Word | American Tract Society - Definition |
MOLECH, MOLOCH, OR MILCOM | A king, 1Ki 11:5,7 Ac 7:43; supposed also to be intended by Malcham, or "their king," in Jer 49:1 Am 1:15 Zep 1:5, the name of a heathen deity, worshipped by the Ammonites. The Israelites also introduced the worship of this idol, both during their wanderings in the desert, and after their settlement in Palestine, 2Ki 23:10 Eze 20:26,31. The principal sacrifices to Moloch were human victims, namely, children who were cast alive into the redhot arms of his statue. See HINNOM. Compare Le 18:21 20:2 De 12:31 Ps 106:37,38 Jer 7:31 19:2-6 32:35. According to some of these passages, Moloch would seem to be another name for Baal; and we find that the Phoenicians, whose chief god was Baal, and the Carthaginians their colonists, worshipped his image with similar horrid sacrifices, as the Romans did their god Saturn. |