Leviticus 17:7

17:7 So they must no longer offer ¹  their sacrifices to the goat demons, ²  acting like prostitutes by going after them. ³  This is to be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations. ⁴ 

Leviticus 18:21

18:21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, ⁵  so that you do not profane ⁶  the name of your God. I am the Lord!

[17:7]  ¹ tn Heb “sacrifice.” This has been translated as “offer” for stylistic reasons to avoid the redundancy of “sacrifice their sacrifices.”

[17:7]  ² tn On “goat demons” of the desert regions see the note on Lev 16:8.

[17:7]  ³ tn Heb “which they are committing harlotry after them.”

[17:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “for your generations.”

[18:21]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “and you shall not profane.” Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.