Is child sacrifice in the bible a euphemism for abortion?

[Harry123]

I always found it hard to believe people would be so cruel as to sacrifice children. Is it possible that what is actually being meant by child sacrifice is abortion?

Or are the children being sacrificed disabled? And the people were using “sacrifice to the gods” as an excuse to kill their disabled children?

 

[ShrodingersCat]

I always found it hard to believe people would be so cruel as to sacrifice children. Is it possible that what is actually being meant by child sacrifice is abortion?

Or are the children being sacrificed disabled? And the people were using “sacrifice to the gods” as an excuse to kill their disabled children?

It was really popular is South America. I don’t know if it’s true but I heard from one source that possibly up to 1 in 5 Aztec children were sacrificed. It was, genuinely, to appease the Gods and often human sacrifice would involve something along the lines of cutting the abdomen open, pulling out the still beating heart and dumping the body to be consumed by animals. Truly horrific stuff. It was torture as well as murder. Google it if you have a strong stomach.

Obviously that isn’t what was happening in the bible, but it shows what humans are capable of.

 

[1ke]

No.

It is not a euphemism.

The cults of Moloch and Baal were very real.

 

[Reepicheep]

The old pagans would sacrifice their children because they believed the gods must be appeased. :bowdown:
Moderns sacrifice their children to appease themselves. :banghead:

 

[Sarcelle]

I always found it hard to believe people would be so cruel as to sacrifice children. Is it possible that what is actually being meant by child sacrifice is abortion?

Or are the children being sacrificed disabled? And the people were using “sacrifice to the gods” as an excuse to kill their disabled children?

No it is not a euphemism.

As one poster said earlier, child sacrifices were part of the religion of the people who lived near the Hebrew people. These people sacrificed children by burning these children alive.

A truly revolting and hideous practice.

 

[Arizona_Fat_Gir]

Moloch and Baal are really demons. (Somewhere I read where Moloch and Baal are the same and they just have different names.)

When they burned their babies alive, the child was placed on the extended arms of the idol. A fire was blazing underneath the statue. Instruments were played to drown out the cries of the children.

 

[ComplineSanFran]

Don’t forget the story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. He believed God was asking him to sacrifice his first born son, and was ready to obey. And then it was not to be so, and the ram was sacrificed instead. So perhaps we must be ready to offer to God what Abraham was asked to offer.

I have been to Jewish ceremonies called Pidyon Ha-Ben, the redemption of the first born (son), The father must pay the Kohen a certain amount in shekles in order to redeem his son. This goes back, I believe, to the slaughtering of the first born boys in Egypt, but later, in Temple Days, to the offering of the first born animals in the Temple. This was a way for Jews to redeem their sons rather than have them sacrificed.

 

[neophyte]

… This goes back, I believe, to the slaughtering of the first born boys in Egypt, but later, in Temple Days, to the offering of the first born animals in the Temple. This was a way for Jews to redeem their sons rather than have them sacrificed.

No, sacrifice of children was never done among the Jews.

According to the Jewish sources I’m familiar with, originally the Jewish firstborn were the sanctified priestly class. When most of the Jews—including the firstborn—sinned with the Golden Calf, the firstborns forfeited their status. The priesthood was then transferred to those that did not participate in the service of the Golden Calf. At that time, God commanded:
Take the Levites instead of all the firstborns among the children of Israel . . . You shall take five shekels per head, according to the holy shekel, by which the shekel is twenty gerahs. (Numbers 3:45-47)And the commandment to redeem the firstborn was born.