Who or what was Moloch?

[shoshi]

Moloch or Molech was a pagan god or a form of sacrifice? I think it was the second because of ancient Greek and Roman writings of Carthaginian child sacrifice and urns filled with the burned remains of human infants found in the western Middle East and north Africa. Also in book of Jeremiah it says the high places of Baal were built to set apart their sons and daughters to Moloch and this is abomination says God. and in 2 kings 23:10 it says no man shall force his son or daughter to pass through the fire to Moloch. So Moloch is linked to Baal worship. So Moloch was ancient pagan sacrifice ritual which my ancestors were forbidden to do for it is abomination. Not the name of a deity.

 

[task0778]

I thought he was the king of the mollusks. Hence the name.

 

[Meriweather]

Moloch or Molech was a pagan god or a form of sacrifice? I think it was the second because of ancient Greek and Roman writings of Carthaginian child sacrifice and urns filled with the burned remains of human infants found in the western Middle East and north Africa. Also in book of Jeremiah it says the high places of Baal were built to set apart their sons and daughters to Moloch and this is abomination says God. and in 2 kings 23:10 it says no man shall force his son or daughter to pass through the fire to Moloch. So Moloch is linked to Baal worship. So Moloch was ancient pagan sacrifice ritual which my ancestors were forbidden to do for it is abomination. Not the name of a deity.

Molech was indeed a god, and there were child sacrifices to him, which may be why you have seen it used as the name of a sacrifice, particularly (perhaps) in that short period of time Jews were thought to have sacrificed (by burning) their own first born to Yahweh. Even at the time, the prophets (including Jeremiah and Ezekiel) disapproved of such sacrifices.

Just a guess on my part, but could it be since the Hebrew children were sacrificed to Yahweh, not Molech, such a sacrifice was called a Molech?

 

[shoshi]

Molech was indeed a god, and there were child sacrifices to him, which may be why you have seen it used as the name of a sacrifice, particularly (perhaps) in that short period of time Jews were thought to have sacrificed (by burning) their own first born to Yahweh. Even at the time, the prophets (including Jeremiah and Ezekiel) disapproved of such sacrifices.

Just a guess on my part, but could it be since the Hebrew children were sacrificed to Yahweh, not Molech, such a sacrifice was called a Molech?

In Jeremiah Moloch is linked to Baal worship. SO Moloch was a form of sacrifice by fire so it seems.

 

[Meriweather]

In Jeremiah Moloch is linked to Baal worship. SO Moloch was a form of sacrifice by fire so it seems.

I agree that there are issues of tracing the god, Molech, to any ancient culture. The trace to Phoenicia seems most likely, but it is not certain, either. Also of interest is that in the Hebrew Bible Molech is always referenced as the Molech. I hear what you are saying, and it is also possible--over time--a change occurred.