Discovery BoxLeviticus 18:21
Context18:21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, 1 so that you do not profane 2 the name of your God. I am the Lord!
Leviticus 20:2-5
Context20:2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel 3 who gives any of his children 4 to Molech 5 must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. 6 20:3 I myself will set my face 7 against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, 8 because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 9 20:4 If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes 10 to that man 11 when he gives some of his children to Molech so that they do not put him to death, 20:5 I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut off from the midst of their people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution, 12 to commit prostitution by worshiping Molech. 13
Leviticus 20:2
Context20:2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel 14 who gives any of his children 15 to Molech 16 must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. 17
Leviticus 16:3
Context16:3 “In this way Aaron is to enter into the sanctuary – with a young bull 18 for a sin offering 19 and a ram for a burnt offering. 20
Leviticus 23:10
Context23:10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am about to give to you and you gather in its harvest, 21 then you must bring the sheaf of the first portion of your harvest 22 to the priest,
Leviticus 23:2
Context23:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘These are the Lord’s appointed times which you must proclaim as holy assemblies – my appointed times: 23
Leviticus 1:3
Context1:3 “‘If his offering is a burnt offering 24 from the herd he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance 25 of the Meeting Tent for its 26 acceptance before the Lord.
Jeremiah 7:31
Context7:31 They have also built places of worship 27 in a place called Topheth 28 in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing! 29
Jeremiah 32:35
Context32:35 They built places of worship for the god Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they could sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. 30 Such a disgusting practice was not something I commanded them to do! It never even entered my mind to command them to do such a thing! So Judah is certainly liable for punishment.’ 31
Ezekiel 16:20
Context16:20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them 32 as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough,
Ezekiel 20:26
Context20:26 I declared them to be defiled because of their sacrifices 33 – they caused all their first born to pass through the fire 34 – so that I would devastate them, so that they will know that I am the Lord.’ 35
Ezekiel 20:31
Context20:31 When you present your sacrifices 36 – 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, 37 O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me! 38
[18:21] 1 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] 2 tn Heb “and you shall not profane.” Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
[20:2] 3 tn Heb “or from the sojourner who sojourns”; NAB “an alien residing in Israel.”
[20:2] 4 tn Heb “his seed” (so KJV, ASV); likewise in vv. 3-4.
[20:2] 5 tn Regarding Molech and Molech worship see the note on Lev 18:21.
[20:2] 6 tn This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning (see instead סָקַל, saqal), but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (רָגָם, ragam; see HALOT 1187 s.v. רגם qal.a, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 136).
[20:3] 7 tn Heb “And I, I shall give my faces.”
[20:3] 8 sn On the “cut off” penalty see the notes on Lev 7:20 and 17:4.
[20:3] 9 tn Heb “for the sake of defiling my sanctuary and to profane my holy name.”
[20:4] 10 tn Heb “And if shutting [infinitive absolute] they shut [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
[20:4] 11 tn Heb “from that man” (so ASV); NASB “disregard that man.”
[20:5] 12 tn The adjective “spiritual” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that this is not a reference to literal prostitution, but figuratively compares idolatry to prostitution.
[20:5] 13 tn Heb “to commit harlotry after Molech.” The translation employs “worshiping” here for clarity (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.
[20:2] 14 tn Heb “or from the sojourner who sojourns”; NAB “an alien residing in Israel.”
[20:2] 15 tn Heb “his seed” (so KJV, ASV); likewise in vv. 3-4.
[20:2] 16 tn Regarding Molech and Molech worship see the note on Lev 18:21.
[20:2] 17 tn This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning (see instead סָקַל, saqal), but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (רָגָם, ragam; see HALOT 1187 s.v. רגם qal.a, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 136).
[16:3] 18 tn Heb “with a bull, a son of the herd.”
[16:3] 19 sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.”
[16:3] 20 sn For the “burnt offering” see the note on Lev 1:3.
[23:10] 21 tn Heb “and you harvest its harvest.”
[23:10] 22 tn Heb “the sheaf of the first of your harvest.”
[23:2] 23 tn Heb “these are them, my appointed times.”
[1:3] 24 sn The burnt offering (עֹלָה, ’olah) was basically a “a gift of a soothing aroma to the
[1:3] 25 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] 26 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”).
[7:31] 27 tn Heb “high places.”
[7:31] 28 tn Heb “the high places of [or in] Topheth.”
[7:31] 29 tn Heb “It never entered my heart.” The words “to command such a thing” do not appear in the Hebrew but are added for the sake of clarity.
[32:35] 30 sn Compare Jer 7:30-31; 19:5 and the study notes on 7:30. The god Molech is especially associated with the practice of child sacrifice (Lev 18:21; 20:2-5; 2 Kgs 23:10). In 1 Kgs 11:7 this god is identified as the god of the Ammonites who is also called Milcom in 1 Kgs 11:5; 2 Kgs 23:13. Child sacrifice, however, was not confined to this god; it was also made to the god Baal (Jer 19:5) and to other idols that the Israelites had set up (Ezek 16:20-21). This practice was, however, strictly prohibited in Israel (Lev 18:21; 20:2-5; Deut 12:31; 18:10). It was this practice as well as other pagan rites that Manasseh had instituted in Judah that ultimately led to Judah’s demise (2 Kgs 24:3-4). Though Josiah tried to root these pagan practices (2 Kgs 23:4-14) out of Judah he could not do so. The people had only made a pretense of following his reforms; their hearts were still far from God (Jer 3:10; 12:2).
[32:35] 31 tn Heb “They built high places to Baal which are in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to cause their sons and daughters to pass through [the fire] to Molech [a thing] which I did not command them and [which] did not go up into my heart [= “mind” in modern psychology] to do this abomination so as to make Judah liable for punishment.” For the use of the Hiphil of חָטָא (khata’) to refer to the liability for punishment see BDB s.v. חָטָא Hiph.3 and compare the usage in Deut 24:8. Coming at the end as this does, this nuance is much more likely than “cause Judah to sin” which is the normal translation assigned to the verb here. The particle לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) that precedes it is here once again introducing a result and not a purpose (compare other clear examples in 27:10, 15). The sentence has been broken down in conformity to contemporary English style and an attempt has been made to make clear that what is detestable and not commanded is not merely child sacrifice to Molech but child sacrifice in general.
[16:20] 32 sn The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.
[20:26] 34 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] 35 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.
