Throughout the Tanach, there are many references to a rite named Molech, which involved passing children through fire, with many warnings from G‑d to not observe it. What Was Molech? Did the Child Die? Was It Really Practiced?

Oct 2, 2021 · Perhaps no pagan deity was as reviled as Moloch, a god whose cult reportedly sacrificed children in a furnace set inside the belly of a bronze bull. Throughout antiquity, sacrifice might have been utilized in times of great strife.

May 13, 2024 · Archaeological excavations throughout Carthage uncovered the remains of thousands of babies offered to Baʿal and his consort Tanit, together with dedicatory inscriptions, referring to the offering as a molekh, the very term the Bible uses to prohibit child sacrifice.

Feb 10, 2019 · In the Biblical account, children are said to have been sacrificed or “passed through the fire” to Moloch at a shrine outside the city walls of Jerusalem called Topheth, in the valley of Ben-Hinnom.

Apr 29, 2020 · Moloch (AKA Molocha, Molech, Malcam, Milcom) was an ancient Canaanite deity associated with child sacrifice. The name is derived from the Hebrew word מלך (mlk) which means “King.” The name was...

Oct 6, 2023 · As we read in Leviticus 18:21, the worship of Molech included infanticide; specifically, it included the murder of infants as a pagan sacrifice. For many years, it was thought that Molech was one of the pagan deities of the Canaanites, but debate exists among scholars as to whether he is actually a Phoenician pagan deity.

As the classical sources have it, the sacrifices of children at Carthage, a colony founded by Phoenicians on the coast of Northeast Tunisia, usually came after a defeat and a great disaster – a religious practice based upon an ancient mythological tradition.

The prohibition of child sacrifice to Molech is a significant commandment found within the Old Testament, reflecting the broader biblical condemnation of idolatry and the sanctity of human life. Molech, often associated with the Ammonites, was a deity to whom child sacrifices were made, a practice that the God of Israel explicitly forbade.

Moloch, a Canaanite deity associated in biblical sources with the practice of child sacrifice. The name derives from combining the consonants of the Hebrew melech (’king’) with the vowels of boshet (’shame’), the latter often being used in the Old Testament as a variant name for the popular god Baal (’Lord’).

Molech was a pagan deity associated with child sacrifice in the Old Testament. The worship of the Canaanite God Molech was condemned as one of the most repulsive acts in God's sight.