Child Sacrifice in the Old Testament

[Angrboda]

I won't pretend that I've read all this garbage, nor buy all of Drich's meanderings, or have thought about it all that deeply, but my impression on reading your first post, and which has only been strengthened with additional arguments, is that the references to the offering of the first born of Israel are largely references to symbolic offerings, not literal ones. The inconsistencies inherent in the David and Bathsheba narrative are, to my mind, a separate issue, and in their inconsistent testimony to Yahweh's character, add as much confusion to an already confused question as they do clear it up. A muddy mirror does not yield a clear reflection, so that record likely needs setting aside on this specific question. There are certainly passages which raise some hair raising questions about the Jewish attitude toward human sacrifice, but I see no smoking gun here.