Ulangan 12:31

12:31 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they do! ¹  For everything that is abhorrent ²  to him, ³  everything he hates, they have done when worshiping their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters before their gods!

Ulangan 18:10

18:10 There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, ⁴  anyone who practices divination, ⁵  an omen reader, ⁶  a soothsayer, ⁷  a sorcerer, ⁸ 

Ulangan 18:2

18:2 They ⁹  will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; ¹⁰  the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them.

1 Raja-raja 16:3

16:3 So I am ready to burn up ¹¹  Baasha and his family, and make your family ¹²  like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat.

1 Raja-raja 17:17

17:17 After this ¹³  the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe.

1 Raja-raja 21:6

21:6 He answered her, “While I was talking to Naboth the Jezreelite, I said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard for silver, or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not sell you my vineyard.’” ¹⁴ 

1 Raja-raja 1:10

1:10 But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the elite warriors, ¹⁵  or his brother Solomon.

1 Raja-raja 1:2

1:2 His servants advised ¹⁶  him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king, ¹⁷  to take care of the king’s needs ¹⁸  and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you ¹⁹  and keep our master, the king, warm.” ²⁰ 

1 Tawarikh 28:1-4

David Commissions Solomon to Build the Temple

28:1 David assembled in Jerusalem ²¹  all the officials of Israel, including the commanders of the tribes, the commanders of the army divisions that served the king, the commanders of units of a thousand and a hundred, the officials who were in charge of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, the eunuchs, and the warriors, including the most skilled of them.

28:2 King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I wanted to build a temple where the ark of the Lord’s covenant could be placed as a footstool for our God. ²²  I have made the preparations for building it. 28:3 But God said to me, ‘You must not build a temple to honor me, ²³  for you are a warrior and have spilled blood.’ 28:4 The Lord God of Israel chose me out of my father’s entire family to become king over Israel and have a permanent dynasty. ²⁴  Indeed, ²⁵  he chose Judah as leader, and my father’s family within Judah, and then he picked me out from among my father’s sons and made me king over all Israel. ²⁶ 

1 Tawarikh 1:6

1:6 The sons of Gomer:

Ashkenaz, Riphath, ²⁷  and Togarmah.

Mazmur 106:37-38

106:37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. ²⁸ 

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. ²⁹ 

Yesaya 57:5

57:5 you who practice ritual sex ³⁰  under the oaks and every green tree,

who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. ³¹ 

Yeremia 7:30-31

7:30 The Lord says, “I have rejected them because ³²  the people of Judah have done what I consider evil. ³³  They have set up their disgusting idols in the temple ³⁴  which I have claimed for my own ³⁵  and have defiled it. 7:31 They have also built places of worship ³⁶  in a place called Topheth ³⁷  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! ³⁸ 

Yeremia 19:5

19:5 They have built places here ³⁹  for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices ⁴⁰  are something I never commanded them to make! They are something I never told them to do! Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!

Yeremia 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. ⁴¹  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.’ ⁴² 

Yehezkiel 16:20

16:20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them ⁴³  as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough,

Mikha 6:7

6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,

or ten thousand streams of olive oil?

Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,

my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? ⁴⁴ 

[12:31]  ¹ tn Heb “you must not do thus to/for the Lord your God.”

[12:31]  ² tn See note on this term at Deut 7:25.

[12:31]  ³ tn Heb “every abomination of the Lord.” See note on the word “his” in v. 27.

[18:10]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).

[18:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”

[16:3]  ¹¹ tn The traditional view understands the verb בָּעַר (ba’ar) to mean “burn.” However, an alternate view takes בָּעַר (ba’ar) as a homonym meaning “sweep away” (HALOT 146 s.v. II בער). In this case one might translate, “I am ready to sweep away Baasha and his family.” Either metaphor emphasizes the thorough and destructive nature of the coming judgment.

[16:3]  ¹² tc The Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta, and some mss of the Targum have here “his house.”

[17:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “after these things.”

[21:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “While I was talking…, I said…, he said….” Ahab’s explanation is one lengthy sentence in the Hebrew text, which is divided in the English translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:10]  ¹⁵ tn Or “bodyguard” (Heb “mighty men”).

[1:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “said to.”

[1:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “let them seek for my master, the king, a young girl, a virgin.” The third person plural subject of the verb is indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f). The appositional expression, “a young girl, a virgin,” is idiomatic; the second term specifically defines the more general first term (see IBHS 230 §12.3b).

[1:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and she will stand before the king.” The Hebrew phrase “stand before” can mean “to attend; to serve” (BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד).

[1:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and she will lie down in your bosom.” The expression might imply sexual intimacy (see 2 Sam 12:3 [where the lamb symbolizes Bathsheba] and Mic 7:5), though v. 4b indicates that David did not actually have sex with the young woman.

[1:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and my master, the king, will be warm.”

[28:1]  ²¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[28:2]  ²² tn Heb “I, with my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for a stool of the feet of our God.”

[28:3]  ²³ tn Heb “for my name.”

[28:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “out of all the house of my father to become king over all Israel permanently.”

[28:4]  ²⁵ tn Or “for.”

[28:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and among the sons of my father he desired to make me king over all Israel.”

[1:6]  ²⁷ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss, along with the LXX and Vulgate, read “Riphath” (see Gen 10:3). This is followed by several English translations (e.g., NAB, NIV, NLT), while others (e.g., ASV, NASB, NRSV) follow the MT reading (“Diphath”).

[106:37]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ sn Num 35:33-34 explains that bloodshed defiles a land.

[57:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “inflame yourselves”; NRSV “burn with lust.” This verse alludes to the practice of ritual sex that accompanied pagan fertility rites.

[57:5]  ³¹ sn This apparently alludes to the practice of child sacrifice (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

[7:30]  ³² tn The words “I have rejected them” are not in the Hebrew text, which merely says “because.” These words are supplied in the translation to show more clearly the connection to the preceding.

[7:30]  ³³ tn Heb “have done the evil in my eyes.”

[7:30]  ³⁴ sn Compare, e.g., 2 Kgs 21:3, 5, 7; 23:4, 6; Ezek 8:3, 5, 10-12, 16. Manasseh had desecrated the temple by building altars, cult symbols, and idols in it. Josiah had purged the temple of these pagan elements. But it is obvious from both Jeremiah and Ezekiel that they had been replaced shortly after Josiah’s death. They were a primary cause of Judah’s guilt and punishment (see beside this passage, 19:5; 32:34-35).

[7:30]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the house which is called by my name.” Cf. 7:10, 11, 14 and see the translator’s note 7:10 for the explanation for this rendering.

[7:31]  ³⁶ tn Heb “high places.”

[7:31]  sn These places of worship were essentially open air shrines often located on hills or wooded heights. They were generally connected with pagan worship and equipped with altars of sacrifice and of incense and cult objects such as wooden poles and stone pillars which were symbols of the god and/or goddess worshiped at the sight. The Israelites were commanded to tear down these Canaanite places of worship (Num 33:52) but they did not do so, often taking over the site for the worship of Yahweh but even then incorporating some of the pagan cult objects and ritual into their worship of Yahweh (1 Kgs 12:31, 32; 14:23). The prophets were especially opposed to these places and to this kind of syncretism (Hos 10:8; Amos 7:9) and to the pagan worship that was often practiced at them (Jer 7:31; 19:5; 32:35).

[7:31]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the high places of [or in] Topheth.”

[7:31]  sn The noun Topheth is generally explained as an artificial formation of a word related to the Aramaic word for “cooking stove” combined with the vowels for the word for “shame.” Hence, Jewish piety viewed it as a very shameful act, one that was contrary to the law (see Lev 18:21; 20:2-6). Child sacrifice was practiced during the reigns of the wicked kings Ahaz and Manasseh and apparently during Jeremiah’s day (cf. 2 Kgs 16:3; 21:6; Jer 32:35).

[7:31]  ³⁸ 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.

[19:5]  ³⁹ tn The word “here” is not in the text. However, it is implicit from the rest of the context. It is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:5]  ⁴⁰ tn The words “such sacrifices” are not in the text. The text merely says “to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal which I did not command.” The command obviously refers not to the qualification “to Baal” but to burning the children in the fire as burnt offerings. The words are supplied in the translation to avoid a possible confusion that the reference is to sacrifices to Baal. Likewise the words should not be translated so literally that they leave the impression that God never said anything about sacrificing their children to other gods. The fact is he did. See Lev 18:21; Deut 12:30; 18:10.

[32:35]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ sn The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.

[6:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person; here “the sin of my soul” = “my sin.”