Child Sacrifice in the Old Testament

[Mudhammam]

There are sporadic references forbidding the Hebrews from sacrificing their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to the god Baal, but interestingly, sacrifice to Yahweh seems perfectly acceptable:

"Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. You must give me the firstborn of your sons. Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day." (Exodus 22:29-30).

What exactly did the Hebrews do with their cattle and sheep and firstborn children?

Here are some examples of how the Hebrews treated sheep and cattle as offerings before Yahweh:

"But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:20-23)

Here Yahweh rejects the burnt offering sacrifices because his specific instructions to Saul were not obeyed, as Yahweh did in other instances when children were sacrificed to Baal. Another example:

"Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the Lord. On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings." (1 Kings 8:63-64)

All those poor sheep and cattle... slaughtered and burned as sacrifices to Yahweh. Remember, "You must give me the firstborn of your sons. Do the same with your cattle and your sheep."

Anyone who doubts that Yahweh was calling for Hebrew children to be slaughtered, doubt no more! Ezekiel explicitly records a very angry Yahweh admitting: "Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries, because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes lusted after their parents’ idols. So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live; I defiled them through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn—that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the Lord." (Ezekiel 20:23-26)

Quite horrific alright! Christians, can you really believe your God is good?

[Violet]

Does the sacrifice of children upset you? That was rather longwinded.

[Mudhammam]

Does the sacrifice of children upset you? That was rather longwinded.

Long-winded is what I'd call two testaments largely composed of nonsense, and yes, the sacrifice of children to an imaginary being, the one Christians claim to worship, is deplorable.

[Violet]

Well, he's not 'imaginary' to them. I see absolutely nothing interesting about it... I mean, what else would you sacrifice to?

[Minimalist]

Xtian assholes twist their scrotums into pretzels trying to get out of this one.

Judges 11:30-39

King James Version (KJV)

30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,

31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands.

33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back.

36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.

37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.

38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.

39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,

And the fundies shriek in rage and beat their breasts and gnash their teeth for there is child sacrifice in their fucking bible and it burneth their asses!

[Godscreated]

There are sporadic references forbidding the Hebrews from sacrificing their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to the god Baal, but interestingly, sacrifice to Yahweh seems perfectly acceptable:

"Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. You must give me the firstborn of your sons. Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day." (Exodus 22:29-30).

What exactly did the Hebrews do with their cattle and sheep and firstborn children?

Here are some examples of how the Hebrews treated sheep and cattle as offerings before Yahweh:

"But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:20-23)

Here Yahweh rejects the burnt offering sacrifices because his specific instructions to Saul were not obeyed, as Yahweh did in other instances when children were sacrificed to Baal. Another example:

"Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the Lord. On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings." (1 Kings 8:63-64)

All those poor sheep and cattle... slaughtered and burned as sacrifices to Yahweh. Remember, "You must give me the firstborn of your sons. Do the same with your cattle and your sheep."

Anyone who doubts that Yahweh was calling for Hebrew children to be slaughtered, doubt no more! Ezekiel explicitly records a very angry Yahweh admitting: "Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries, because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes lusted after their parents’ idols. So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live; I defiled them through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn—that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the Lord." (Ezekiel 20:23-26)

Quite horrific alright! Christians, can you really believe your God is good?

Circumcision, read the whole of the Bible before making yourself look foolish.

GC

[Minimalist]

"You must give me the firstborn of your sons. Do the same with your cattle and your sheep."

Are you suggesting that they circumcised cattle and sheep, G-C, or is this more of your desperate effort to get your fucking god off the hook of barbarism?

[Mudhammam]

Circumcision, read the whole of the Bible before making yourself look foolish.

GC

Oh, so only the firstborn Hebrews were to be circumcised? That's a new one. And if you read the rebukes in Jeremiah relating to child sacrifice, it makes clear that the Israelites were guilty of slaughtering their sons and daughters...to Baal. That seems to be the real crime. It also makes sense of the myth of Abraham and Issac, which was a later Hebrew tradition intended to portray the abolishment of child sacrifice.

---

And let's not forget the climax and crux of the Christian narrative, God literally offering his son as a blood sacrifice--as the author of Hebrews notes--"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22).

[Godscreated]

Circumcision, read the whole of the Bible before making yourself look foolish.

GC

Oh, so only the firstborn Hebrews were to be circumcised? That's a new one. And if you read the rebukes in Jeremiah relating to child sacrifice, it makes clear that the Israelites were guilty of slaughtering their sons and daughters...to Baal. That seems to be the real crime. It also makes sense of the myth of Abraham and Issac, which was a later Hebrew tradition intended to portray the abolishment of child sacrifice.

---

And let's not forget the climax and crux of the Christian narrative, God literally offering his son as a blood sacrifice--as the author of Hebrews notes--"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22).

It's new because you do not know what's written within the pages of the Bible. Yes, they sacrificed to a false god an idol of wood and stone, not to the God of creation, go study the Bible before you spit out nonsense. Yes it was a real crime to God, if you had known what was in the book of Jeremiah you would have understood this. They are severely punished because of this act, go read the rest of the OT and you might find out, that is if you can be honest with yourself.
Christ is part of the Godhead and chose to give Himself up in this way for mankind, yes He was God's son, not your's, mine or anyone else, God only asked this of Himself. So what's your point? Now go and find out why blood is the requirement, hint it starts in the OT. You're wanting to prove me wrong do your own work, please.

GC

[Mudhammam]

It's new because you do not know what's written within the pages of the Bible. Yes, they sacrificed to a false god an idol of wood and stone, not to the God of creation, go study the Bible before you spit out nonsense. Yes it was a real crime to God, if you had known what was in the book of Jeremiah you would have understood this. They are severely punished because of this act, go read the rest of the OT and you might find out, that is if you can be honest with yourself.
Christ is part of the Godhead and chose to give Himself up in this way for mankind, yes He was God's son, not your's, mine or anyone else, God only asked this of Himself. So what's your point? Now go and find out why blood is the requirement, hint it starts in the OT. You're wanting to prove me wrong do your own work, please.

GC

I like how you dodged the question by responding with ad hominem attacks, assuming I lack an understanding of the Bible, despite the fact that you have no rebuttal of the actual texts. Even Jewish scholars who have studied ancient Israel and the Hebrew texts have admitted that child sacrifice to Yahweh was a common practice, evidenced even by the great prophet Micah pondering if he should sacrifice his son (ultimately, he decided against it but he seems unaware if it was forbidden). So I ask you again, where's your evidence that only the firstborn Hebrew children were circumcised? Is this the case in any passage of the Old or New Testaments? Don't be a coward and attempt to evade the facts.