Bible Strands
Leviticus 18:21
You 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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses the Israelites in the wilderness covenant, positioning this command between prohibitions against adultery (Leviticus 18:20) and homosexual relations (Leviticus 18:22).
The words — תִתֵּ֖ן (ti.Ten) translates as "you will give," and תְחַלֵּ֛ל (te.cha.Lel) translates as "you will profane," structuring the prohibition around both the act of transfer and the resulting desecration.
The thread — The command recurs in Leviticus 20:2 with a capital penalty, Deuteronomy 12:31 as a defining abomination against true worship, and Deuteronomy 18:10 alongside divination practices.
Why it lands — The text requires immediate refusal of child sacrifice to Molech and mandates protecting the holiness of God’s name by rejecting foreign cultic practices.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 12:31 You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
- Leviticus 20:2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him.
- Deuteronomy 18:10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,
- Leviticus 19:12 You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
- Leviticus 22:32 You must not profane My holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy among the Israelites. I am the LORD who sanctifies you,
- Leviticus 22:2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings that the Israelites have consecrated to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name. I am the LORD.
- 1 Kings 11:7 At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites.
- 1 Kings 11:33 For they have forsaken Me to worship Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My statutes and judgments, as Solomon’s father David did.
- Jeremiah 19:5 They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I never commanded or mentioned, nor did it even enter My mind.
- Malachi 1:12 “But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’