Nephi is evidently quoting from a statement found in Isaiah 29:4 when he refers to a destroyed people whose record shall come "out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit." (2 Nephi 26:16.) Some biblical scholars have maintained that witchcraft is being referred to in that portion of Isaiah 29:4 which says that the voice shall be "as one that hath a familiar spirit." These scholars evidently arrived at this interpretation because of similar wording in other parts of the Bible. For example, in Leviticus we read: "Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them" (Leviticus 19:31), and "A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death" (Leviticus 20:27). (For further biblical references indicating that the term "familiar spirits" might sometimes refer to witches, see 1 Samuel 28:7; 2 Kings 21:6; 1 Chronicles 10:13; Isaiah 8:19 and 19:3.)
However, a careful reading of this scripture, particularly when read together with Nephi's explanation, would indicate that the term it "hath a familiar spirit" means that this record (the Book of Mormon) would speak with a "familiar voice" to those who already have the Bible. In other words, Nephi is evidently saying here that the doctrinal teachings of the Book of Mormon would seem familiar to people who had already read and accepted the Bible.