Discovery Box2 Kings 16:3
Context16:3 He followed in the footsteps of 1 the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire, 2 a horrible sin practiced by the nations 3 whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites.
2 Kings 21:6
Context21:6 He passed his son 4 through the fire 5 and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. 6 He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 7
Leviticus 18:21
Context18:21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, 8 so that you do not profane 9 the name of your God. I am the Lord!
Leviticus 18:2
Context18:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘I am the Lord your God!
Leviticus 1:3
Context1:3 “‘If his offering is a burnt offering 10 from the herd he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance 11 of the Meeting Tent for its 12 acceptance before the Lord.
Psalms 106:37-38
Context106:37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. 13
106:38 They shed innocent blood –
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land was polluted by bloodshed. 14
Ezekiel 20:26
Context20:26 I declared them to be defiled because of their sacrifices 15 – they caused all their first born to pass through the fire 16 – so that I would devastate them, so that they will know that I am the Lord.’ 17
Ezekiel 20:31
Context20:31 When you present your sacrifices 18 – when you make your sons pass through the fire – you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Will I allow you to seek me, 19 O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me! 20
Ezekiel 23:37
Context23:37 For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and their sons, whom they bore to me, 21 they have passed through the fire as food to their idols. 22
Ezekiel 23:39
Context23:39 On the same day they slaughtered their sons for their idols, they came to my sanctuary to desecrate it. This is what they have done in the middle of my house.
[16:3] 1 tn Heb “he walked in the way of.”
[16:3] 2 sn This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 266-67.
[16:3] 3 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
[21:6] 4 tc The LXX has the plural “his sons” here.
[21:6] 5 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.
[21:6] 6 tn Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with conjurers.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov), “ritual pit,” refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַעֲלַת אוֹב (ba’alat ’ov), “owner of a ritual pit.” See H. Hoffner, “Second millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967), 385-401.
[21:6] 7 tc Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the
[18:21] 8 tn Heb “And from your seed you shall not give to cause to pass over to Molech.” Smr (cf. also the LXX) has “to cause to serve” rather than “to cause to pass over.” For detailed remarks on Molech and Molech worship see N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCBC), 87-88; P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 259-60; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 333-37, and the literature cited there. It could refer to either human sacrifice or a devotion of children to some sort of service of Molech, perhaps of a sexual sort (cf. Lev 20:2-5; 2 Kgs 23:10, etc.). The inclusion of this prohibition against Molech worship here may be due to some sexual connection of this kind, or perhaps simply to the lexical link between זֶרַע (zera’) meaning “seed, semen” in v. 20 but “offspring” in v. 21.
[18:21] 9 tn Heb “and you shall not profane.” Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
[1:3] 10 sn The burnt offering (עֹלָה, ’olah) was basically a “a gift of a soothing aroma to the
[1:3] 11 tn Heb “door” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “doorway” (likewise throughout the book of Leviticus). The translation “door” or “doorway” may suggest a framed door in a casing to the modern reader, but here the term refers to the entrance to a tent.
[1:3] 12 tn The NIV correctly has “it” in the text, referring to the acceptance of the animal (cf., e.g., RSV, NEB, NLT), but “he” in the margin, referring to the acceptance of the offerer (cf. ASV, NASB, JB). The reference to a “flawless male” in the first half of this verse suggests that the issue here is the acceptability of the animal to make atonement on behalf of the offerer (Lev 1:4; cf. NRSV “for acceptance in your behalf”).
[106:37] 13 tn The Hebrew term שֵׁדִים (shedim, “demons”) occurs only here and in Deut 32:17. Some type of lesser deity is probably in view.
[106:38] 14 sn Num 35:33-34 explains that bloodshed defiles a land.
[20:26] 16 sn This act is prohibited in Deut 12:29-31 and Jer 7:31; 19:5; 32:35. See also 2 Kgs 21:6; 23:10. This custom indicates that the laws the Israelites were following were the disastrous laws of pagan nations (see Ezek 16:20-21).
[20:26] 17 sn God sometimes punishes sin by inciting the sinner to sin even more, as the biblical examples of divine hardening and deceit make clear. See Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., “Divine Hardening in the Old Testament,” BSac 153 (1996): 410-34; idem, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28. For other instances where the Lord causes individuals to act unwisely or even sinfully as punishment for sin, see 1 Sam 2:25; 2 Sam 17:14; 1 Kgs 12:15; 2 Chr 25:20.
[20:31] 19 tn Or “Will I reveal myself to you?”
[20:31] 20 tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”
[23:37] 21 sn The Lord speaks here in the role of the husband of the sisters.
[23:37] 22 tn Heb “they have passed to them for food.” The verb is commonly taken to refer to passing children through fire, especially as an offering to the pagan god Molech. See Jer 32:35.
