Leviticus 18:21

18:21 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!

Deuteronomy 12:31

12:31 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they do! ³  For everything that is abhorrent ⁴  to him, ⁵  everything he hates, they have done when worshiping their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters before their gods!

Deuteronomy 18:10

18:10 There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, ⁶  anyone who practices divination, ⁷  an omen reader, ⁸  a soothsayer, ⁹  a sorcerer, ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 18:2

18:2 They ¹¹  will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; ¹²  the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them.

Deuteronomy 17:17

17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many ¹³  wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold.

Deuteronomy 23:10

23:10 If there is someone among you who is impure because of some nocturnal emission, ¹⁴  he must leave the camp; he may not reenter it immediately.

Deuteronomy 23:2

23:2 A person of illegitimate birth ¹⁵  may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so. ¹⁶ 

Deuteronomy 28:3

28:3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. ¹⁷ 

Deuteronomy 33:6

Blessing on Reuben

33:6 May Reuben live and not die,

and may his people multiply. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 106:38

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. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 57:5-6

57:5 you who practice ritual sex ²⁰  under the oaks and every green tree,

who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. ²¹ 

57:6 Among the smooth stones of the stream are the idols you love;

they, they are the object of your devotion. ²² 

You pour out liquid offerings to them,

you make an offering.

Because of these things I will seek vengeance. ²³ 

Jeremiah 7:31

7:31 They have also built places of worship ²⁴  in a place called Topheth ²⁵  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! ²⁶ 

Jeremiah 32:35

32:35 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. ²⁷  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.’ ²⁸ 

Ezekiel 16:20-21

16:20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them ²⁹  as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough, 16:21 you slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. ³⁰ 

Ezekiel 20:26

20:26 I declared them to be defiled because of their sacrifices ³¹  – they caused all their first born to pass through the fire ³²  – so that I would devastate them, so that they will know that I am the Lord.’ ³³ 

Ezekiel 20:31

20:31 When you present your sacrifices ³⁴  – 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, ³⁵  O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me! ³⁶ 

Ezekiel 23:37

23:37 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, ³⁷  they have passed through the fire as food to their idols. ³⁸ 

Ezekiel 23:39

23:39 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.

Acts 7:43

7:43 But you took along the tabernacle ³⁹  of Moloch ⁴⁰  and the star of the ⁴¹  god Rephan, ⁴²  the images you made to worship, but I will deport ⁴³  you beyond Babylon.’ ⁴⁴ 

[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.

[12:31]  ³ tn Heb “you must not do thus to/for the Lord your God.”

[12:31]  ⁴ tn See note on this term at Deut 7:25.

[12:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “every abomination of the Lord.” See note on the word “his” in v. 27.

[18:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “who passes his son or his daughter through the fire.” The expression “pass…through the fire” is probably a euphemism for human sacrifice (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT). See also Deut 12:31.

[18:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “a diviner of divination” (קֹסֵם קְסָמִים, qosem qÿsamim). This was a means employed to determine the future or the outcome of events by observation of various omens and signs (cf. Num 22:7; 23:23; Josh 13:22; 1 Sam 6:2; 15:23; 28:8; etc.). See M. Horsnell, NIDOTTE 3:945-51.

[18:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “one who causes to appear” (מְעוֹנֵן, mÿ’onen). Such a practitioner was thought to be able to conjure up spirits or apparitions (cf. Lev 19:26; Judg 9:37; 2 Kgs 21:6; Isa 2:6; 57:3; Jer 27:9; Mic 5:11).

[18:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “a seeker of omens” (מְנַחֵשׁ, mÿnakhesh). This is a subset of divination, one illustrated by the use of a “divining cup” in the story of Joseph (Gen 44:5).

[18:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a doer of sorcery” (מְכַשֵּׁף, mikhashef). This has to do with magic or the casting of spells in order to manipulate the gods or the powers of nature (cf. Lev 19:26-31; 2 Kgs 17:15b-17; 21:1-7; Isa 57:3, 5; etc.). See M. Horsnell, NIDOTTE 2:735-38.

[18:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).

[18:2]  ¹² tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”

[17:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “must not multiply” (cf. KJV, NASB); NLT “must not take many.”

[23:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “nocturnal happening.” The Hebrew term קָרֶה (qareh) merely means “to happen” so the phrase here is euphemistic (a “night happening”) for some kind of bodily emission such as excrement or semen. Such otherwise normal physical functions rendered one ritually unclean whether accidental or not. See Lev 15:16-18; 22:4.

[23:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”

[23:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “enter the assembly of the Lord.” The phrase “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[28:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “in the country” (so NAB, NIV, NLT). This expression also occurs in v. 15.

[33:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and [not] may his men be few” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).

[106:38]  ¹⁹ sn Num 35:33-34 explains that bloodshed defiles a land.

[57:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “inflame yourselves”; NRSV “burn with lust.” This verse alludes to the practice of ritual sex that accompanied pagan fertility rites.

[57:5]  ²¹ sn This apparently alludes to the practice of child sacrifice (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

[57:6]  ²² tn Heb “among the smooth stones of the stream [is] your portion, they, they [are] your lot.” The next line indicates idols are in view.

[57:6]  ²³ tn The text reads literally, “Because of these am I relenting?” If the prefixed interrogative particle is retained at the beginning of the sentence, then the question would be rhetorical, with the Niphal of נָחָם (nakham) probably being used in the sense of “relent, change one’s mind.” One could translate: “Because of these things, how can I relent?” However, the initial letter he may be dittographic (note the final he [ה] on the preceding word). In this case one may understand the verb in the sense of “console oneself, seek vengeance,” as in 1:24.

[7:31]  ²⁴ tn Heb “high places.”

[7:31]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the high places of [or in] Topheth.”

[7:31]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ sn The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.

[16:21]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and you gave them, by passing them through to them.” Some believe this alludes to the pagan practice of making children pass through the fire.

[20:26]  ³¹ tn Or “gifts.”

[20:26]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn Or “gifts.”

[20:31]  ³⁵ tn Or “Will I reveal myself to you?”

[20:31]  ³⁶ tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”

[23:37]  ³⁷ sn The Lord speaks here in the role of the husband of the sisters.

[23:37]  ³⁸ 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.

[7:43]  ³⁹ tn Or “tent.”

[7:43]  ⁴⁰ sn Moloch was a Canaanite deity who was believed to be the god of the sky and the sun.

[7:43]  ⁴¹ tc ‡ Most mss, including several important ones (Ì⁷⁴ א A C E Ψ 33 1739 Ï h p vg sy^h mae bo Cyr), have ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) here, in conformity with the LXX of Amos 5:26. But other significant and diverse witnesses lack the pronoun: The lack of ὑμῶν in B D 36 453 gig sy^p sa Ir^lat Or is difficult to explain if it is not the original wording here. NA²⁷ has the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[7:43]  ⁴² sn Rephan (῾Ραιφάν, RJaifan) was a pagan deity. The term was a name for Saturn. It was variously spelled in the mss (BDAG 903 s.v. has Rompha as an alternate spelling). The references cover a range of deities and a history of unfaithfulness.

[7:43]  ⁴³ tn Or “I will make you move.”

[7:43]  ⁴⁴ sn A quotation from Amos 5:25-27. This constituted a prediction of the exile.