    
|
 Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997 |
|
|
Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997 |
Click here and add this page to your favorites!
|
Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MOL-MOS |
|
|
MOLOCH, or MOLECH (in Hebrew, with the doubtful exception of i Kings xi. 7, always " the Molech ") , the name or title of the divinity which the men of Judah in the last ages of the kingdom were wont to propitiate by the sacrifice of their own children. According to the Hebrew consonants it might simply be read " the king " (meek), an appellation for the supreme deity of a Semitic state or tribe. The traditional pronunciation (MoXb ), which goes back as far as the Septuagint version of Kings, probably means that the old form was perverted by giving it the vowels of bosheth " shame," the contemptuous name for Baal (q.v.). In r Kings xi. 7 (see above) it is the name of the god of the Ammonites, elsewhere called Milcom or Malcam; but it appears from 2 Kings xxiii. 10, 13 that the worship of Milcom at the shrine set up by Solomon was distinct from Molech worship , and the text should probably therefore be emended to the longer form (so the Septuagint).The phrase employed in speaking of these sacrifices is that of dedication" to make one's son or daughter pass through (or by means of) fire to (the) Molech " (2 Kings xxiii. ro; but elsewhere without the words " through fire " Lev. xviii. 21); and it appears from Jer. vii. 31, xix. 5; Ezek. xvi. 20 seq., that this phrase denotes a human holocaust,' and not, as some-times has been thought, a mere consecration to Molech by passing through or between fires, as in the Roman Palilia and similar rites elsewhere (on which see Frazer, Golden Bough, 2nd ed., ii. 4o sqq., 237 sqq.). Human sacrifice was common in Semitic heathenism, and at least the idea of such sacrifices was In 2 Chron. xxviii. 3 (parallel to 2 Kings xvi. 3) a single letter is transposed in the phrase, changing the sense from " caused to pass through the fire " to " caused to burn with fire." Geiger (Urschrift and Uebersetzung, p. 305) very unnecessarily supposed that this was everywhere the original
Israel from early times (see ISAAC; JEPHTHAH).2 We learn from 2 Kings iii. 27 that the piacular sacrifice of his son and heir was the last offering which the king of Moab made to deliver his country. Even the Hebrew historian ascribes to this act the effect of rousing divine indignation against the invading host of Israel ; it would not, therefore, be surprising if under the miseries brought on Palestine by the westward march of the Assyrian power, the idea of the sacrifice of one's own son, as the most powerful of atoning rites, should have taken hold of those kings of Judah (Ahaz and Manasseh, 2 Kings xvi. 3, xxi. 6) who were otherwise prone, in their hopelessness of help from the old religion (Isa. vii. 12), to seek to strange peoples and their rites. Ahaz's sacrifice of his son (which indeed rests on a somewhat late
Micah
late
It is with these sacrifices that the name of " the Molech is always connected; sometimes " the Baal " (lord) appears as a synonym. At the same time, the horrid ritual was so closely associated with Yahweh worship (Ezek. xxiii. 39) that Jeremiah more than once finds it necessary to protest that it is not of Yahweh's institution (vii. 3i, xix. 5). So too it is the idea of sacrificing the firstborn to Yahweh that is discussed and rejected in Micah
Although the motive came from within, the form taken by the cult has appeared to many to be of non-Israelite origin. Babylonia and Assyria, however, seem to be out of the question: malik, " arbiter, decider," is there an epithet of various gods, and as an appellative means " prince " and not king; further, little 2 In Hos. xiii. 2, the interpretation " they that sacrifice men " is improbable, and 2 Kings xvii. 17 and Lev. xviii., xx. are of too late date by themselves to prove the immolation of children to Moloch in old Israel. The " ban " (:in), which was a religious execution of criminals or enemies, was common to Israel with its heathen neighbours (cf. the inscription of Mesha), but lacked the distinctive character of a sacrifice in which the victim is the food of the deity, conveyed to him through fire. ' The etymology of the word Tophet is obscure; it is possibly of Aramaic origin and means" fire-place," cf. tophteh, " pyre," (Isa. xxx. 33). The vocalization is artificial, the Masoretes having given it the vowel-points of bosheth. See W. R. Smith
evidence for the prevalence of human sacrifice has as yet been found in those lands (A. Jeremias, Das Alte Test. im Lichte d. alten Orients, end ed., p. 454). Among the Canaanite branch, the king-god is more prominent, and apart from the Ammonite variant Milcom, numerous names compounded with Milk- are found on Phoenician inscriptions and among western Semites mentioned in cuneiform literature (H. Zimmern, Keilinschr. u. das Alte Test., 3rd ed. pp. 470 sqq.). It is true that child-sacrifice in connexion with fire prevailed among the Phoenicians, and, accqrding to the Greeks, the deity honoured with these grisly rites was Kronos (identified with the Phoenician El, " God "). On the other hand, the seat of the cult appears to have been at Jerusalem, and the period during which it flourished does not favour any strong Phoenician influence. Again, the form of the word Tophet and Ahaz's association with Damascus might point to an Aramaean origin for the cult; but it would not be safe to support this view by the statements and names in 2 Kings xvii. 31. On the whole, the biblical tradition that the Molech-cult was Canaanite and indigenous (Deut. xii. 29 sqq., xviii. 9 seq.) holds the ground. There was a tendency in time of misfortune to revert to earlier rites (illustrated in some ancient mourning customs), and it may have been some old disused practice revived under the pressure of national distress.See, generally, G. F. Moore, Ency. Bib., s.v. ; Lagrange, Etudes sur les religions semitiques 2nd ed. pp. 99109; B. Stade, Bib. Theol. d. Alt. Test. i. 232 seq., 244 seq.; J. G. Frazer, Adonis, &c., and ed. pp. 144 seq. 401 sqq ; and J. A. Montgomery, Journ. Bib. Lit., 1908, 1. 40 sqq. On archaeological evidence for human sacrifice from Palestinian soil, see H. Vincent, Canaan d'aprbs l'exploration recente, pp. 50, 116, 189 sqq. (W. R. S. ; S. A. C.) End of Article: MOLOCH, or MOLECH (in Hebrew, with the doubtful exception of i Kings xi. 7, always " the Molech ") If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/MOL_MOS/MOLOCH_or_MOLECH_in_Hebrew_wit.html"> MOLOCH, or MOLECH (in Hebrew, with the doubtful... </a> |
|
|
(Previous) MOLLY MAGUIRES |
(Next) MOLSHEIM |
Jesus Christ Saves Ministries, P.O. Box 70696, Pasadena, CA 91117JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-present. |
Free & Cheap Cell
Phones |
Cheap Long Distance
Phone Service Carriers |
Talk America Local Phone Service
|
Ztel & MCI - Unlimited Long Distance
Compare
Cell Phone Plans & Companies |
International Calling Cards & Prepaid Phone Cards |
Voice Over IP Broadband Internet Phone
Service | Wireless
Phone Plans & Cheap Cell Phones
|
_____________________________________________________________________________
