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| Greek coin. Baal enthroned, holding
eagle, corn ear & bunch of grapes. Rev. Lion attacking bull |
Moloch Hebrew Molech, king
A divinity worshipped by the
idolatrous Israelites. The Hebrew pointing
Molech does not represent the original pronunciation of the name, any more than the Greek vocalization
Moloch found in the
LXX and in the Acts (vii, 43). The primitive title of this god was very probably
Melech, "king", the consonants of which came to be combined through derision with the vowels of the word
Bosheth, "shame". As the word Moloch (
A.V. Molech) means king, it is difficult in several places of the
Old Testament to determine whether it should be considered as the proper name of a deity or as a simple appellative. The passages of the original text in which the name stands probably for that of a god are Lev., xviii, 21; xx, 2-5; III (A. V. I) Kings, xi, 7; IV (II) Kings, xxiii, 10;
Isaiah 30:33;
57:9;
Jeremiah 32:35. The chief feature of Moloch's worship among the
Jews seems to have been the sacrifice of children, and the usual expression for describing that sacrifice was "to pass through the fire", a rite carried out after the victims had been
put to death. The special centre of such atrocities was just outside of
Jerusalem, at a place called Tophet (probably "place of abomination"), in the valley of Geennom. According to III (I) Kings, xi, 7, Solomon erected "a temple" for Moloch "on the hill over against Jerusalem", and on this account he is at times considered as the monarch who introduced the impious cult into
Israel. After the disruption, traces of Moloch worship appear in both Juda and
Israel. The custom of causing one's children to pass through the fire seems to have been general in the Northern Kingdom [IV (II) Kings, xvii, 17; Ezech. xxiii, 37], and it gradually grew in the Southern, encouraged by the royal example of Achaz (
2 Kings 16:3) and Manasses [IV (II) Kings, xvi, 6] till it became prevalent in the time of the
prophet Jeremias (Jerem. xxxii, 35), when King Josias suppressed the worship of Moloch and defiled Tophet [IV (II) Kings, xxiii, 13 (10)]. It is not improbable that this worship was revived under Joakim and continued until the
Babylonian Captivity.
On the basis of the Hebrew reading of III (I) Kings, xi, 7, Moloch has often been identified with Milcom, the national god of the
Ammonites, but this identification cannot be considered as probable: as shown by the Greek Versions, the original reading of III (I) Kings, xi, 7, was not Molech but Milchom [cf. also III (I) Kings, xi, 5, 33]; and according to
Deuteronomy 12:29-31 and
18:9-14, the passing of children through fire was of
Chanaanite origin [cf. IV (II) Kings, xvi, 3]. Of late, numerous attempts have been made to prove that in sacrificing their children to Moloch the
Israelites simply thought that they were offering them in
holocaust to
Yahweh. In other words, the
Melech to whom child-sacrifices were offered was
Yahweh under another name. To uphold this view appeal is made in particular to
Jeremiah 7:31 and
19:5, and to
Ezekiel 20:25-31. But this position is to say the least improbable. The texts appealed to may well be understood otherwise, and the
prophets expressly treat the cult of Moloch as foreign and as an apostasy from the worship of the
true God. The offerings by fire, the probable identity of Moloch with
Baal, and the fact that in
Assyria and
Babylonia Malik, and at
Palmyra Malach-bel, were sun-gods, have suggested to many that Moloch was a fire- or sun-god.
Catholic Encyclopedia
MOLOCH (MOLECH)
Biblical Data:
In the Masoretic text the name is "Molech"; in the Septuagint
"Moloch." The earliest mention of Molech is in Lev. xviii. 21, where the
Israelite is forbidden to sacrifice any of his children to Molech.
Similarly, in Lev. xx. 2-5, it is enacted that a man who sacrifices his
seed to Molech shall surely be put to death. Then, curiously, it is
provided that he shall be cut off from the congregation. In I Kings xi. 7
it is said that Solomon built a high place for Molech in the mountain
"that is before Jerusalem." The same passage calls Molech an Ammonite
deity. The Septuagint as quoted in the New Testament (Acts vii. 43)
finds a reference to Moloch in Amos v. 26; but this is a doubtful
passage. In II Kings xxiii. 10 it is stated that one of the practises to
which Josiah put a stop by his reform was that of sacrificing children
to Molech, and that the place where this form of worship had been
practised was at Topheth, "in the valley of the children of Hinnom."
This statement is confirmed by Jer. xxxii. 35. From II Kings xxi. 6 it
may be inferred that this worship was introduced during the reign of
Manasseh. The impression left by an uncritical reading of these passages
is that Molech-worship, with its rite of child-sacrifice, was
introduced from Ammon during the seventh century B.C.
Nature of the Worship.
Critical View:
The name "Molech," later corrupted into "Moloch," is an intentional
mispointing of "Melek," after the analogy of "bosheth" (comp. Hoffmann
in Stade's "Zeitschrift," iii. 124). As to the rites which the
worshipers of Molech performed, it has sometimes been inferred, from the
phrase "pass through the fire to Molech," that children were made to
pass between two lines of fire as a kind of consecration or februation;
but it is clear from Isa. lvii. 5 and Jer. xix. 5 that the children were
killed and burned. The whole point of the offering consisted,
therefore, in the fact that it was a human sacrifice. From Jer. vii. 31
and Ezek. xx. 25, 26, it is evident that both prophets regarded these
human sacrifices as extraordinary offerings to Yhwh. Jeremiah declares that Yhwh had not commanded them, while Ezekiel says Yhwh
polluted the Israelites in their offerings by permitting them to
sacrifice their first-born, so that through chastisement they might know
that Yhwh was Yhwh. The fact, therefore, now
generally accepted by critical scholars, is that in the last days of the
kingdom human sacrifices were offered to Yhwh as King or
Counselor of the nation and that the Prophets disapproved of it and
denounced it because it was introduced from outside as an imitation of a
heathen cult and because of its barbarity. In course of time the
pointing of "Melek" was changed to "Molech" to still further stigmatize
the rites.
Motive of Sacrifices.
The motive for these sacrifices is not far to seek. It is given in
Micah vi. 7: "Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit
of my body for the sin of my soul?" In the midst of the disasters which
were befalling the nation men felt that if the favor of Yhwh
could be regained it was worth any price they could pay. Their Semitic
kindred worshiped their gods with offerings of their children, and in
their desperation the Israelites did the same. For some reason, perhaps
because not all the priestly and prophetic circles approved of the
movement, they made the offerings, not in the Temple, but at an altar or
pyre called "Tapheth" (LXX.), erected in the valley of Hinnom (comp. W.
R. Smith, "Rel. of Sem." 2d ed., p. 372). "Tapheth," also, was later
pointed "Topheth," after the analogy of "bosheth." In connection with
these extraordinary offerings the worshipers continued the regular
Temple sacrifices to Yhwh (Ezek. xxiii. 39).
From the fact that I Kings xi. 7 calls Molech the "abomination of the
children of Ammon" it was formerly assumed that this worship was an
imitation of an Ammonite cult. But so little is known of the Ammonite
religion that more recent scholarship has looked elsewhere for the
source. Because of the mention in II Kings xvii. 31 of Adrammelech (=
Adar-malik) and Anammelech (=Anu-malik) as gods of Sepharvaim
transplanted to Samaria, it has been inferred that this form of worship
was borrowed from Babylonia (comp. Bäthgen, "Beiträge zur Semitischen
Religionsgesch." pp, 238
et seq.). This view rests on the
supposition that "Sepharvaim" is equal to "Sippar," which probably is
not the case. Even if it were, Anu and Adar were not gods of Sippar;
Shamash was god of that city. From this verse, therefore, a Babylonian
or Assyrian origin can not be demonstrated.
Support for this view
has been sought also in Amos v. 26. If, as is probable, Siccuth and
Chiun in that passage are names or epithets of Babylonian deities (comp.
Chiun),
the use of "Melek" in connection with these affords no sound basis for
argument. The whole passage may be, as Wellhausen and Nowack believe, a
late gloss introduced on account of II Kings xvii. 31, and is in any
case too obscure to build upon. Furthermore, there is noevidence that
the sacrifice of the first-born was a feature of the worship of
Babylonian deities. Because child-sacrifice was a prominent feature of
the worship of the Phenician Malik-Baal-Kronos, Moore (in Cheyne and
Black, "Encyc. Bibl.") seeks to prove that the worship of Moloch was
introduced from Phenicia. The evidence of its existence in Phenicia and
her colonies is especially strong. Diodorus Siculus (xx. 14) tells how
the Carthaginians in a siege sacrificed two hundred boys to Kronos.
Burning was an important feature of the rite.
Jewish Encyclopedia
Baal was believed to be the God of fertility. Baal was pictured as a man-like bull. In this religion, the people would pray to Baal in order to keep their
land fertile, for they saw that their land was more fertile than any
other land in the close region. They believed, however, that Baal would
die at the end of each season, and the only way to resurrect him was
through animal blood. As time passed, however, they began to think that
he required the blood of an infant. So, at the end of each season, the
women of the area would bring their infants to the temple. There the
infants would be burned alive, a gruesome act at the willing hand of
their mothers.
Moloch According to the Encyclopaedia Britanica:
Moloch, also spelled Molech,
a deity to whom child sacrifices were made throughout the ancient
middle east. The names derived from combining the consonants of the
Hebrew melech (“king”) with the vowels of boshet (“Shame”), the later
often being used in the old testament as a variant name for the popular
god Baal.”
(“Moloch.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaesdia Britannica Inc., 2012)
The ancient Greek historian, Diodorus, reports that Queen
Semiramis erected a 130-foot obelisk in Babylon and it was associated with sun worship and represented the phallus of the sun god Baal or Nimrod. Some Masonic researchers say that the word 'obelisk' literally means 'Baal's shaft' or 'Baal's organ of reproduction'. It is for this reason that the obelisk also represents the Illuminati bloodlines.--David Icke
