6 Iyar 5783 – 27 april 2023
וְאֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ תֹּאמַר֒ אִ֣ישׁ אִישׁ֩ מִבְּנֵ֨י יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל וּמִן־הַגֵּ֣ר ׀ הַגָּ֣ר בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִתֵּ֧ן מִזַּרְע֛וֹ לַמֹּ֖לֶךְ מ֣וֹת יוּמָ֑ת עַ֥ם הָאָ֖רֶץ יִרְגְּמֻ֥הוּ בָאָֽבֶן׃
Say further to the Israelite people: Anyone among the Israelites, or among the strangers residing (converts) in Israel, who gives any offspring to Molech, shall be put to death; the people of the land shall pelt the person with stones.
A harsh punishment, but also a serious offence.Is it relevant to today, and is it of interest to Noahides at all, since the text speaks specifically of the Israelites and the Converts? Yet it is talked about in The Divine Code. But first, let us look at what this custom entailed.
There are two different opinions. One says the children were actually sacrificed to the idol by throwing them into the fire. This practice is described in Isa. lvii. 5 and Jer. xix. 5. There are also opinions that say said practice was done for the idol ba’al and not for moloch.
There are two different opinions. One says the children were actually sacrificed to the idol by throwing them into the fire. This practice is described in Isa. lvii. 5 and Jer. xix. 5. There are also opinions that say said practice was done for the idol ba’al and not for moloch.
The Rambam [2] teaches the following;
What was done? A person would kindle a great fire and then take some of his progeny and give them to the priests who serve the fire. After the child was given to them, the priests return the son to his father to pass him through the fire at his will. The father of the child is the one who passes his child through the fire with the priests’ permission. He passes him through the fire from one side to the other [while carrying him, the father walking on] his feet in the midst of the flames.
Thus, [the father] does not cremate his son to Molech, as sons and daughters are cremated in the worship of other deities. Rather, this form of worship called Molech involved merely passing [the child through the fire]. Therefore, if one performed this service to a deity other than Molech, one is not liable.
The ritual so described sounds “no more and no less” than dedicating the child to an idol, i.e. to a false religion, and while the above ritual does not exist in this form today, certainly not the literal sacrifice of children to the fire, it does, however, teach us how deep a man can sink when he engages in idolatry, and somewhere it does sound familiar.
There are still religions today that dedicate their children to their idol. One example is infant baptism where parents bring their child to the priest and surrender them to the water.
The Rema Mi’Panu named in the 30 laws ( subcategories of the 7) Ma’avir Ba’esh which is the prohibition of : Passing a child through fire in the worship of molech.
Even in his time in the 16th century, the actual ritual of Moloch will not have existed. To which, I personally want to have said against mixed marriage: Think carefully whether you want your child baptised because your partner wants it.
By Angelique Sijbolts
Sources: [1] Moloch and Moloch , [2] Rambam, The Thirty Mitzvot of the Bnei Noach
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