The Bible in the News

014

Molech, or Moloch (the preferred spelling in the popular press), as portrayed throughout the Hebrew Bible (Leviticus, 1 and 2 Kings, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Zephaniah) and once in the New Testament (Acts 7:43), has traditionally been understood as a god to whom children were burned in sacrifice. Whether we accept that interpretation or either of two more-recent ones—Otto Eissfeldt argued that the word mlk was a technical term for a kind of sacrifice; according to Moshe Weinfeld, “Moloch” was a deity to whom children were dedicated but not literally sacrificed—this is a fierce and fiery term that leads to, and results in, destruction and devastation. In general, modern usage of this word, as reflected in the popular press, follows the Bible’s lead, but with numerous nuances and denotations of its own.

What we might call the locus classicus for this term, and its coverage in the popular press, is Allen Ginsberg’s Howl, whose 50th anniversary was commemorated throughout 2006. “Part II,” we learn, “consists of a description of Moloch, the ancient Carthaginian idol whose cult required human sacrifice. At the risk of simplifying the poem’s meaning, one can say that Moloch represents America …” (so The Weekend Australian). Much of Ginsberg’s language does sound “Biblical”: “Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb!” Nonetheless, it is not clear how all of these characteristics are derived from the Biblical imagery itself.

The Czech Republic provides two references to “Moloch,” which in a sense demonstrate the varied ways in which this term has entered into press parlance. In the first instance, a former government official opined that more could be done with his country’s defense spending “if the sector were not such a moloch [notice, it is a common noun here, not a proper name], if there were not a number of sponging organizations that swallow up financial means” (as reported by BBC Worldwide Monitoring). Elsewhere (from the same source) young Communist and Socialist protestors against an American base in Prague “carried posters reading ‘Let’s prevent the nailed boot of the foreign moloch from abusing our native land!’”

The imagery of Moloch as all-consuming can take on a wide variety of contexts. Thus, a review of James Caroll’s House of War (in The Australian) records: “Carroll sees U.S. policy in the wider world as gradually and increasingly enslaved to the Moloch of the Department of Defense.” At the other end, as it were, The Times in London recalls this passage from Clive James’ memoir, in which he relates his experiences in a London bedsit of the 1960s: “Heating? An ancient low-wattage device with a meter that ‘consumed coins like Moloch.’”

When “Moloch” adheres most closely to the Biblical context, the language is decidedly somber. Thus, a feature from The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland) speaks pessimistically about the fiscal future: “And our children? Well, the whole point of ancient infant sacrifice to Moloch was the procurement of economic gain … We have failed the coming generation.”

Although some of the examples above could surely elicit controversy, there is one additional point on which there will be little, if any, disagreement: The Nation (published in Thailand) is on to something with its choice of Moloch—along with Beelzebub, Eichmann and Nero, among others—as a proposed name for future tropical storms, undoubtedly correct in its assertion that “hurricanes should be named after the bad guys ‘n’ gals of history and mythology.”

Molech, or Moloch (the preferred spelling in the popular press), as portrayed throughout the Hebrew Bible (Leviticus, 1 and 2 Kings, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Zephaniah) and once in the New Testament (Acts 7:43), has traditionally been understood as a god to whom children were burned in sacrifice. Whether we accept that interpretation or either of two more-recent ones—Otto Eissfeldt argued that the word mlk was a technical term for a kind of sacrifice; according to Moshe Weinfeld, “Moloch” was a deity to whom children were dedicated but not literally sacrificed—this is a fierce and fiery term that leads to, […]