Leviticus 18:21
Hebrew Bible
20 You must not have sexual relations with the wife of your fellow citizen to become unclean with her. 21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord! 22 You must not have sexual relations with a male as one has sexual relations with a woman; it is a detestable act.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Onkelos Leviticus 18:21
Targum
20 Nor with the wife of thy neighbour shalt thou carnally lie to defile her. 21 And of thy children thou shalt give none to transfer them to Molek (or, to make them pass through to Molek), neither shalt thou profane the Name of the Lord thy God: I am the Lord. 22 And with the male thou shalt not lie as with the woman; it is an abhorrent thing.
Date: 100-200 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Notes and References
"... Molech ... although our targumist frequently explains Scripture's metaphor “seed” as “child,” as in Genesis 9:9, he fails to do so here and in 20:3, for he does not explain every metaphor and is occasionally inconsistent. The term Molech is obscure. It (1) may be the personal name of a deity (compare 1 Kings 11:7), (2) mean “king” and be a divine title, (3) be a technical ritualistic sacrificial term for “human sacrifice”, or (4) it is a generic name for all kinds of idols (Saadiah) or the name of a specific Amorite idol (Ibn Ezra) ..."
Drazin, Israel, and Stanley M. Wagner
Onkelos on the Torah, Leviticus: Understanding the Bible Text
(p. 143) Gefen, 2006
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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