Imamat 20:2-5

20:2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel ¹  who gives any of his children ²  to Molech ³  must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. ⁴  20:3 I myself will set my face ⁵  against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, ⁶  because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. ⁷  20:4 If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes ⁸  to that man ⁹  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, ¹⁰  to commit prostitution by worshiping Molech. ¹¹ 

Ulangan 9:4

9:4 Do not think to yourself after the Lord your God has driven them out before you, “Because of my own righteousness the Lord has brought me here to possess this land.” It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you.

Ulangan 9:1

Theological Justification of the Conquest

9:1 Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications. ¹² 

1 Raja-raja 11:5

11:5 Solomon worshiped ¹³  the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. ¹⁴ 

1 Raja-raja 11:7

11:7 Furthermore, ¹⁵  on the hill east of Jerusalem ¹⁶  Solomon built a high place ¹⁷  for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh ¹⁸  and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. ¹⁹ 

1 Raja-raja 11:33

11:33 I am taking the kingdom from him ²⁰  because they have ²¹  abandoned me and worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They have not followed my instructions ²²  by doing what I approve and obeying my rules and regulations, like Solomon’s father David did. ²³ 

Yesaya 57:9

57:9 You take olive oil as tribute ²⁴  to your king, ²⁵ 

along with many perfumes. ²⁶ 

You send your messengers to a distant place;

you go all the way to Sheol. ²⁷ 

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. ²⁸  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.’ ²⁹ 

[20:2]  ¹ tn Heb “or from the sojourner who sojourns”; NAB “an alien residing in Israel.”

[20:2]  ² tn Heb “his seed” (so KJV, ASV); likewise in vv. 3-4.

[20:2]  ³ tn Regarding Molech and Molech worship see the note on Lev 18:21.

[20:2]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “And I, I shall give my faces.”

[20:3]  ⁶ sn On the “cut off” penalty see the notes on Lev 7:20 and 17:4.

[20:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “for the sake of defiling my sanctuary and to profane my holy name.”

[20:4]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “from that man” (so ASV); NASB “disregard that man.”

[20:5]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.

[9:1]  ¹² tn Heb “fortified to the heavens” (so NRSV); NLT “cities with walls that reach to the sky.” This is hyperbole.

[11:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “walked after.”

[11:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Milcom, the detestable thing of the Ammonites.”

[11:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “then.”

[11:7]  ¹⁶ sn The hill east of Jerusalem refers to the Mount of Olives.

[11:7]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:7]  ¹⁷ sn A high place. The “high places” were places of worship that were naturally or artificially elevated (see 1 Kgs 3:2).

[11:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Chemosh, the detestable thing of Moab.”

[11:7]  ¹⁹ tc The MT reads “Molech,” but Milcom must be intended (see vv. 5, 33).

[11:33]  ²⁰ tn The words “I am taking the kingdom from him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:33]  ²¹ tc This is the reading of the MT; the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate read “he has.”

[11:33]  ²² tn Heb “walked in my ways.”

[11:33]  ²³ tn Heb “by doing what is right in my eyes, my rules and my regulations, like David his father.”

[57:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “you journey with oil.”

[57:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.

[57:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”

[57:9]  ²⁷ sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.

[32:35]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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.