Superstition

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

General scriptures concerning

• Acts 25:19 They only had some contentions with him regarding their own religion and a certain Jesus who had died, but whom Paul affirmed to be alive.

Instances of

Israelites, supposing that their defeat in battle with the Philistines was due to their not having brought with them the ark of the covenant

• 1 Samuel 4:3 When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the LORD brought defeat on us before the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, so that it may go with us to save us from the hand of our enemies.”
• 1 Samuel 4:10–11 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great — thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Philistines, refusing to step on the threshold of the temple of Dagon after the image of Dagon had repeatedly fallen upon it

• 1 Samuel 5:5 That is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and all who enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on the threshold.

The belief of the Syrians concerning the help of the gods

• 1 Kings 20:23 Meanwhile, the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they prevailed over us. Instead, we should fight them on the plains; surely then we will prevail.

Jews, attributing their calamities to having ceased offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven

• Jeremiah 44:17–19 Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we s…

Nebuchadnezzar, supposing that the spirit of the gods was upon Daniel

• Daniel 4:8–9 But at last, into my presence came Daniel (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods). And I told him the dream: “O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery baffles you. So expla…

The sailors who threw Jonah into the sea

• Jonah 1:4–16 Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart. The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of t…

The disciples, supposing they saw a ghost when Jesus came walking upon the lake

• Matthew 14:26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.
• Mark 6:49–50 but when they saw Him walking on the sea, they cried out, thinking He was a ghost — for they all saw Him and were terrified. But Jesus spoke up at once: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Herod Antipas, imagining that Jesus was actually John the Baptist risen from the dead

• Mark 6:14 Now King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known, and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
• Mark 6:16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen from the dead!”

The Gadarenes (Gerasenes, Gergasenes), because Jesus expelled demons out of the man who lived among the tombs

• Matthew 8:34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region.

The disciples who were frightened at the appearance of Peter

• Acts 12:14–15 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she forgot to open the gate, but ran inside and announced, “Peter is standing at the gate!” “You are out of your mind,” they told her. But when she kept insisting it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

The Ephesians, in their sorceries

• Acts 19:13–19 Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I command you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. But one day the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I kno…

The people of the island of Melita (Malta), in assuming that Paul was some sort of god

• Acts 28:6 The islanders were expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

See Idolatry

See Sorcery