21 Mar
Human Sacrifice Redux-The Revival of Molech Worship
In our Torah study on the opening chapter of Leviticus, we had a discussion about the different kinds of sacrifices that Israel’s neighbors observed. The priestly theology of Leviticus deliberately kept ancient Israel far away from sacrificing their sons and daughters as a way of honoring Yahweh. Instead, the only animals that were permitted to be offered were domestic animals one would find in a Semitic pastoral environment, e.g., goats, sheep, and cattle.
Who was Molech?
You shall not offer any of your offspring to be immolated to Molech, thus profaning the name of your God. I am the LORD — (Lev. 18:21)
In ancient biblical times, one of the most dreaded deities of antiquity was the deity known as Molech. People use used to show their devotion to Molech by causing their children to pass through a fire that was made in its honor (Lev. 18:21; Deut. 12:31, 18:10). Details from extrabiblical sources are scattered, and Molech continues to be a subject of considerable speculation. Molech might have been either a god of death, similar to the Canaanite deity of Mot, or, more likely, the dying and reviving god (a good case could be made that Molech was possibly one and the same with the Punic deity Baal‑Hammon) as he is in his chthonic aspect and both were regarded as West‑Semitic manifestations of the Assyrian and Babylonian god of death and lord of the underworld, Nergal. [1] The connection between Nergel, Baal, the Assyrian and Babylonian Malik, and at Palmyra Malach‑bel, who were all sun‑gods and strongly suggest that Molech may have been a fire or sun‑god. [2] Some passages in the Tanakh identifed Molech as Milkom, the Ammonite form of Malik and Chemosh, the deity of Moab. [3]
While most scholars trace the worship of Molech to the 7th- 8th centuries B.C.E., there are some recent archeological findings from Jordan, dating back to the time of Israel’s conquest of Canaan, suggesting that child sacrifice is older than was once previously believed to be, and the deity the ancient Ammonites worshiped at this time period, was Molech![4] Given how archeological theories are constantly being revised, there is ample reason to suggest that further evidence will eventually be unearthed to further substantiate an earlier period for Molech worship. Continue Reading
