Hebrew word · H4432

מֹ֫לֶךְ

lamolekh

Molech

In the Hebrew Bible, Molech is linked above all with 'passing children through the fire' (Lev 18:21; 20:2–5; 2 Kgs 23:10; Jer 32:35). The consonants mlk mean 'king'. Another theory (Eissfeldt, 1935) reads molk as a Punic word for a kind of sacrifice, not a god.

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Molech = "king"

the god of the Ammonites and Phoenicians to whom some Israelites sacrificed their infants in the valley of Hinnom

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Kings 11:7

Range of meaning

In the Hebrew Bible, Molech is linked above all with 'passing children through the fire' (Lev 18:21; 20:2–5; 2 Kgs 23:10; Jer 32:35). The consonants mlk mean 'king'. Most scholars read Molech as a god whose title means 'King', and some think the vowels were borrowed from boshet, 'shame', on purpose, though that is debated. Another theory (Eissfeldt, 1935) reads molk as a Punic word for a kind of sacrifice, not a god. In this verse, though, it is plainly a god's name, matching Chemosh.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, BSB, YLT: 'Molech'. NIV: 'Molek'. Most versions follow the Masoretic Text and do not change it to 'Milcom' (see textual notes).

How it drifted

Readers who know Molech from Leviticus will assume Solomon built a site for burning children. The verse does not say that. Its subject is the national god of Ammon, called Milcom in verse 5 and in 2 Kgs 23:13. In the Kings account the child-burning site, Topheth in the Hinnom valley, is a separate place, tied to later kings (2 Kgs 23:10; 16:3; 21:6).

Used elsewhere in the period

Milcom (mlkm) is attested as Ammon's god in Ammonite inscriptions and personal names (e.g. the Amman Citadel inscription, which opens with 'Milkom'). For Molech, see the Dictionary of Deities and Demons s.v. 'Molech' (Heider), and J. Day, Molech: A God of Human Sacrifice (1989).

From the study of 2 Kings 23:10

Range of meaning

Appears in Lev 18:21; 20:2–5; 1 Kgs 11:7 (probably a slip for Milcom); 2 Kgs 23:10; Jer 32:35, and in the Greek 'Moloch' of Amos 5:26 LXX / Acts 7:43. It almost always has the article: 'the Molek.' It is either (1) a divine title built on melek 'king', probably given the vowels of bōšet 'shame' as a scribal insult, possibly an underworld god related to Ugaritic mlk and Mesopotamian Malik, or (2) a technical sacrificial term like Punic mlk, meaning 'as a molk-offering'.

Against the English

'Molech' (KJV, BSB, ESV, NASB) or 'Molek' (NIV 2011) presents it as the personal name of a god. If view (2) is right, 'to the Molek' would mean 'as a molk-sacrifice', and no separate god would be named.

How it drifted

Popular imagination pictures a bronze, bull-headed statue with red-hot outstretched arms. That picture comes from medieval Jewish commentary (e.g., Rashi on Jer 7:31) and from Greek reports about Carthage (Diodorus Siculus 20.14). The Hebrew Bible never describes the god's image.

Used elsewhere in the period

Eissfeldt (1935) proposed the sacrifice-term view from Punic inscriptions with mlk. Heider (1985) and Day (1989) argue for a deity, pointing to Lev 20:5 'whoring after the Molek', which fits a god better than a type of offering, and to Ugaritic and Mesopotamian mlk/Malik figures connected with the dead. Jer 32:35 links the practice with Baal.

From the study of Jeremiah 32:35

Range of meaning

Appears in Lev 18:21; 20:2–5; 1 Kgs 11:7 (probably for Milcom); 2 Kgs 23:10; Jer 32:35, nearly always with the article ('the molekh') and in the phrase 'give / make pass over … to the molekh'. There are two main readings. (1) A god's name: the consonants of melek, 'king', with the vowels of boshet, 'shame', a deliberate insult. On this view he was perhaps an underworld 'king' connected with the dead, comparable to Ugaritic mlk and Mesopotamian Malik. (2) A sacrificial term: from Punic mlk (molk) inscriptions at Carthage and other western Phoenician sites, which name a type of offering connected with infant burials in sacred precincts called 'tophets'. On this view 'to the molekh' would mean 'as a molk-offering'.

Against the English

Every major English version prints 'Molech' (NIV 'Molek') as a god's name. The 'Moloch' many readers picture is a huge bronze idol with outstretched heated arms and drums drowning out cries. That image comes from medieval Jewish commentary (Rashi on Jer 7:31) and from Milton's Paradise Lost, not from the Bible.

How it drifted

Once Leviticus had made the name stand for the worst idolatry, later writers filled in details. The Greek and Latin spelling 'Moloch' and Milton fixed the image in Western imagination.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint the word is sometimes Moloch (here) and sometimes archōn, 'ruler' (Lev 18:21). Punic and Neo-Punic votive stelae from Carthage, Sousse and elsewhere carry the formulas mlk ʾdm / mlk bʿl (Eissfeldt 1935). Ugaritic texts have a god mlk. The Mishnah (m. Sanh. 7:7) treats 'giving to Molech' as a specific crime with a 'passing through fire'.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 5

  1. Leviticus 18:21 לַמֹּ֑לֶךְ to <the> Molech

    You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

    Here: 'To the Molek', with the article. Most likely the name or title of a deity linked with the dead and the underworld; a minority reads it as the name of a type of sacrifice ('as a molk-offering'). See the debates.

  2. Leviticus 20:2 לַמֹּ֖לֶךְ to <the> Molech

    “Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him.

    Here: "To the molek," with "the" attached. Its exact meaning is debated: most likely a deity or royal title linked to the underworld, possibly a term for a type of sacrifice. In any case it is a recipient other than Israel's God.

  3. Leviticus 20:3 לַמֹּ֔לֶךְ to <the> Molech

    And I will set My face against that man and cut him off from his people, because by giving his offspring to Molech, he has defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name.

    Here: The Hebrew has the word "the": "the Molech." Most scholars take this as a god linked with child offerings, though some see a term for the type of offering. The consonants are the same as the word for "king."

  4. Leviticus 20:4 לַמֹּ֑לֶךְ to <the> Molech

    And if the people of the land ever hide their eyes and fail to put to death the man who gives one of his children to Molech,

  5. Leviticus 20:5 הַמֹּ֖לֶךְ <the> Molech

    then I will set My face against that man and his family and cut off from among their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 11:7 וּלְמֹ֕לֶךְ and for Molech

    At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites.

    Here: Named here as the god of the Ammonites, matching Chemosh as god of Moab. Verse 5 and 2 Kings 23:13 call this god Milcom, so the name here probably stands for Milcom (see textual notes).

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 23:10 לַמֹּֽלֶךְ׃ to <the> Molech

    He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.

    Here: 'To the Molek', with the article. It is either the title of a god, built on melek 'king' and probably re-voweled to echo 'shame', or the technical name of this kind of offering. Most scholars favor a deity.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 32:35 לַמֹּלֶךְ֒ to <the> Molech

    They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered My mind, that they should commit such an abomination and cause Judah to sin.

    Here: The one the children were handed over to. Most scholars read it as a god (perhaps an underworld deity), with the vowels of melek, 'king', possibly reshaped on purpose to echo boshet, 'shame'. A minority read it as a technical word for a kind of sacrifice ('as a molk-offering'). See debates.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.