Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Giuseppe Regalzi" <regalzi AT iol.it>]

Brian Sullivan wrote:

>Alan Lloyd in his book 'Destroy Carthage - the death throes of an
>ancient culture’ claims that the term Molech/Moloch refers not to
>a god (the Carthaginian god Baal Hammon) but a sacrifice. Is this
>correct? What is the derivation of this phrase?
>
>Unfortunately, no scholarly evidence is presented with his
>statement, hence I am asking if there is a scholarly opinion on
>this matter, or perhaps is there a diverse, range of ideas? Even
>pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated.


This theory was first put forward by Otto Eissfeldt in his book
Molk als Opferbegriff im punischen und hebraeischen und das Ende
des Gottes Moloch (Halle 1935), and has met with a rather wide
acceptance since then.

For a different opinion you may look at George C. Heider, The Cult
of Molek: A Reassessment (Sheffield 1986).

Hope this helps.

Giuseppe Regalzi