Sorcery and witchcraft
I'm curious to know why the definition for "sorcery" changes in Galations and the book of Revelation. In these two books it is a Greek word, pharmakeia. In the other books of the Bible, throughout the NT and OT, it's a Hebrew word meaning witchcraft. Why does this change? In the Book of Revelation it states how all the nations will be deceived by the sorcery (Greek) of men (18:23). Can you please offer some insight into this?
The Greek word pharmakeia has the idea of “the administering of drugs; poisoning.” The word then came to be associated with “sorcery, magic and the magic arts.” The word occurs only three times in the New Testament: Galatians 5:20; Revelation 9:21 and Revelation 18:23.
The New International Version (2011) translates the word as “witchcraft” in Galatians 5:20, “magic arts” in Revelation 9:21 and “magic spell” in Revelation 18:23. Using those different words illustrates the shadings in meaning that a word from another language can have and how translators seek to reflect those shadings. Using those different words also demonstrates that we are not to expect an exact word-for-word rendering when translating from one language to another.
While the specific words in the passages above vary slightly, the meaning is clear and consistent: the Bible condemns any practice that seeks power that is, in the end, associated with Satan.