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Bible in Basic English

Leviticus 18:21

And you may not make any of your children go through the fire as an offering to Molech, and you may not put shame on the name of your God: I am the Lord.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Abomination;   God;   Idolatry;   Molech;   Offerings;   Thompson Chain Reference - False;   Gods, False;   Human;   Idolatry;   Images;   Milcom;   Molech;   Sacrifices;   Worship, False;   Worship, True and False;   The Topic Concordance - Name;   Sacrifice;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Idolatry;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Affinity;   Marriage;   Molech, Moloch, or Milcom;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Jephthah;   Molech;   Name;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Immorality, Sexual;   Worship;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Jephthah's Vow;   Moloch;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Jephthah;   Moloch;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Fire;   Gods, Pagan;   Human Sacrifice;   Leviticus;   Molech;   Pentateuch;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Canon of the Old Testament;   Child, Children;   Congregation, Assembly;   Crimes and Punishments;   Deuteronomy;   Hexateuch;   Holiness;   Law;   Leviticus;   Marriage;   Molech, Moloch;   Priests and Levites;   Sanctification, Sanctify;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Molech ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Moloch;   Passing through the fire;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Abram;   Molech;   Offering;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Canaanites;   Moloch;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Child;   Father;   Fire;   Leviticus;   Molech;   Profane;   Relationships, Family;   Sacrifice, Human;   Seed;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Bible Translations;   Commandments, the 613;   Family and Family Life;   Father;   Fire;   Intermarriage;   Moloch (Molech);   Peshiṭta;   Targum;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
"'You shall not give any of your children to sacrifice to Molekh; neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
King James Version
And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord .
Lexham English Bible
"‘And you shall not give any of your offspring in order to sacrifice them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.
New Century Version
"‘You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, because this would show that you do not respect your God. I am the Lord .
New English Translation
You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord !
Amplified Bible
'You shall not give any of your children to offer them [by fire as a sacrifice] to Molech [the god of the Ammonites], nor shall you profane the name of your God [by honoring idols as gods]. I am the LORD.
New American Standard Bible
'You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Also thou shalt not giue thy children to offer them vnto Molech, neither shalt thou defile the name of thy God: for I am the Lord.
Legacy Standard Bible
And you shall not give any of your seed to pass them over to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.
Contemporary English Version
Don't sacrifice your children on the altar fires to the god Molech. I am the Lord your God, and that would disgrace me.
Complete Jewish Bible
"‘You are not to let any of your children be sacrificed to Molekh, thereby profaning the name of your God; I am Adonai .
Darby Translation
And thou shalt not give of thy seed to let them pass through [the fire] to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah.
Easy-to-Read Version
"You must not give any of your children through the fire to Molech. If you do this, you will show that you don't respect the name of your God. I am the Lord .
English Standard Version
You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord .
George Lamsa Translation
You shall not let any of your semen be cast into a strange woman to cause her to be pregnant; neither shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.
Good News Translation
Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord .
Christian Standard Bible®
“You are not to sacrifice any of your children in the fire to Molech. Do not profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.
Literal Translation
And you shall not give your seed to pass them through to Molech, nor shall you pollute the name of your God; I am Jehovah.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou shalt not geue of thy sede also, to be burnt vnto Moloch, lest thou vnhalowe the name of thy God, for I am the LORDE.
American Standard Version
And thou shalt not give any of thy seed to make them pass through the fire to Molech; neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thou shalt also not geue of thy seede to offer it vnto Moloch, neither shalt thou defile the name of thy God: I am the Lorde.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And thou shalt not give any of thy seed to set them apart to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
King James Version (1611)
And thou shalt not let any of thy seed passe through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou prophane the Name of thy God: I am the Lord.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And thou shalt not give of thy seed to serve a ruler; and thou shalt not profane my holy name; I am the Lord.
English Revised Version
And thou shalt not give any of thy seed to make them pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thou schalt not yyue of thi seed, that it be offrid to the idol Moloch, nether thou schalt defoule the name of thi God; Y am the Lord.
Young's Literal Translation
`And of thy seed thou dost not give to pass over to the Molech; nor dost thou pollute the name of thy God; I [am] Jehovah.
Update Bible Version
And you shall not give any of your seed to make them pass through [the fire] to Molech; neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am Yahweh.
Webster's Bible Translation
And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through [the fire] to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I [am] the LORD.
World English Bible
You shall not give any of your seed to make them pass through [the fire] to Molech; neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am Yahweh.
New King James Version
And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
New Living Translation
"Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a sacrifice to Molech, for you must not bring shame on the name of your God. I am the Lord .
New Life Bible
Do not give any of your children as a gift on an altar to the false god Molech. Do not put the name of your God to shame. I am the Lord.
New Revised Standard
You shall not give any of your offspring to sacrifice them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord .
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And none of thy seed, shalt thou deliver up, to cause to pass through to Molech, - that thou profane not the name of thy God, I, am Yahweh.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt not give any of thy seed to be consecrated to the idol Moloch, nor defile the name of thy God. I am the Lord.
Revised Standard Version
You shall not give any of your children to devote them by fire to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
THE MESSAGE
"Don't give any of your children to be burned in sacrifice to the god Molech—an act of sheer blasphemy of your God. I am God .
New American Standard Bible (1995)
'You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.

Contextual Overview

19 And you may not go near a woman or have sex relations with her when she is unclean, at her regular time. 20 And you may not have sex relations with your neighbour's wife, making yourself unclean with her. 21 And you may not make any of your children go through the fire as an offering to Molech, and you may not put shame on the name of your God: I am the Lord. 22 You may not have sex relations with men, as you do with women: it is a disgusting thing. 23 And you may not have sex relations with a beast, making yourself unclean with it; and a woman may not give herself to a beast: it is an unnatural act. 24 Do not make yourself unclean in any of these ways; for so have those nations whom I am driving out from before you made themselves unclean: 25 And the land itself has become unclean; so that I have sent on it the reward of its wrongdoing, and the land itself puts out those who are living in it. 26 So then keep my rules and my decisions, and do not do any of these disgusting things, those of you who are Israelites by birth, or any others who are living with you: 27 (For all these disgusting things were done by the men of this country who were there before you, and the land has been made unclean by them;) 28 So that the land may not put you out from it, when you make it unclean, as it put out the nations which were there before you.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

pass through: Molech signifies a king, or governor, of similar import with Baal, lord, or governor; and it is generally supposed that the sun was worshipped under this name; and more particularly as the fire appears to have been so much employed in his worship. It seems clear that children were not only consecrated to him by passing through the fire, which appears to be alluded to here, but that they were actually made a burnt offering to him - see the parallel passages. That the several abominations afterwards mentioned were actually practised by many heathen nations is abundantly attested by their own writers. Leviticus 20:2, Deuteronomy 12:31, Deuteronomy 18:10, 2 Kings 16:3, 2 Kings 21:6, 2 Kings 23:10, Psalms 106:37, Psalms 106:38, Jeremiah 7:31, Jeremiah 19:5, Ezekiel 20:31, Ezekiel 23:37

to Molech: 1 Kings 11:7, 1 Kings 11:33, Amos 5:26, Acts 7:43, Moloch.

profane: Leviticus 19:12, Leviticus 20:2-5, Leviticus 21:6, Leviticus 22:2, Leviticus 22:32, Ezekiel 36:20-23, Malachi 1:12, Romans 1:23, Romans 2:24

Reciprocal: Leviticus 20:3 - profane 1 Kings 11:5 - Milcom 2 Kings 17:17 - they caused 2 Kings 17:31 - burnt their children 2 Chronicles 28:3 - burnt 2 Chronicles 33:6 - caused Isaiah 57:5 - slaying Jeremiah 32:35 - which Ezekiel 16:21 - to pass Ezekiel 20:26 - in that Ezekiel 39:7 - and I will

Cross-References

Genesis 11:5
And the Lord came down to see the town and the tower which the children of men were building.
Genesis 11:7
Come, let us go down and take away the sense of their language, so that they will not be able to make themselves clear to one another.
Genesis 18:1
Now the Lord came to him by the holy tree of Mamre, when he was seated in the doorway of his tent in the middle of the day;
Genesis 18:24
If by chance there are fifty upright men in the town, will you give the place to destruction and not have mercy on it because of the fifty upright men?
Exodus 3:8
And I have come down to take them out of the hands of the Egyptians, guiding them out of that land into a good land and wide, into a land flowing with milk and honey; into the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
Exodus 33:5
And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, You are a stiff-necked people: if I come among you, even for a minute, I will send destruction on you; so take off all your ornaments, so that I may see what to do with you.
Deuteronomy 8:2
And keep in mind the way by which the Lord your God has taken you through the waste land these forty years, so that he might make low your pride and put you to the test, to see what was in your heart and if you would keep his orders or not.
Deuteronomy 13:3
Then give no attention to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God is testing you, to see if all the love of your heart and soul is given to him.
Joshua 22:22
God, even God the Lord, God, even God the Lord, he sees, and Israel will see--if it is in pride or in sin against the Lord,
Job 34:22
There is no dark place, and no thick cloud, in which the workers of evil may take cover.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through [the fire] to Molech,.... The name of an image or idol, according to Aben Ezra, who observes, that their wise men interpret it as a general name for everyone whom they made to reign over them; and it is right, he says, that it is the abomination of the children of Ammon, and so the same with Milcom, 1 Kings 11:5; and with Baal, as appears from Jeremiah 32:35; and they are both of much the same signification, the one signifies a king, the other a lord; and perhaps is the same with the Melicarthus of Sanchoniatho y, who is also Hercules; to whom Pliny says z that the Phoenicians offered human sacrifices every year: of Molech,

Jeremiah 32:35- : Jeremiah 32:35- :; by "seed" is meant children and offspring; and because the word "fire" is not in the original text, some, as Aben Ezra observes, explain the phrase, "let to pass through", of their causing them to pass from the law of God to the religion of Molech, or of devoting them to his service and worship; but the word "fire" is rightly supplied, as it may be from Deuteronomy 18:10; and the same writer says, the phrase to pass through is the same as to burn; but though this they sometimes did, even burn their infants, and sacrificed them to idols, 2 Chronicles 28:3; yet this seems to be something short of that, and to be done in the manner, as Jarchi and other Jewish writers a relate; who say, the father delivered his son to the priests (of Molech) and they made two great fires, and caused the son to pass on foot between the two fires, which was a kind of a lustration, and so of a dedication of them to the idol; though it must be owned that both were done; yea, that both the phrases of passing through the fire, and of burning, are used promiscuously of the same, see 2 Kings 16:3; compared with 2 Chronicles 28:3 and also Ezekiel 16:20; and they might be both done at different times, or the one previous and in order to the other; and perhaps they might cause the child so often and so long to pass through the fire, as that at last it was burnt and destroyed:

neither shall thou profane the name of thy God; who had given them children, and to whom they ought to have devoted them, and in whose service they should have trained them up to the honour of his name; but instead of that profaned it, by the above idolatrous and cruel usages:

I [am] the Lord; who would avenge such a profanation of his name.

y Apud, Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 1. p. 38. z Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 5. a Ben Melech in loc. Kimchii Sepher Shorash. rad. מלך.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Molech - See the note at Leviticus 20:2-5.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Leviticus 18:21. Pass through the fire to Molech — The name of this idol is mentioned for the first time in this place. As the word מלח molech or melech signifies king or governor, it is very likely that this idol represented the sun; and more particularly as the fire appears to have been so much employed in his worship. There are several opinions concerning the meaning of passing through the fire to Molech.

1. Some think that the semen humanum was offered on the fire to this idol.

2. Others think that the children were actually made a burnt-offering to him.

3. But others suppose the children were not burnt, but only passed through the fire, or between two fires, by way of consecration to him.

That some were actually burnt alive to this idol several scriptures, according to the opinion of commentators, seem strongly to intimate; see among others, Psalms 106:38; Jeremiah 7:31, and Ezekiel 23:37-39. That others were only consecrated to his service by passing between two fires the rabbins strongly assert; and if Ahaz had but one son, Hezekiah, (though it is probable he had others, see 2 Chronicles 28:3), he is said to have passed through the fire to Molech, 2 Kings 16:3, yet he succeeded his father in the kingdom, 2 Kings 18:1, therefore this could only be a consecration, his idolatrous father intending thereby to initiate him early into the service of this demon. Leviticus 20:2.


 
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