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Moloch

also known as: Molech, Milcom, Milkim, Malcham, Malik

Meaning: king

This is the name of the national god of the Ammonites, to whom children were sacrificed by fire.

He was the consuming and destroying and also at the same time the purifying fire. In Amos 5:26, “your Moloch” of the King James Version is “your king” in the Revised King James Version (compare Acts 7:43). Solomon (1 Kings 11:7) erected a high place for this idol on the Mount of Olives, and from that time till the days of King Josiah his worship continued (2 Kings 23:10, 13).

In the days of Jehoahaz it was partially restored, but after the Captivity wholly disappeared. He is also called Molech (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2-5, etc.), Milcom (1 Kings 11:5, 33, etc.), and Malcham (Zeph. 1:5). This god became Chemosh among the Moabites. Mathew G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary

One of the places that Moloch was worshipped was in Tophet, “in the valley of the son of Hinnom, very near Jerusalem, where the image of Moloch (that god of unnatural cruelty, as others were of unnatural uncleanness) was kept, to which some sacrificed their children, burning them in the fire, others dedicated them, making them to pass through the fire (2 Kings 23:10), labouring in the very fire, Habbukah 2:13. It is supposed to have been called Tophet from toph, a drum, because they beat drums at the burning of the children, that their shrieks might not be heard. —Matthew Henry, 2 Kings 23:4-24, Commentary on the Whole Bible

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Article Version: September 18, 2024