S H O R T NOTES 123

sprngliche und die erste Korrektur

! DUHM'S Glosse hingegen weist auf einen zweiten Kor
rekturversuch, denn auch sie enthlt in dem aufflligen 1*0 einen
letzten Hinweis auf KT. Fraglos ist dieser Korrekturversuch erbaulich
stilisiert. Beide Korrekturversuche sind zu tilgen. Dem ursprnglichen
Text am nchsten kommt die durch die LXX gesttzte Konjektur
von V O L Z : ihr frchtetet mein Wort nicht".
Die Fragen, von denen wir ausgingen, sind im Zusammenhang des
Errterten beantwortet. An vier Stellen ist der M T zu Jer. ii 30
begrndet zu ndern. Es ergibt sich folgende Textfassung:
Q?ni?V 1? oiran wsn nqf?
nn^ on*n? *6 ara? o?snn n1??
Vergebens schlug ich ,durch Propheten' zu,
,ihr nahmt' keine Zucht an.
Euer Schwert fra ,meine' Propheten ' ',
,ihr frchtetet mein Wort nicht' ".
Berlin Ilse VON LOEWENCLAU

T H E CULT OF MOLECH

It is usually assumed that the cult of Molech involved sacrificing

the children by throwing them into a raging fire. Our point here is
not whether there were child sacrifices in ancient Israel, but whether
this particular sacrifice existed, i.e. throwing them into the fire.
It is not denied that children were at one time sacrificed as whole-
offerings : 2 Kgs iii 6, where the writer evidently believed that such
sacrifices were effective even if made to a god other than the God
of Israel. See also Mie vi 7. See also Dtn xii 31, where there is no men-
tion of the cult of Molech. Commentators in time past have depended
far too much on Tyrian and especially on Carthaginian evidence, as
they still do. Cf. W. H. HARRELSON, Dictionary of the Bible (ed. F. C.
GRANT and H. H. ROWLEY), p. 669 and R. DE VAUX, Ancient Israel,
pp. 444-446. See also O. EISSFELDT, Molk als Opferbegriff im Punischen
und Hebrischen und das Ende des Gottes Molech, 1935, where he speaks
of molk as being a particular type of sacrifice in Punic religion, but
not as a god. See yet again the article by J. G. FVRIER in fournal
Asiatique (1960), pp. 167-187, entitled 'Essai de reconstruction du
sacrifice Molek'. R. DE VAUX, Studies in Old Testament Sacrifice (1964),
124 SHORT NOTES

p. 85 says 'Mlk never appears with a sacrificial meaning in the Phoe

nician inscriptions'; this is in a long discussion of human sacrifice
in Israel (pp. 73-90).
Translators, influenced by Phenician and Punic discussions, fre
quently have boldly interpolated the idea of 'fire' into the Old Tes
tament. In Lev xviii 21 the the English Versions (AV, RV and RSV)
insert 'fire' and go still further by translating leha*ebir (to cause to
pass through, across) by 'devote'. LXX and Sam read the root c-b-d
(worship), but the other Greek Versions (Aq, Sym and Theod) all
have parabiba^o (put aside, set aside). In 2 Kg xxiii 10 both AV and
RV have 'pass through the fire', but RSV introduces the idea of
'burn as an offering'. The Hebrew text has nothing about
burning and nothing about any fire. See also Jer xxxii 25 and Dtn
xviii 10.
It is significant that in Lev xviii the writer throughout the whole
chapter is concerned with the prohibition of illegal sexual intercourse,
and especially so in the instances mentioned in verses 19-23. Ac
cording to the Talmud (b San 64a) the parents handed the children
over to the priests who lit two large fires and passed the children
between the fires, a custom well known as the initiation ceremony
into a covenant, Gen xviii and often in pagan cults : see J. G. FRAZER,
Folklore in the Old Testament, vol. i, pp. 391ff. The probability is that
the Talmud is right, and that the children were given up by the parents
to grow up and be trained as temple prostitutes, cf. Lev xx 4, 8. It
is probable that in Is lvii 9 we should read with RSV: 'You journeyed
to Molech with oil and multiplied your perfumes' : which makes good
sense if the reference is not to sacrifices but to temple prostitution.
Thetford, U. . . H. SNAITH

THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD

Ancient Israelite custom recognised only sons as heirs, and the

law was very firm concerning the rights of the first-born, Dtn. xxi
15-17. The first-born was the heir even if he was the son of the
less-favoured of two wives. Further, according to Dtn. xxv 5-10, if a
man dies and leaves no son, the widow may not marry an outsider.
The deceased's brother must take her and the woman's first son
shall be the heir of the deceased brother. The primary duty of the
brother is to 'build up his brother's house'. To refuse to do this
involves public shame and public humiliation.
 ^ s
Copyright and Use:

As an ATLAS user, you may print, download, or send articles for individual use
according to fair use as defined by U.S. and international copyright law and as
otherwise authorized under your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement.

No content may be copied or emailed to multiple sites or publicly posted without the
copyright holder(s)' express written permission. Any use, decompiling,
reproduction, or distribution of this journal in excess of fair use provisions may be a
violation of copyright law.

This journal is made available to you through the ATLAS collection with permission
from the copyright holder(s). The copyright holder for an entire issue of a journal
typically is the journal owner, who also may own the copyright in each article. However,
for certain articles, the author of the article may maintain the copyright in the article.
Please contact the copyright holder(s) to request permission to use an article or specific
work for any use not covered by the fair use provisions of the copyright laws or covered
by your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement. For information regarding the
copyright holder(s), please refer to the copyright information in the journal, if available,
or contact ATLA to request contact information for the copyright holder(s).

About ATLAS:

The ATLA Serials (ATLAS) collection contains electronic versions of previously

published religion and theology journals reproduced with permission. The ATLAS
collection is owned and managed by the American Theological Library Association
(ATLA) and received initial funding from Lilly Endowment Inc.

The design and final form of this electronic document is the property of the American
Theological Library Association.