At the Altar of Moloch

There is nothing “progressive” about a society which legalizes the murder of the unborn

John Monaco
16 min readJan 28, 2019
Offering to Moloch (illustration from the 1897 Bible Pictures and What They Teach Us by Charles Foster)

Outside the walls of Jerusalem, southwest of the ancient city, lies a small valley. Since the 7th-century B.C., this valley was called Gei Ben-Hinnom; in Hebrew, meaning “Valley of the Son of Hinnom,” and, by the 1st-century A.D., was commonly known in the Aramaic language as Gēhannā. Today, the valley looks insignificant, unworthy of a second glance. After all, like most valleys, it too is filled with grass and vegetation. In ancient times, however, this specific valley took on a different meaning, as Gehenna was the place of child-sacrifice. In this valley, parents willingly offered their children to suffer a brutal killing, so that they would be a pleasing sacrifice to the Canaanite god, Moloch, who in turn would grant the people prosperity & favor.

(1) Gehenna (2) The ancient city of Jerusalem

The Old Testament makes several references to this valley (Josh 15:8; 2 Chr 28:3; 2 Kgs 28:10), and none of them are positive, glowing reviews (for obvious reasons). The child-sacrifices occurred at a particular place in the valley, called Tophet. The Hebrew word, toph, translates to ‘drum’ or tambourine. According to…

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John Monaco
John Monaco

Written by John Monaco

Doctoral student in theology, seeking the true, good, and beautiful.