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31 In the Valley of Ben-hinnom[a] they go on building the high places of Topheth to sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire, something I never commanded or considered.

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Footnotes

  1. 7:31 Valley of Ben-hinnom: this valley was probably south of Jerusalem. Topheth: perhaps, “fire pit.”

21 (A)You shall not offer any of your offspring for immolation to Molech,[a] thus profaning the name of your God. I am the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 18:21 Immolation to Molech: the reference is to the custom of sacrificing children to the god Molech. Cf. Ez 16:20–21; 20:26, 31; 23:37. See note on Lv 20:1–5.

10 (A)Let there not be found among you anyone who causes their son or daughter to pass through the fire,[a] or practices divination, or is a soothsayer, augur, or sorcerer,

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Footnotes

  1. 18:10–11 Causes their son or daughter to pass through the fire: to Molech. See note on Lv 18:21. Such human sacrifices are classed here with various occult and magical practices because they were believed to possess powers for averting a calamity; cf. 2 Kgs 3:27. Three other categories of magic are listed here: divination of the future (by a soothsayer or augur); black magic (by a sorcerer or one who casts spells); and necromancy (by one who consults ghosts and spirits, or seeks oracles from the dead to divine the future).

He immolated his child by fire. He practiced soothsaying and divination, and reintroduced the consulting of ghosts and spirits.

He did much evil in the Lord’s sight and provoked him to anger.(A)

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10 The king also defiled Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, so that there would no longer be any immolation of sons or daughters by fire[a] in honor of Molech.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 23:10 Topheth…by fire: Topheth was a cultic site probably in the Hinnom Valley just west of Jerusalem where, apparently, children were immolated to the deity Molech (Hebrew melek, “king,” deformed in the biblical tradition to “Molech”). The practice was condemned by Deuteronomic law and denounced by Jeremiah (Dt 12:31; Jer 7:29–31). In Jer 19 the deity is identified as the Canaanite god Baal.