Μολόχ G3434
Moloch, the Ammonite deity to whom children were sacrificed
This indeclinable proper noun designates the pagan deity worshiped by the Ammonites, associated with child sacrifice. In Acts 7:43, Stephen quotes Amos 5:26, condemning Israel's apostasy in carrying Moloch's image during the wilderness period. The name is a deliberate vocalization substituting the Hebrew word for 'shame' for the vowels of 'king' (melek). The multilingual evidence simply transliterates this divine name. Worship of Moloch represented one of Israel's gravest idolatrous corruptions.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Stephen's speech in Acts 7:43 references Moloch as evidence of Israel's persistent idolatry even during the foundational wilderness period. The cross-linguistic glosses preserve the proper divine name through transliteration. The charge is devastating: while claiming exclusive devotion to Yahweh, Israel simultaneously carried images of this detestable deity associated with child sacrifice. Stephen uses this historical apostasy to explain his generation's resistance to the Holy Spirit—a pattern extending from wilderness to Christ's rejection. 1×
AR["مُولُوخَ"]·ben["মোলোখের"]·DE["Μολὸχ"]·EN["Moloch"]·FR["Moloch"]·heb["מוֹלֶךְ"]·HI["मोलोक"]·ID["Molokh,"]·IT["Moloc"]·jav["Molokh,"]·KO["몰록-의"]·PT["Moloque"]·RU["Молоха"]·ES["Molóch"]·SW["Moloki"]·TR["Moloh'un"]·urd["مولک"]
Related Senses
H3548 1. priest, cultic officiant (750×)G5547 1. Christ, Messiah, Anointed One (540×)H5030 1. Prophet, divine spokesperson (317×)H5930a 1. burnt offering (sacrifice) (286×)H3881 1. Levites (priestly class) (283×)G4396 1. prophet, spokesperson of God (146×)H6944 1. sanctuary, holy place (129×)G0749 1. high priest, chief priest (123×)H6944 2. holiness, sacredness (abstract quality) (123×)G5330 1. Pharisee (99×)G4336 1. pray to God (86×)H6944 3. holy things, sacred offerings (plural) (86×)H3722a 1. make ritual atonement (Piel) (85×)H6912 1. bury (Qal active) (82×)H6419 1. pray (Hitpael) (80×)H6944 4. holiness (with possessive pronoun) (77×)H6942 1. sanctify, consecrate (Piel factitive) (76×)H2930a 1. Qal: be/become unclean (75×)H7819a 1. slaughter an animal (Qal active) (72×)H1486 1. lot (object cast for decisions) (71×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
Μολόχ, ὁ indecl. (Heb. מֶלֶךְ, prop. מֶלֶךְ King, but vocalized to read בֺּשֶׁת, shame, of. Βάαλ, and see DB, iii, 415 f.), Moloch, the god of the Ammonites : Act.7:43 (LXX).† (From Abbott-Smith. LSJ has no entry)