Molech: Immolation, Consecration or Impregnation?
In Parshat Acharei Mos, we discover “one of these things is not like the others,” to quote the Sesame Street song.
One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
Take a look at Chapter 18.
You’ll notice a pattern.
Do not uncover the nakedness of…
Do not uncover the nakedness of…
Don’t lie with your neighbor’s wife…
Don’t give any of your offspring to pass through for Molech…
Don’t lie with a man as you would with a woman…
Don’t lie with a beast…
Do you see it? It’s jarring.
All of these laws have to do with sexual intimacy and then there’s the outlier- don’t allow any of your offspring to pass through for Molech. What’s that doing there? How does that connect to what we’re learning? What is it doing amidst a whole bunch of laws dealing with sexual intimacy?
That is the question.
The first thing we need to do is figure out what exactly Molech is, and what it means not to let your offspring pass through for Molech. Then we need to figure out what’s going on with the placement.
So let’s read the verse carefully.
כא וּמִזַּרְעֲךָ֥ לֹֽא־תִתֵּ֖ן לְהַֽעֲבִ֣יר לַמֹּ֑לֶךְ וְלֹ֧א תְחַלֵּ֛ל אֶת־שֵׁ֥ם אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֹֽה:
And you shall not give any of your seed to pass through for Molech. And you shall not profane the Name of your God. I am the Lord.
As I began to research this topic I realized that AlHaTorah.org had already done it for me. They have a great exegetical breakdown of all the approaches regarding what it means to give one’s seed to Molech. I’m going to discuss some of them. Check out the full treatment here (it’s worth it).
Here’s where knowing Hebrew matters. Note the word choice in the verse- זרע, seed. It doesn’t say “sons or daughters” here- no use of a word form using בן. Also check out Leviticus 20:2-5.
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 in Israel, who gives from his seed to Molech, shall be put to death; the people of the land shall pelt the person with stones.
וַאֲנִ֞י אֶתֵּ֤ן אֶת־פָּנַי֙ בָּאִ֣ישׁ הַה֔וּא וְהִכְרַתִּ֥י אֹת֖וֹ מִקֶּ֣רֶב עַמּ֑וֹ כִּ֤י מִזַּרְעוֹ֙ נָתַ֣ן לַמֹּ֔לֶךְ לְמַ֗עַן טַמֵּא֙ אֶת־מִקְדָּשִׁ֔י וּלְחַלֵּ֖ל אֶת־שֵׁ֥ם קׇדְשִֽׁי׃ And I will set My face against that party, whom I will cut off from among the people for having given offspring to Molech and so defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name.
וְאִ֡ם הַעְלֵ֣ם יַעְלִ֩ימֽוּ֩ עַ֨ם הָאָ֜רֶץ אֶת־עֵֽינֵיהֶם֙ מִן־הָאִ֣ישׁ הַה֔וּא בְּתִתּ֥וֹ מִזַּרְע֖וֹ לַמֹּ֑לֶךְ לְבִלְתִּ֖י הָמִ֥ית אֹתֽוֹ׃
And if the people of the land should shut their eyes to that party’s giving from his seed to Molech, and should not put the person to death,
וְשַׂמְתִּ֨י אֲנִ֧י אֶת־פָּנַ֛י בָּאִ֥ישׁ הַה֖וּא וּבְמִשְׁפַּחְתּ֑וֹ וְהִכְרַתִּ֨י אֹת֜וֹ וְאֵ֣ת ׀ כׇּל־הַזֹּנִ֣ים אַחֲרָ֗יו לִזְנ֛וֹת אַחֲרֵ֥י הַמֹּ֖לֶךְ מִקֶּ֥רֶב עַמָּֽם׃
I Myself will set My face against that party’s kin as well; and I will cut off from among their people both that person and all who follow in going astray after Molech.
We see some later references to Molech in 2 Kings 23:10 and Jeremiah 32:35. These verses mention “the fire of Molech” and offering up “sons and daughters to Molech.”
Seeing this, our clever commentators have to determine what exactly the cult of Molech was. Many of them make a connection to Deuteronomy 12:31 (and other verses) that speak of passing children through fire and/or immolating them.
לֹא־תַעֲשֶׂ֣ה כֵ֔ן לַיהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ כִּי֩ כׇל־תּוֹעֲבַ֨ת יְהֹוָ֜ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר שָׂנֵ֗א עָשׂוּ֙ לֵאלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם כִּ֣י גַ֤ם אֶת־בְּנֵיהֶם֙ וְאֶת־בְּנֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם יִשְׂרְפ֥וּ בָאֵ֖שׁ לֵאלֹֽהֵיהֶֽם׃
You shall not act thus toward your God יהוה, for they perform for their gods every abhorrent act that יהוה detests; they even offer up their sons and daughters in fire to their gods.
(I will digress for a moment to note that the commentators disagree as to whether the child dies through this process or simply is passed through fires as a means of being consecrated to the idol. If the latter, this parallels other verses that show how a covenant is made by passing through two items, whether it be God passing through the cut animals by the Brit Bein HaBesarim [Covenant of the Pieces] or the scene depicted in Jeremiah 34:18).
So how do the commentators solve the placement problem? Here’s the answer as offered by AlHaTorah’s summation:
Though most of Vayikra 18 deals with sexual offenses, it is prefaced by a general injunction against adopting the practices of the Egyptians and Canaanites.5 Thus, the unique prohibition against the Molekh is included as yet another example of the immoral actions of these nations.6 Nonetheless, its placement is still somewhat awkward, as one would have expected it to either precede or follow the sexual prohibitions rather than interrupt them in the middle. As such, one might suggest that the connection is the wasted seed;7 sacrificing a child is a loss of one's seed like the sexual prohibitions which follow.
This is creative because it explains why the word זרע is used in the Torah in Leviticus (as opposed to the words בניהם and בנותיהם). It’s keeping in context with all the other uses of that term in our section.
Chabad.org brings down some commentators offering alternative explanations.
Menachem ben Benjamin Recanati (n his commentary ‘Recanati’ on Leviticus 18:21) proposes that both sins reflect a reneging on relationship vows. Idolatry is unfaithfulness to the pact we made with G‑d at Sinai.
The Abarbanel on Leviticus 18 offers two answers:
The people of Canaan were morally derelict, specifically in these two sins.
Just as sexual promiscuity is the abuse of the procreative power, so too the passing (and killing) of one’s child through fire is the abuse of the divine gift for procreating children.
These interpretations seem like a stretch to me. Thus, I was excited to discover the interpretation that says this is actually a sexual prohibition. It has to do with sexual relations with gentile women and siring children with them. The advantage to this approach is obvious- it makes the verse make sense in context.
This interpretation is advanced and rejected in Mishnah Megillah 4:9.
הָאוֹמֵר, וּמִזַּרְעֲךָ לֹא תִתֵּן לְהַעֲבִיר לַמֹּלֶךְ (ויקרא יח), וּמִזַרְעָךְ לֹא תִתֵּן לְאַעְבָּרָא בְּאַרְמָיוּתָא, מְשַׁתְּקִין אוֹתוֹ בִנְזִיפָה:
Similarly, if one says while translating the verse: “And you shall not give any of your seed to set them apart to Molekh” (Leviticus 18:21): And you shall not give any of your seed to impregnate an Aramean woman, he is silenced with rebuke.
Rabbi Yishmael tells us in the Jerusalem Talmud 9:7
הבועל ארמית. תני רבי ישמעאל זה שהוא נושא נכרית ומוליד בנים מעמיד אויבים ממנה למקום.
This is one who marries an Aramean woman, sires children, and from her raises enemies of the Omnipresent
Sifre Devarim 171 raises the possibility:
דבר אחר, מעביר בנו ובתו באש, (מגילה כה) זה הוא הבועל ארמית, ומעמיד ממנה בן אויב למקום. עונש שמענו אזהרה לא שמענו! תלמוד לומר לא ימצא בך מעביר בנו ובתו באש. זה שהוא מעביר בנו ובתו לעבודת כוכבים, וכורת עמה ברית, שנאמר (ירמיה לד) העגל אשר כרתו לשנים ויעברו בין בתריו.
Variantly: (The verse speaks of one who passes his son or daughter (through the halves of a calf), thereby entering into a covenant (with idolatry), as it is written (Jeremiah 34:18) "the calf which they cut in two so as to pass between its halves." Variantly: "one who passes his son or daughter through fire": (The verse speaks of) one who cohabits with an Aramite woman and begets through her a son who is a foe of the L-rd.
This is in response to Devarim 18:10- they understand the statement “consigns a son or daughter to fire” as referring to intermarriage.
The Peshitta translates
ומן זרעך לא תרמא למבטנו נוכריתא...
[ומזרעך לא תיתן לעבר נוכרית...]
And from your seed- do not have intercourse that leads to conception with a Gentile woman.
Aside from this reading of the prohibition solving the placement problem, AlHaTorah brings another proof as to why this reading would be correct.
Desecration of God's name – See Ezra 9:2 which similarly views relations with foreign women as a desecration of God's name,19 as it causes an intermingling of God's holy seed with the other nations.
Here’s Ezra 9:2:
כִּֽי־נָשְׂא֣וּ מִבְּנֹֽתֵיהֶ֗ם לָהֶם֙ וְלִבְנֵיהֶ֔ם וְהִתְעָֽרְבוּ֙ זֶ֣רַע הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ בְּעַמֵּ֖י הָאֲרָצ֑וֹת וְיַ֧ד הַשָּׂרִ֣ים וְהַסְּגָנִ֗ים הָ֥יְתָ֛ה בַּמַּ֥עַל הַזֶּ֖ה רִאשׁוֹנָֽה׃
They have taken their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed has become intermingled with the peoples of the land; and it is the officers and prefects who have taken the lead in this trespass.”
(If you read further in that chapter, you will see Ezra laments how this causes distance from God.)
For those who prefer the traditional interpretation that the cult of Molech refers to passing through or immolating children via fire, my modern-day connection is the burning of Shireen at the stake in Game of Thrones in order to invoke the blessings of the Lord of Light. Note that our midrashic interpretations make clear that the Molech cult involved the use of tambourines and drums to drown out the child’s screams; watching this clip makes clear why that was necessary. If you’re interested in learning more about that interpretation, see this link.
