Chemosh

Biblical References

Chemosh is the god of Moab. Scripture usually calls this deity "the god of Moab" and sometimes refers to the Moabites as "the people of Chemosh."

• Numbers 21:29: In a poem celebrating the Amorite king Sihon's victory over Moab, Moab is called "the people of Chemosh," and its destruction is proclaimed.
• Judges 11:24: Disputing territorial rights with the king of Ammon, the judge Jephthah says, "Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess?"
• 1 Kings 11:7, 11:33: Under the influence of his foreign wives, Solomon built a high place (a site of worship on elevated ground) for "Chemosh, the abomination of Moab," on the hill before Jerusalem, and God declares that because of this He will divide the kingdom.
• 2 Kings 23:13: As part of his reforms, King Josiah defiles the high places that Solomon had built for Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom, rendering them unfit for use.
• Jeremiah 48:7, 13, 46: In the prophecy of judgment against Moab, Chemosh goes into captivity together with his priests, and Moab is put to shame because of Chemosh.

Background

The Hebrew name is Kemosh (כְּמוֹשׁ); the original meaning of the word is uncertain. The most important extrabiblical source is the so-called Mesha Inscription (the Moabite Stone), discovered in 1868 at Dhiban, east of the Jordan River. Believed to have been left by Mesha, the king of Moab mentioned in 2 Kings 3, the inscription ascribes Moab's long oppression under King Omri of Israel to the anger of Chemosh and presents Mesha's recovery of territory as the result of Chemosh's command and help. The inscription is frequently cited as evidence of an ancient Near Eastern outlook that interpreted a nation's rise and fall as the will of its god.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The Old Testament treats Chemosh, together with Molech (Milcom) and Ashtoreth, as a foreign god whom Israel must not follow. Solomon's high place for Chemosh is recorded as a prime example of the king's fall into idolatry, and Josiah's removal of it is recorded as a symbol of reform. Jeremiah declares that Chemosh will go into captivity along with his people, exposing the god's inability to protect them. The name Chemosh does not appear in the New Testament. However, the teaching of 1 Corinthians 8:4–6 that "an idol is nothing in the world" and the exhortation of 1 John 5:21 to keep oneself from idols are read together as passages that carry forward the Old Testament critique of idolatry.

Interpretations and Issues

• Jephthah's statement (Judges 11:24): It has long been debated why Jephthah, addressing the king of Ammon, calls Chemosh, a Moabite god, "thy god." One explanation is that he spoke this way because the land had originally belonged to Moab; another points to a possible overlap between Ammonite and Moabite religion. Conservative interpreters hold that Jephthah was simply arguing from his opponent's own beliefs, while some critical scholars see in the statement a reflection of how ancient Israel regarded the gods of other nations.
• Mesha's sacrifice of his son (2 Kings 3:27): This event, in which the king of Moab offered his firstborn son as a burnt offering on the city wall, is often explained in connection with the worship of Chemosh. The text, however, does not name Chemosh. The phrase that immediately follows, "there was great indignation against Israel," likewise does not specify whose wrath is meant, and interpretations differ. Because Scripture does not describe the specific rites of Chemosh worship, detailed accounts of them should be recognized as inference.