Molech

Biblical Texts

Molech appears chiefly in connection with the rite of making children "pass through the fire."

• Leviticus 18:21: Commands, "thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God."
• Leviticus 20:2–5: Anyone who gives his children to Molech is to be stoned to death, and God declares that He will cut him off from among his people.
• 1 Kings 11:7: Records that Solomon built a high place (a place of worship on elevated ground) on the hill before Jerusalem for "Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon."
• 2 Kings 23:10: During his reforms, Josiah defiled Topheth in the valley of the children of Hinnom, "that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech."
• Jeremiah 32:35: Charges that the people built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom "to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech."
• Acts 7:43: In his sermon, Stephen quotes the book of Amos, saying that Israel in the wilderness took up "the tabernacle of Moloch."

Background

The Hebrew Molek has the same consonants as melek, meaning "king." Some scholars hold that it is a deliberately derogatory name formed by combining those consonants with the vowels of boshet, the word for "shame." In the twentieth century, a theory also emerged that Molech refers not to a god but to a type of sacrifice. This theory appeals to similar terms found in Phoenician and Carthaginian inscriptions. Scholars have not reached a consensus on which view is correct.

The Bible associates Molech with Ammon. Opinions are also divided on whether Molech is the same deity as Milcom, the god of the Ammonites mentioned in 1 Kings 11:5. Although the name Molech does not appear in them, other passages record that Kings Ahaz and Manasseh made their sons pass through the fire (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6).

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The Prophets declare that burning children in the fire is something God "commanded them not" (Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5). Christian interpretation reads this declaration together with the account of the burnt offering on Mount Moriah, understanding it to mean that God does not accept human beings as sacrifices.

The name of the Valley of Hinnom, where this sacrifice was practiced, later became "Gehenna." Gehenna is the word translated "hell" in the New Testament (see Heaven and Hell). The only direct reference to Molech in the New Testament is Acts 7:43, which appears in the context of a review of Israel's history of repeated idolatry.

Interpretations and Issues

• The meaning of "pass through the fire": Many interpreters understand it as a sacrifice in which children were actually burned as offerings, citing the words "to burn … in the fire" in Jeremiah 7:31. Others, however, view it as a rite of dedication in which children were made to pass between fires without being killed.
• The bronze idol story: A commonly repeated story holds that a bull-headed bronze idol was heated, children were placed on its arms, and the beating of drums drowned out their cries. This description is not found in the biblical text; it derives from later Jewish commentary tradition.
• Understanding of Molech does not differ significantly among denominations.

In the Korean Church

In preaching, Molech is frequently cited as an extreme example of idolatry. It is also used as a metaphor warning against attitudes that sacrifice children to worldly success or to the pressures of school entrance examinations. Some sermons and Christian pro-life movements also liken abortion to the worship of Molech (see Abortion and the Church).