Pharmakeia in the Bible: What Galatians 5:19-21 Condemns
Short answer: The Greek word pharmakeia, usually translated sorcery or witchcraft, appears in Galatians 5:19-21 in a list of the deeds of the flesh. It refers to the practice of magic, including the use of potions, drugs, and incantations to manipulate spiritual powers. Paul says those who practice such things will not inherit God's kingdom. The word is not a blanket condemnation of medicine, though ancient magic and pharmacy overlapped. Scripture consistently treats sorcery as a serious sin, naming it again in Revelation 21:8 and Revelation 22:15 and forbidding related practices in Deuteronomy 18:10-12. The call is repentance and faith in Christ, not fear of a word.
What pharmakeia actually means in Greek
Pharmakeia is a noun built on pharmakon, a word that covered a wide range of substances and the practices attached to them. In classical and Hellenistic Greek it could mean a healing drug, a poison, or a magical potion. Context decides. In the New Testament and in Jewish literature of the period, the darker sense dominates: sorcery, magic, and the use of substances or rituals to invoke spiritual power. The related noun pharmakos names a sorcerer, and pharmakeus appears in Revelation for those who practice magic.
The King James Version renders the word as witchcraft; most modern versions say sorcery. Both are trying to capture a practice, not a chemical. The issue is not that a substance exists but that a person is using it in rebellion against God, seeking power, knowledge, or healing from spirits rather than from the Lord. That is the moral weight the word carries in every biblical occurrence.
It helps to remember that the ancient world did not separate pharmacy from magic the way modern readers do. A potion came with a spell, an amulet, and a named spirit. To buy the drug was to buy the ritual. Paul's readers in Galatia and Asia Minor knew exactly what the word meant because they lived surrounded by it.
Why Paul lists it among the deeds of the flesh
Galatians 5:19-21 says, "Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness," and the list continues through idolatry and sorcery to outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, and envy. Paul places sorcery in the same catalog as sexual sin and idolatry, not in a separate category of superstition. The flesh, in Paul's vocabulary, is not the body but human nature operating apart from the Spirit and in opposition to God.
That placement matters. Sorcery is a work of the flesh because it is self-will reaching for spiritual power on its own terms. It is the opposite of walking by the Spirit, which Paul describes immediately afterward. The person who practices magic is not simply mistaken about methods; they are rejecting dependence on God and reaching for control.
Paul adds a sober warning: those who practice such things will not inherit God's kingdom. The present tense suggests ongoing practice, a life characterized by these deeds, not a single stumble. The warning is real, and it is meant to turn people to repentance while there is time.
Sorcery, drugs, and the modern reader's question
Because pharmakeia is the root of English words like pharmacy and pharmaceutical, some readers conclude the Bible condemns all medication. That is a misreading of the word and of Scripture. The same Greek root is used in ordinary, non-magical settings in ancient literature for remedies and medicines. Luke, a physician, traveled with Paul and is never rebuked for practicing medicine. Paul himself tells Timothy to use a little wine for his stomach in 1 Timothy 5:23, a straightforward medicinal instruction.
What Scripture condemns is the occult use of substances and the whole apparatus of magic that surrounded it: spells, charms, spirit invocation, and the pursuit of hidden power. A Christian taking a prescribed antibiotic is not practicing pharmakeia. A person using drugs or rituals to contact spirits, curse others, or gain secret knowledge is doing exactly what the word names.
Faithful Christians differ on how to apply this to contested areas such as recreational drugs, hypnosis, or certain alternative therapies. The biblical principle is clear even where applications require wisdom: God alone is the source of help, and his people must not seek power from other spirits.
The Ephesian believers who burned their magic books
Acts 19 gives the clearest picture of what repentance from sorcery looked like in the early church. After Paul preached in Ephesus, Acts 19:18-19 reports that "Many also of those who had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds." The next verses describe believers who had practiced magic bringing their scrolls and burning them publicly, even though the books were valuable. Their conversion cost them something tangible.
Ephesus was famous for magical arts. The phrase Ephesian letters referred to charms and formulas people bought for protection and power. When the gospel reached that city, new believers did not merely add Jesus to their existing practices. They renounced the tools of their old trade. That is the pattern the New Testament sets: sorcery is not a harmless hobby to be kept alongside faith.
The Ephesian example also shows the pastoral tone of Scripture. The emphasis falls on confession and open renunciation, not on public shame. These were believers already; they came forward and dealt with their past honestly. Churches today do well to follow that pattern with gentleness and truth.
Revelation lists sorcery among the excluded
Revelation 21:8 says, "But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." Revelation 22:15 adds, "Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." The word behind both is the same family as pharmakeia.
These verses are not incidental. They frame the end of the Bible and place sorcery in the company of idolatry and murder. That is a strong statement about how seriously God views the occult. It also shows the theme is not confined to one Pauline list; it runs from the law through the prophets into the final vision.
The good news in Revelation is that these lists describe what is outside the city, and the invitation to enter remains open. Revelation 22:17 calls whoever is thirsty to come. No one is beyond repentance, including those deeply involved in occult practice.
Deuteronomy 18 and the Old Testament background
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says, "There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who tells fortunes, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer," and the passage continues to name more practices. Israel was told to be distinct from the nations around her, whose religions were built on divination and magic. Exodus 22:18 adds the severe penalty, "You shall not allow a sorceress to live."
These laws show that the prohibition is not a New Testament novelty. God had always forbidden his people from seeking power or guidance through spirits, mediums, and enchanters. The reason given in Deuteronomy is that these practices are an abomination to the Lord, and that Israel was to be holy as he is holy. The nations practiced them; Israel was called out.
This background explains why Paul's readers would have understood pharmakeia immediately. They knew the Torah. When Paul placed sorcery among the deeds of the flesh, he was reinforcing a boundary God had drawn centuries earlier and calling Gentile converts to the same loyalty.
Does pharmakeia mean all medicine is sin?
No, and this is the most common confusion the word generates. If pharmakeia condemned every use of a substance for healing, then Luke the physician would be a problem, wine for Timothy's stomach would be a problem, and the oil and wine poured on the wounded man's wounds in Jesus's parable would be a problem. Scripture treats healing as a good gift.
The sin Scripture names is the practice of magic: relying on spirits, spells, and occult arts instead of on God. The overlap in vocabulary between pharmacy and pharmakeia is a linguistic accident of history, not a theological verdict on medicine. English speakers inherit the word through Latin and Greek, and the modern pharmacy shares the root without sharing the sin.
Where faithful Christians differ is in application. Some are cautious about certain alternative therapies because of their spiritual associations; others see no issue in the treatment itself. Both should be able to agree on the core: God is the healer, medicine is a means, and no created thing is to be used to contact or manipulate spirits.
How to respond if you have been involved in these practices
The biblical pattern is confession, renunciation, and faith in Christ. The Ephesians confessed openly and destroyed the instruments of their old practice. That does not mean every believer must hold a public burning, but it does mean honest dealing with the past. Secrecy keeps occult practice in the dark; confession brings it into the light where grace works.
It also means removing the means. If the practice involved objects, books, or substances used for magic, getting rid of them was part of the Ephesians' repentance. That is not superstition in reverse; it is a clean break. Paul's list in Galatians ends with a warning, but the same letter ends with the fruit of the Spirit, which is what grows when a person walks with God rather than with spirits.
Churches should handle this with both seriousness and mercy. Sorcery is serious enough to be named alongside idolatry and murder in Scripture, and it is forgivable enough that the Ephesian believers were received. The door is open. The call is to come, confess, and follow Christ.
Biblical fidelity check
What the passage establishes is straightforward. Galatians 5:19-21 lists sorcery among the deeds of the flesh and warns that those who practice such things will not inherit God's kingdom. The word pharmakeia refers to magic and sorcery, and the same theme appears in Revelation and in the Old Testament law. The text does not establish that medication is sin, that a specific modern product is occult, or that believers should fear the Greek language.
A common misreading treats pharmakeia as a direct condemnation of all drugs and pharmaceuticals. That is wrong because the word's context is occult practice, not healing, and because Scripture elsewhere approves of medicine and physicians. Another misreading dismisses the word as outdated superstition, which is wrong because Jesus, Paul, and John all treat sorcery as a real spiritual danger with eternal consequences. The faithful reading holds both truths: the sin is real, and the ordinary use of medicine is not the sin named.
Other passages that speak to Galatians 5:19-21
The conflict between the flesh and the Spirit runs through the whole Bible. Acts 10: Peter and Cornelius: God Shows No Favoritism shows the gospel crossing boundaries into a Gentile world steeped in magic and idolatry. Acts 11: Peter's Defense and Antioch Church records how the church wrestled with what conversion requires of former pagans. Acts 12: Peter Freed, Herod Judged contrasts the power of God with the pretensions of a ruler who accepted divine honors. Acts 13: Paul and Barnabas Sent to the Gentiles begins the mission that carried the gospel into cities saturated with sorcery, where the Spirit proved stronger than every rival power.
Frequently asked questions
What does pharmakeia mean in Galatians 5:19-21?
Pharmakeia is a Greek noun meaning sorcery, magic, or the use of potions and incantations to invoke spiritual power. It comes from the same root as pharmakon, which could mean a healing drug, a poison, or a magical potion depending on context. In Galatians 5:19-21 and every other New Testament occurrence, the word carries the occult sense. It names a practice, not a substance, and it sits in Paul's list alongside idolatry, sexual sin, and other deeds of the flesh that characterize life apart from the Spirit.
Does pharmakeia mean medicine is a sin?
No. The overlap between pharmakeia and modern words like pharmacy is etymological, not moral. The sin Scripture condemns is reliance on spirits, spells, and occult arts for power or healing. Luke was a physician and traveled with Paul without rebuke. Paul told Timothy to use a little wine for his stomach in 1 Timothy 5:23. Medicine is a good gift of common grace. The condemned practice is magic and the invocation of spirits, not the treatment of illness with created means.
Why does Revelation list sorcerers with murderers and idolaters?
Revelation 21:8 and Revelation 22:15 place sorcerers in the company of idolaters, murderers, and liars, outside the holy city. The placement shows how seriously God views the occult: it is not a minor curiosity but a rival worship, a seeking of power from spirits that belong to the realm of rebellion. At the same time, Revelation ends with an open invitation. Those who turn from sorcery and come to Christ are welcomed, just as the Ephesian believers were when they burned their magic books.
