Overview

Among the many religious acts condemned in the Hebrew Bible, child sacrifice stands out as particularly horrifying. The idea that any group of people would willingly sacrifice their own children to their god(s) is so contrary to modern moral sensibilities that it is difficult to imagine that such a practice could have ever existed. Nonetheless, the existence of biblical condemnation of these rites attests to the fact that some ancient Israelites in fact did sacrifice their children. Indeed, a close reading of the evidence—biblical, archaeological, epigraphic, etc.—indicates that there are at least three different types of Israelite child sacrifice, each with its own history, purpose, and function. In addition to examining the historical reality of Israelite child sacrifice, Dewrell’s study also explores the biblical rhetoric condemning the practice. While nearly every tradition preserved in the Hebrew Bible rejects child sacrifice as abominable to Yahweh, the rhetorical strategies employed by the biblical writers vary to a surprising degree. Thus, even in arguing against the practice of child sacrifice, the biblical writers themselves often disagreed concerning why Yahweh condemned the rites and why they came to exist in the first place.

Full Product Details

Author:   Heath Drewell
Publisher:   Pennsylvania State University Press
Imprint:   Eisenbrauns
ISBN:  

9781575064949

ISBN 10:   1575064944
Pages:   300
Publication Date:   30 May 2017
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
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Table of Contents

"Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction Chapter 1. Children Sacrificed as Part of a ""Molek"" Rite Those Who Deny the Existence of a God ""Molek"" Scholars Who Continue to Argue That ""Molek"" Was a Deity ""Molek"" Disappears Once Again Chapter 2. Archaeological, Iconographic, and Epigraphic Evidence for Child Sacrifice in the Levant and Central Mediterranean Megiddo, Gezer, and Taanach The Amman Airport Temple and Umm el-Marra Alleged Depictions of Canaanite Child Sacrifice in Egyptian Art The Punic Central Mediterranean More Evidence from the Levant? Tyre and Achziv The Nebi Yunis Inscription The Incirli Trilingual The Deir ʿAllā Inscriptions The Idalion Inscription Summary and Conclusions Appendix: Documentation of Sites with Tophets Chapter 3. A General Sacrifice of Firstborn Israelite Children? Chapter 4. Varieties of Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel Mesha's Sacrifice of His Firstborn Son Firstborn Offerings in Micah 6:1–8 Jephthah Hiel's Firstborn and Youngest Sons? Child Sacrifice in Assyrian Samerina? Molek Revisited: The History and Nature of Israelite למלך Sacrifices Conclusions Chapter 5. Biblical Reactions to Israelite Child Sacrifice Deuteronomy Later Legal Traditions Ezekiel Jeremiah Conclusions Summary and Conclusions Bibliography Indexes Index of Authors Index of Scripture Index of Other Ancient Sources"

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