The Obituary
Moloch is a name linked in the Hebrew Bible to child sacrifice, condemned as a Canaanite abomination practiced in the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem. Whether Moloch was a distinct deity or, as many scholars argue, a Punic term molk for a sacrificial offering misread as a god’s name, remains debated. The reforms of King Josiah in the 7th century BCE suppressed such rites in Judah, and whatever cult the name denoted disappeared in antiquity, surviving only as a byword for monstrous sacrifice.
Worth remembering
- The Hebrew Bible condemns those who 'pass their children through fire' to Moloch in the Valley of Hinnom.
- Some scholars hold that molk named a type of sacrifice, later misread as the name of a god.
Sources
- Moloch is a name associated in the Hebrew Bible with child sacrifice Wikipedia
- Some scholars argue molk referred to a sacrificial offering rather than a deity Encyclopaedia Britannica
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.