Ancient history * Hebrew Bible * Old Testament * Ancient Near East Religion
Child Sacrifice in the Ancient Kingdom of Israel
Digging around in ancient Near East history has led me to a shocking revelation
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When reading about ancient monuments, I encounter a reference to child sacrifice alongside a photograph of bones at an archaeological dig. The idea is so shocking and horrific that, like most modern people, I find it hard to believe killing children would catch on as religious practice.
Who would do this?
Surely, it must have been a misreading of the evidence.
I went deep down that rabbit hole, to find some grim conclusions.
What they don’t tell you about the Hebrew Bible is that the ancient Kingdom of Israel was founded on the blood of murdered children.
Note: some references are links in the text, and full references are at the end of this article.
Child sacrifice is a significant factor in the foundation stories of the tribes who became the Israelites.
Canaanites who worshipped YHWH (Yahweh), above all other gods, emerged in the mid-second millennium BCE.
These were separate tribes of YHWH who had overlapping and different practices and ideas. For example:
- some engaged in child sacrifice with the belief that you should sacrifice your perfectly healthy baby shortly after birth
- others kept the children alive and sacrificed them when in extreme distress.
- and others didn’t sacrifice children at all.
The Yahwehists were envious of the success and wealth of their neighbours.
The Phoenicians were based primarily in modern Lebanon, although they traveled quite a lot, being known as seafarers. Like the Yahwehists, the Phoenicians were Canaanites who spoke a Semitic language.
It was common knowledge, in ancient times, what were the Phoenicians doing differently to get God on their side? In their rituals, they offered the Lord the most valuable sacrifice of all.
We know this because of extensive investigations into the mystery surrounding the Phoenician Tophets, which were cemeteries for sacrificed children, notably at Carthage (now Tunisia), but there were others.
Burnt offerings of healthy boy and girl babies alongside animal sacrifices have been discovered. The inscriptions either make requests of their Gods or thank the Gods for favours and blessings.
The grand burials of infants’ bones in pots with sacrificed animals and ritual inscriptions were unusual for the time period and area.
The archaeological discoveries in the cemeteries supported the written evidence. The Romans wrote disapprovingly about the Phoenician’s child sacrifice behaviour.
The children were burnt offerings to God. This process, a sacrifice by fire, they called Moleck (Molk), a term that holds significant religious and cultural meaning in the context of child sacrifice.
For a long time, it was thought Moleck was the name of the God who demanded child sacrifices, but now it is understood to refer to the practice of offering a burnt child’s lifeless body as a gift to any God.
Some of the Yahwehists wanted to get with the Moleck action.
I can’t give an precise date for when this started or ended. I think it ended with the Babylonian exile in the 6th century and may have taken place over many centuries. The biblical stories condemning the activity were written from the 8th or 7th century onwards.
We know Yahwehists were sacrificing their children because the Hebrew Bible (AKA Old Testament) repeatedly tells them not to do it.
There would be no need for YHWH to ban Child Sacrifice if no one were Sacrificing Children.
You don’t make rules about things that don’t happen.
Instead, YHWH issued the command to stop sacrificing children multiple times, which can only be because his devoted followers were committed to their Moleck rituals.
What Were The People of YHWH Thinking?
Can we get into the of someone living at this time?
Infant mortality was high. Hey, that’s even if the mum and baby made it through childbirth.
It’s thought people didn’t get too emotionally bound up with excitement and love while pregnant because the outcomes could be so poor for women and unborn child.
There was a pragmatic detachment because of the high risk of loss. Hard to imagine, but perhaps it’s true.
It certainly was a dangerous time to live in many respects, and to gain a little control over their lives, people built a relationship with God through prayers, rituals, and sacrifices.
The idea of animal sacrifices as gifts to God wasn’t unique to those tribes. It was a common practice of the Semitic people across the area both then and continuing to this day.
The Second Temple in Jerusalem was awash with animal blood (long after this period of Child Sacrifice had ended).
In ancient Greece, we hear similar stories of mountains of animal carcasses slaughtered in the name of Zeus at the Olympic Games.
Animal sacrifice was normal. Offering a gift to the Gods was normal. But child sacrifice was not.
How did Yahwehists Adopt Child Sacrifice?
The idea of sacrifice is giving up something treasured.
When you give something away that you no longer want, that isn’t a sacrifice.
It is only a sacrifice if the item has value and will be missed by the person offering it. Crops, animals, and money might all be suitable offerings for the Gods.
How precious is a child? The first son? The logic might be that this healthy child (and it does have to be a healthy child) is highly valued.
If you believe the Hebrew Bible is the divine word of Almighty God, then consider that YHWH set this whole Child Sacrifice in motion in the first place.
“Set aside your firstborn male for me,” he said in Exodus 13:2
We know this was an instruction for sacrifice because later, God says something like: Okay, you can keep your son so long as you sacrifice something else in his place.
The implication is that if the people have nothing else to offer as a worthy replacement for the life of a child, then they have to go ahead and sacrifice the child.
Is it Linked to the Late Bronze Age Collapse?
Pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if they took up the practice in the 12th century BCE.
This was a period of huge upheaval and unrest in the area that was possibly to do with many things coincidentally occurring at the same time: climate change, famine, earthquakes, the destruction of cities and the decline of empires.
Amid all this trouble, desperate people might seek desperate solutions.
- Perhaps a charasmatic orator emerged who offered to lead the people out of a bad situation. Perhaps out of their situation of subservience to the Egyptians, as the lands of Canaan were under Egyptian rule.
- Perhaps he led them into the desert, promising them good things.
- Perhaps he told them they needed to offer better sacrifices to God — the people were desperate, hungry, and had nothing.
- Perhaps they started by sacrificing their firstborn.
- And before you know it, you’ve started sacrificing your child. And if things get better after that you might think that was what God wanted.
Over time, this story can be reworked to be the story of Exodus. The Hebrews can’t have fled Egypt for the land of Canaan because Canaan was a part of Egypt in the 2nd millennium BCE.
- Perhaps the YHWH tribes left Egypt/Canaan and lived in the deserts to the south for a while before returning when Egypt’s control over Canaan weakened (post-Bronze Age Collapse).
- Perhaps the alleged plague that killed the firstborn children of Egypt was a reworking of the fact that the YHWH tribes had sacrificed their own firstborns.
While I am completely speculating here, let’s note that the Passover festival commemorates the Exodus. But pass over is also the term used to describe the Moleck ritual when a sacrifice is passed through fire and offered to the God.
To understand how the Yahwahists got into infanticide for God, we need to talk about the story of the founding father.
We Need to Talk About Abraham
Now that you’re thinking about child sacrifice, there’s a story early on in the Hebrew Bible that should set your alarm bells ringing. Scholars have discussed its meaning for thousands of years.
You should be aware that if Abraham existed, we have no evidence outside of the Bible and the myths of Arabia that are now contained within Islam. He is said to have lived about 4,000 years ago.
Genuine memories of a tribal founding father may be contained in these stories. A nomad pastural farmer who becomes wealthy may have been the grandfather of several tribes. He might be real, but the stories may be embellishment.
According to mainstream scholarship, Abraham is a mythical figure who serves a purpose in the origin story of the tribes of Israel and Arabia.
The stories written about him were written by many different authors and are only written down about 1,000 years after he is said to have lived. Among people who rely on an oral tradition of knowledge it is possible that someone significant is remember for many generations.
Here’s the story pertaining to the moleck ritual (Genesis 22:1–14):
One day, God said to Abraham:
“Take your son, your only son, whom you love-Isaac-and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
God instructs Abraham to perform the well-known Molech ritual.
The followers of YHWH were the original audience for this story. They understood the idea of a burnt child sacrifice to worship a deity and must have thought it a perfectly reasonable request.
Abraham goes along with it.
Sure he might be a bit sad, but he doesn’t question it.
Modern people find it incredible. Why are you doing that dude?
His compliance doesn’t require an explanation in the story. The audience at the time apparently accepted child sacrifice as a routine ritual.
When was the story written? That is highly contested — sometime between 1400 and 400 BCE, depending you you ask. As a piece of written text, then the earliest possible date is around 700 BCE, but they would have been writing down an older story.
Back to the story.
Abraham obeys God’s command and tethers his son read for the knife ready for the kill, but at the last moment, an angel of the Lord stops him, and a ram is provided as a substitute for the sacrifice.
Just in time!
If I was God I’d be furious with Abraham. No descent person would do that. A a father and a compassionate human he should stand up to any bully who wants to hurt or kill a child.
But that’s not how the biblical story goes.
It is fair to say I never understood this wacky story in school!
Notice Abraham was going to go through with the murder of a child— as if sacrificing your child was a normal thing to do for a God.
Thankfully, these days people like that are locked up in institutions for the safety of everyone.
“God told me to do it.” Is not an excuse for murder today.
What in the name of God is that horror story about?
- Some say it was a story about total obedience to God.
- Others say it was a lesson to Abraham that YHWH didn’t want child sacrifice, but this is a thoroughly modern interpretation of the Isaac story.
Back to the story! What happens next?
In the gripping book Why Abraham Murdered Isaac, Tzemah Yoreh explains:
In the original story, the deadly deed was done.
God didn’t stop Abraham from killing his son.
You read that correctly. In the original story:
Abraham killed his son, Isaac.
Much later, the story was rewritten and sanitized for the modern audience (an audience that existed over 2,000 years ago, we are still in BCE times).
At this point, I really hope Abraham and Isaac were fictional characters because no child should have to go through this trauma at the hands of his own father.
Regardless of our modern imagining of the story, among the YHWH followers back then, they thought Abraham would have done this.
This was acceptable.
And to make this story even worse, God didn’t punish Abraham for this madness. God rewarded Abraham for his willingness to commit this evil deed.
That’s right — taking your child to a high place and preparing to slaughter them will bring you rewards in Heaven and on Earth.
Abraham became rich and had slaves. Do you think he was a nice guy?
The story is incredibly strange today but seemed perfectly normal at the time it was written.
Infanticide, the Tophet and the Kings Of King of Judah
Abraham was a character from far back in time and we don’t know whether he really lived at all. But the ritual of child sacrifice is associated with more recent historical characters.
The bible tells us the followers of YHWH didn’t turn away from child sacrifice at the time of Abraham or Moses.
We know prior to the Babylonian exile they weren’t monotheistic either. They thought their God was better than the other Gods, but they believed other Gods existed.
The moleck rituals at the tophet (special high place for child sacrifice) were embraced by the Kings.
In the Hebrew Bible, several kings of Israel and Judah are implicated:
1. Ahaz (King of Judah)
- Reign: Circa 732–716 BCE
- Biblical Reference:
- 2 Kings 16:3: “But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the sons of Israel.”
- 2 Chronicles 28:3: “Moreover, he burned incense in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and burned his sons in fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the sons of Israel.”
2. Manasseh (King of Judah)
- Reign: Circa 697–643 BCE
- Biblical Reference:
- 2 Kings 21:6: “He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord provoking Him to anger.”
- 2 Chronicles 33:6: “He made his sons pass through the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.”
3. Amon (King of Judah)
- Reign: Circa 643–641 BCE
- Biblical Reference:
- 2 Kings 21:20–21: “He did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. For he walked in all the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them.”
While there is no explicit mention of Amon engaging in child sacrifice, his continuation of Manasseh’s practices suggests he might have supported similar abominations.
4. Kings of Israel (Northern Kingdom)
The practices of child sacrifice are also attributed more broadly to the kings of Israel in passages that describe the religious syncretism and idolatry of the Northern Kingdom.
- Biblical References:
- 2 Kings 17:17: “Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him.”
When Did It End?
Josiah, the 16th King of Judah (c. 640–609 BCE) is credited with bringing an end to the ritualised killing of children when he desecrated the Topheth where it took place.
- 2 Kings 23:10: “He also defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom, so that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech.”
Ezekiel writes as if it is recent and possibly happening within his life time, he is thought to have lived in the 6th century, after Josiah.
Then the area fell to the Babylonians in the 6th century BCE. The Semitic Canaanites (including worshipers of YHWH) fled in all directions while some were taken into captivity.
The Jewish people who settled in Canaan after their release from slavery in Babylon were very different to those who’d lived in the area before the exile — almost a century had passed and gone was the worship of multiple deities and the act of moleck at the tophet (burning child sacrifices).
Recap And References
When And Where Did Infanticide Occur?
Time period:
- The second millennium and early to mid first millennium BCE. Before the Babylonian exile.
- Historically it is associated with the YHWH (Yahweh) cult practices and Biblical Judges and Kings.
What is the Evidence for Child Sacrifice?
A) Human child sacrifice must have been happening or else there would have been no reason to forbid it in the Bible.
- Leviticus 18:21: “You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.”
- Leviticus 20:2–5: “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.”
- Deuteronomy 12:31: “You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.”
- Deuteronomy 18:10: “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer.”
- 2 Kings 16:3: “But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.”
- 2 Kings 17:17: “And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.”
- 2 Kings 21:6: “And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.”
- Jeremiah 7:31: “And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.”
- Jeremiah 19:5: “and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind — “
- Ezekiel 16:20–21: “And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them?”
- Ezekiel 20:26: “and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the LORD.”
- Ezekiel 20:31: “When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.”
B) YHWH (Yahweh) instructs people to do this terrible deed.
Don’t take my word for it. In the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), there are a few stories where God commands or is perceived to command the sacrifice of a child, though in some cases the command is revoked or the sacrifice is prevented:
Exodus 13:11–16: Redemption of the Firstborn
- Summary: Following the exodus from Egypt, God commands that all firstborn males in Israel, both human and animal, are to be dedicated to Him. However, human firstborns are to be redeemed through a substitutionary sacrifice of an animal.
Genesis 22:1–14: The Binding of Isaac (The Akedah)
- Summary: God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah. Abraham obeys, but at the last moment, an angel of the Lord stops him, and a ram is provided as a substitute for the sacrifice.
Exodus 13:2 and 13:12–15: Consecration of the Firstborn
- Summary: God commands that all firstborn males, both human and animal, are to be consecrated to Him. This command is later specified to include a ritual of redemption for firstborn sons, substituting animal sacrifices or monetary payment.
Numbers 3:40–51: Redemption of the Firstborn
- Summary: This passage reiterates the requirement to redeem the firstborn sons of Israel, providing a detailed account of the redemption process, including the payment of five shekels for each firstborn son.
Numbers 18:15–17: Dedication and Redemption of the Firstborn
- Summary: God reiterates the command to dedicate the firstborn of humans and animals to Him, with instructions for the redemption of firstborn sons and unclean animals through a substitutionary sacrifice.
Judges 11:29–40: Jephthah’s Vow
- Summary: Jephthah vows to sacrifice whatever comes out of his house to greet him if he returns victorious from battle. His daughter is the first to come out, and Jephthah ultimately fulfills his vow; although the text does not explicitly describe her death, it implies her dedication and sacrifice.
In the case of Isaac, God revokes the command at the last moment. In the consecration of the firstborn, the command includes provisions for redemption. Jephthah’s story, however, remains more ambiguous and tragic.
What About God The Child Killer?
Is this okay?
Exodus 12:12–29: The Plague of the Firstborn in Egypt
- Summary: As the final plague upon Egypt, God strikes down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human and animal, as a judgment against Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods. The Israelites are instructed to mark their doorposts with lamb’s blood so that the plague will pass over their houses, sparing their firstborn.
Matthew 2:16–18: Herod’s Massacre of the Innocents
- Summary: King Herod, upon hearing of the birth of Jesus, orders the massacre of all male children two years old and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity in an attempt to kill the newborn “king of the Jews.”
There is no historical evidence for Herod’s Massacre of the Innocents and it’s thought it never occurred. Herod did kill his own son.
Who Was King Herod?. History has seen the rise and fall of… | by Purple History | Jun, 2024 | Medium
Books
Heath Dewrell 2017 Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel
Jon D Levenson, 1995 The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son — the Transformation of Child Sacrifice and Christianity
Francesca Stavrakopoulou, 2012 King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice
Tzemah Yoreh, 2021 Why Abraham Murdered Isaac: The First Stories of the Bible Revealed
Papers Online
Matthew McCarty, 2017 Africa Punica? Child Sacrifice and Other Invented Traditions in Early Roman Africa
