Leviticus 18 · Verse 21

Leviticus 18:21

And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.
Leviticus 18:21, King James Version

Leviticus 18:21 in other translations

BSBYou must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
WEB“‘You shall not give any of your children as a sacrifice to Molech. You shall not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
ASVAnd thou shalt not give any of thy seed to make them pass through the fire to Molech; neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah.
YLT‘And of thy seed thou dost not give to pass over to the Molech; nor dost thou pollute the name of thy God; I am Jehovah.
DARBYAnd thou shalt not give of thy seed to let them pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah.
BBEAnd you may not make any of your children go through the fire as an offering to Molech, and you may not put shame on the name of your God: I am the Lord.
WebsterAnd thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

What does Leviticus 18:21 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
21. thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, &c.--Molech, or Moloch, which signifies "king," was the idol of the Ammonites. His statue was of brass, and rested on a pedestal or throne of the same metal. His head, resembling that of a calf, was adorned with a crown, and his arms were extended in the attitude of embracing those who approached him. His devotees dedicated their children to him; and when this was to be done, they heated the statue to a high pitch of intensity by a fire within, and then the infants were either shaken over the flames, or passed through the ignited arms, by way of lustration to ensure the favor of the pretended deity. The fire-worshippers asserted that all children who did not undergo this purifying process would die in infancy; and the influence of this Zabian superstition was still so extensively prevalent in the days of Moses, that the divine lawgiver judged it necessary to prohibit it by an express statute. neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God--by giving it to false or pretended divinities; or, perhaps, from this precept standing in close connection with the worship of Molech, the meaning rather is, Do not, by devoting your children to him, give foreigners occasion to blaspheme the name of your God as a cruel and sanguinary deity, who demands the sacrifice of human victims, and who encourages cruelty in his votaries.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 21 Pass through the fire to Molech - The name of this idol is mentioned for the first time in this place. As the word מלח molech or melech signifies king or governor, it is very likely that this idol represented the sun; and more particularly as the fire appears to have been so much employed in his worship. There are several opinions concerning the meaning of passing through the fire to Molech. 1. Some think that the semen humanum was offered on the fire to this idol. 2. Others think that the children were actually made a burnt-offering to him. 3. But others suppose the children were not burnt, but only passed through the fire, or between two fires, by way of consecration to him. That some were actually burnt alive to this idol several scriptures, according to the opinion of commentators, seem strongly to intimate; see among others, Psa 106:38; Jer 7:31, and Eze 23:37-39. That others were only consecrated to his service by passing between two fires the rabbins strongly assert; and if Ahaz had but one son, Hezekiah, (though it is probable he had others, see 2Chr 28:3), he is said to have passed through the fire to Molech, 2Kgs 16:3, yet he succeeded his father in the kingdom, 2Kgs 18:1, therefore this could only be a consecration, his idolatrous father intending thereby to initiate him early into the service of this demon. See Clarke's note on Lev 20:2.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Leviticus 18:21 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּמִֽזַּרְעֲךָ֥u.mi.zar.'a.Khaand any of offspring yourH2233
לֹא\־lo'-notH3808
תִתֵּ֖ןti.Tenyou will giveH5414
לְהַעֲבִ֣ירle.ha.'a.Virto make passH5674
לַמֹּ֑לֶךְla.Mo.lekhto <the> MolechH4432
וְלֹ֧אve.Lo'and notH3808
תְחַלֵּ֛לte.cha.Lelyou will profaneH2490
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
שֵׁ֥םshem[the] name ofH8034
אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ'e.lo.Hei.khaGod yourH430
אֲנִ֥י'a.NiIH589
יְהוָֽה\׃Yah.weh[am] YahwehH3068

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Leviticus 18:21

  • Deuteronomy 12:31

    Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

  • Deuteronomy 18:10

    There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,

  • Leviticus 20:2-5

    Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not: Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.

  • Leviticus 19:12

    And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.

  • Leviticus 22:32

    Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord which hallow you,

  • 1 Kings 11:33

    Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.

  • Malachi 1:12

    But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.

  • 1 Kings 11:7

    Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.

  • Jeremiah 19:5

    They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:

  • Acts 7:43

    Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

  • Leviticus 22:2

    Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the Lord.

  • 2 Kings 23:10

    And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
pass through.Molech signifies a king, or governor, of similar import with Baâl, lord, or governor; and it is generally supposed that the sun was worshipped under this name; and more particularly as the fire appears to have been so much employed in his worship. It seems clear that children were not only consecrated to him by passing through the fire, which appears to be alluded to here, but that they were actually made a burnt offering to him. (See the parallel passages.) That the several abominations afterwards mentioned were actually practised by many heathen nations is abundantly attested by their own writers.
20:2; De 12:31; 18:10; 2Ki 16:3; 21:6; 23:10; Ps 106:37,38; Jer 7:31
Jer 19:5; Eze 20:31; 23:37
to Molech.
1Ki 11:7,33; Am 5:26; Ac 7:43
Moloch.
profane.
19:12; 20:2-5; 21:6; 22:2,32; Eze 36:20-23; Mal 1:12; Ro 1:23; 2:24

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Leviticus 18:20

    Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.

  • Leviticus 18:21

    And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.

  • Leviticus 18:22

    Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Read all of Leviticus 18

Leviticus 18:21 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y no des de tu simiente para hacerla pasar por el fuego á Moloch; no contamines el nombre de tu Dios: Yo Jehová.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et tu ne donneras point de tes enfants pour les faire passer par le feu à Moloc, et tu ne profaneras point le nom de ton Dieu. Moi, je suis l’ Éternel.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und von deinen Kindern sollst du nicht hingeben, um sie dem Molech durch das Feuer gehen zu lassen, und du sollst den Namen Jehovas, deines Gottes, nicht entweihen. Ich bin Jehova. -
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		De semine tuo non dabis ut consecretur idolo Moloch, nec pollues nomen Dei tui. Ego Dominus.