshefim were a serious temptation, especially since imitators of them appeared among the Jews themselves. For this reason the Sinai law includes several prohibitions against occult practice. This prohibition is stated most fully in Deut. 18:9-13, where various kinds of magic are called an "abomination" because of which God rejects the Canaanites who give themselves over to magic. It is significant that the rejection of soothsaying, divination, and summoning the dead usually appears not in the cultic or religious-practical sections of the law, but in its moral part; the prohibition on occult practice stands beside the prohibition on sexual immorality and the requirement to honor elders (Lev. 19:26-32). Alongside things that are more or less understandable, the law also lists long-forgotten forms of magic and sorcery. These archaic practices include the prohibitions against boiling a young goat in its mother's milk, damaging the edge of the beard, cutting the hair around the head, and similar acts.

An important place in what the Pentateuch says about sorcery belongs to the story of Balaam, an astrologer and diviner who was, in all probability, summoned from Babylonia. Balaam, a magician and summoner of spirits, was nevertheless able to hear the will of the one God. He blessed Israel instead of cursing it; according to Num. 23:23, it was precisely the absence of magic and divination among the chosen people that made them invulnerable to spell-casters.

In the story of Saul, Israel's first king, the prophet Samuel speaks of sorcery and idolatry as the gravest sins, essentially comparable to resisting the Creator's will. The Book of the Prophet Nahum names the cruelty and sorcery of the Assyrian kingdom's inhabitants as the chief reasons for its destruction.

After settling in Canaan, however, Israel did not escape the temptation to use occult practices popular among the Canaanites in order to gain earthly prosperity. Many prophets denounced these acts, warning that witchcraft and sorcery are abhorrent to God and are a direct violation of the Covenant. The prophets direct anger and sarcasm both against the sorcerers themselves and against those who turn to their services in order to get what they want at the price of unfaithfulness to the Almighty. On the Day of the Lord, when God's judgment over the whole earth appears, every kind of sorcery will be destroyed and diviners will be put to shame.

The Acts of the Apostles gives several examples of the apostles' encounters with magicians, who in one way or another oppose the preaching of the Gospel. In Russian translation they are usually called magi. Simon the magician tries to buy the grace of the Holy Spirit from the apostles with silver, giving rise to the term "simony." Elymas and other magicians and diviners are directly described as servants of Satan. Overall, the New Testament fully confirms the categorical prohibition on practicing occultism and magic, since they are incompatible with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.