Category:Child Sacrifice (subject)

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Child Sacrifice is the ritualistic killing of children (especially, the firstborn) in order to please or appease a deity.

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Overview

The practice of child sacrifice was widespread in the Ancient Near East, especially in times of crisis. The first born belonged to gods and had to be given (sacrificed) to them.

There is strong evidence that the practice was shared by ancient Israelites in pre-exilic times. 2 Kings 16:3 records that king Ahaz offered his son by fire to Moloch. The same practice is attributed to king Manasseh in 2 Kings 21:6.

In the story of the Exodus God shows his power by killing the firstborn of the Egyptians, thus showing that they belong to him.

The practice was condemned by the worshipers of YHWH, as a "foreign" ritual. In Leviticus 18:21, 20:3 and Deuteronomy 12:30-31, 18:10, the Torah contains a number of imprecations against and laws forbidding child sacrifice (and human sacrifice in general) as a "foreign" idolatrous practice.

Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. (Lev 18:21)

I myself will set my face against them, and will cut them off from the people, because they have given of their offspring to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name. (Lev 20:3)

31 You must not do the same for the Lord your God, because every abhorrent thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods. They would even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. (Dt 12:31)

No one shall be found among you who makes a son or daughter pass through fire (Deut 18:10a).

The story of the Binding of Isaac was meant to put an end to the ritual of child sacrifice, at a time when child sacrifices were the norm worldwide:

After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill[a] his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”;[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”[c]

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, 18 and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.

The Israelites retained the idea that all firstborns belong to God, but the sacrifice of the firstborns was replaced by an offer to the Temple:

The Lord said to Moses: 2 Consecrate to me all the firstborn; whatever is the first to open the womb among the Israelites, of human beings and animals, is mine ... if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. Every firstborn male among your children you shall redeem. (Ex 13:1-2,13).

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