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ANE TODAY – 201712 – Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel - American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR)

[vc_row fullwidth="true" css=".vc_custom_1486761987223{padding-top: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}"][vc_column][vc_single_image image="33901" img_size="full"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row fullwidth="true" css=".vc_custom_1487275830783{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}"][vc_column width="1/12" css=".vc_custom_1493002455400{margin-right: 10px !important;}" offset="vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs"][vc_column_text] SHARE [/vc_column_text][mk_image src="http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-fb-icon4.jpg" image_width="42" image_height="42" hover="false" custom_url="https://www.facebook.com/ASOResearch/" margin_bottom="0"][mk_image src="http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-tw-icon4.jpg" image_width="42" image_height="42" hover="false" custom_url="https://twitter.com/ASOResearch?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" margin_bottom="0"][mk_image src="http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-in-icon4.jpg" image_width="42" image_height="42" hover="false" custom_url="https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-schools-of-oriental-research" margin_bottom="0"][mk_image src="http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-ml-icon_7.jpg" image_width="42" image_height="42" hover="false" custom_url="mailto:[email protected]"

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ANE TODAY – 201712 – Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel - American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR)
ANE TODAY – 201712 – Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel [vc_row fullwidth=”true” css=”.vc_custom_1486761987223{padding-top: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”33901″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row fullwidth=”true” css=”.vc_custom_1487275830783{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/12″ css=”.vc_custom_1493002455400{margin-right: 10px !important;}” offset=”vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_column_text] SHARE [/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-fb-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.facebook.com/ASOResearch/” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-tw-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://twitter.com/ASOResearch?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-in-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-schools-of-oriental-research” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-ml-icon_7.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”mailto:[email protected]” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/blog-icon3.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”http://asorblog.org/” margin_bottom=”0″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1493004112151{margin-right: 20px !important;border-left-width: 2px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;border-left-color: #99422f !important;}”][mk_divider divider_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” thickness=”1″ margin_top=”3″ margin_bottom=”3″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-16″ el_class=”.widget { overflow: hidden; margin-bottom: 0; }”][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”8/12″ css=”.vc_custom_1487276122024{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 30px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1515089047502{padding-right: 20px !important;}”][mk_image src=”https://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/foa-reduced-100.png” image_width=”190″ image_height=”100″ crop=”false” hover=”false”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”] December 2017 Vol. 5, No. 12 [/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_divider thickness=”1″ margin_top=”10″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text] Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel By Heath D. Dewrell “For the Judahites have done evil in my sight”—an oracle of Yahweh—“they have set their abominations in the House over which my Name is invoked, defiling it. They build the shrines of the Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire—which I did not command, nor did it arise in my mind.” (Jeremiah 7:30–31) Among the many accusations that the prophets of the Hebrew Bible level at their contemporaries, child sacrifice certainly ranks among the most egregious. The idea that the Israelites would sacrifice their own children is so shocking that one may be tempted to dismiss the charge merely as hyperbolic. But the accusation is hardly limited to Jeremiah. For instance, among the first commands in Deuteronomy’s collection of laws is: When Yahweh your god has cut off before you the peoples among whom you are about to enter to dispossess, and you have dispossessed them and lived in their land, be careful lest you are ensnared by them, after they have been destroyed before you—lest you inquire about their gods, saying, “How did these peoples serve their gods? I also will do likewise.” You must not do likewise for Yahweh your god, because every abomination to Yahweh that he hates they have done for their gods—for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods! (Deut 12:29–31) This is a warning to the Israelites not to imitate the depraved Canaanites by sacrificing Israelite children to Yahweh in the same way that Canaanites sacrificed their sons and daughters to their gods. But why would such a command exist among the corpora of biblical laws unless some Israelites were at least tempted to sacrifice their children to Yahweh? Further, the fact that the oracle ...