Leviticus 20:4

And if the people of the land ever hide their eyes and fail to put to death the man who gives one of his children to Molech,

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses the Israelite community through Moses, assigning the collective responsibility to execute judgment on those who practice child sacrifice to Molech. This instruction follows the declaration of God’s personal opposition to the idolater in the preceding verse.

The words — The phrase יַעְלִימֽוּ עֵינֵיהֶם (ya'.li.Mu 'ei.nei.Hem) literally renders "they will hide their eyes," describing deliberate blindness to a known capital offense. The conditional conjunction וְ/אִם (ve./'Im) frames this negligence as a hypothetical breach of covenant duty.

The thread — The text’s warning against concealing judgment connects to Deuteronomy 13:8’s command to shield no evildoer, while Acts 17:30 notes God’s past tolerance of ignorance before commanding universal repentance. Deuteronomy 17:2 establishes the baseline condition of someone being found doing evil in the sight of the community.

Why it lands — The text demands active communal accountability rather than passive observation of covenant violations. It requires readers to recognize that ignoring known idolatry constitutes a shared breach of divine law.

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

וְאִ֡םve./'Imand/ if הַעְלֵ֣םha'.Lemcertainly <to hide>יַעְלִימֽוּ֩ya'.li.Muthey will hide עַ֨ם'am[the] people of הָאָ֜רֶץha./'A.retzthe/ land אֶת־'et-<obj.>עֵֽינֵיהֶם֙'ei.nei./Hemeyes/ their מִן־min-from הָאִ֣ישׁha./'Ishthe/ person הַה֔וּאha./Hu'<the>/ that בְּתִתּ֥וֹbe./ti.T/owhen/ gives/ he מִזַּרְע֖וֹmi./zar.'/Oone of/ offspring/ his לַמֹּ֑לֶךְla./Mo.lekhto <the>/ Molech לְבִלְתִּ֖יle./vil.Tito/ not הָמִ֥יתha.Mitto put to death אֹתֽוֹ׃'o.T/o<obj.>/ him

King James Version

And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 17:2 If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His covenant
Acts 17:30 Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.
Deuteronomy 13:8 you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.
Joshua 7:12 This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction.
1 Samuel 3:13 I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them.
1 Kings 20:42 And the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be exchanged for his life, and your people for his people.’”
Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.