Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel
Heath D. Dewrell
Among the many religious acts condemned in the Hebrew Bible, child sacrifice stands out as particularly horrifying. The idea that any group of people would willingly sacrifice their own children to their god(s) is so contrary to modern moral sensibilities that it is difficult to imagine that such a practice could have ever existed. Nonetheless, the existence of biblical condemnation of these rites attests to the fact that some ancient Israelites in fact did sacrifice their children. Indeed, a close reading of the evidence—biblical, archaeological, epigraphic, etc.—indicates that there are at least three different types of Israelite child sacrifice, each with its own history, purpose, and function.
- Description
- Table of Contents
In addition to examining the historical reality of Israelite child sacrifice, Dewrell’s study also explores the biblical rhetoric condemning the practice. While nearly every tradition preserved in the Hebrew Bible rejects child sacrifice as abominable to Yahweh, the rhetorical strategies employed by the biblical writers vary to a surprising degree. Thus, even in arguing against the practice of child sacrifice, the biblical writers themselves often disagreed concerning why Yahweh condemned the rites and why they came to exist in the first place.
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1. Children Sacrificed as Part of a "Molek" Rite
Those Who Deny the Existence of a God "Molek"
Scholars Who Continue to Argue That "Molek" Was a Deity
"Molek" Disappears Once Again
Chapter 2. Archaeological, Iconographic, and Epigraphic Evidence for Child Sacrifice in the Levant and Central Mediterranean
Megiddo, Gezer, and Taanach
The Amman Airport Temple and Umm el-Marra
Alleged Depictions of Canaanite Child Sacrifice in Egyptian Art
The Punic Central Mediterranean
More Evidence from the Levant? Tyre and Achziv
The Nebi Yunis Inscription
The Incirli Trilingual
The Deir ʿAllā Inscriptions
The Idalion Inscription
Summary and Conclusions
Appendix: Documentation of Sites with Tophets
Chapter 3. A General Sacrifice of Firstborn Israelite Children?
Chapter 4. Varieties of Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel
Mesha's Sacrifice of His Firstborn Son
Firstborn Offerings in Micah 6:1–8
Jephthah
Hiel's Firstborn and Youngest Sons?
Child Sacrifice in Assyrian Samerina?
Molek Revisited: The History and Nature of Israelite למלך Sacrifices
Conclusions
Chapter 5. Biblical Reactions to Israelite Child Sacrifice
Deuteronomy
Later Legal Traditions
Ezekiel
Jeremiah
Conclusions
Summary and Conclusions
Bibliography
Indexes
Index of Authors
Index of Scripture
Index of Other Ancient Sources
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