H4432 — מֹלֶךְ (Môlek)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H4432
Original: מֹלֶךְ
Transliteration: Môlek
Pronunciation: mo'-lek
Part of Speech: Proper masculine noun (deity name)
Root: From מֶלֶךְ (H4428, melek, "king") — same consonants (מלך), traditionally re-pointed with the vowels of בֹּשֶׁת (bosheth, "shame") to produce mōlek as a theological deformation
Occurrences: 8–9 unique verses in OT (LXX/Masoretic variants in Amos 5:26 and occasional readings of H4428)
Books: 5 (Leviticus, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Jeremiah, Amos)
First Occurrence: Lev 18:21 — "And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through [the fire] to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I [am] the LORD."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From Strong's / BDB: "Molek (i.e. king), the chief deity of the Ammonites." The form is derived from the root מלך ("to reign, be king") but is distinguished from the common noun מֶלֶךְ (H4428) by its vowel pattern. Ammonite patron deity associated with child sacrifice by fire; cognate with Canaanite/Phoenician Milcom (H4445) and the West Semitic mlk-offering terminology. See also: Gesenius, "the powerful one / the king-god."

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
unto Molech	4	44.4%
to Molech	2	22.2%
Molech	1	11.1%
and for Molech	1	11.1%
of your Moloch	1	11.1%

KJV uses "Molech" throughout the Hebrew Bible and "Moloch" only in Amos 5:26 (echoed by Acts 7:43, which quotes the LXX form Moloch).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Amos	1	0.7
Leviticus	5	0.6
2 Kings	1	0.1
Jeremiah	1	0.1
1 Kings	1	0.1

Patterns: Densest in Leviticus (the Holiness Code, chs. 18 & 20), where Molech-worship is a capital offense prohibited alongside sexual and ritual defilement. Historical narrative records Solomon's compromise (1 Kgs 11:7) and Josiah's reform (2 Kgs 23:10). Prophetic books indict the cult as active in Judah (Jer 32:35) and trace it back into the wilderness (Amos 5:26). No occurrences in Torah narrative, wisdom literature, or Psalms — the term is concentrated in legal prohibition and historical/prophetic judgment contexts.

Semantic Categories¶

All nine occurrences refer to the same deity, so semantic range is narrow; categories reflect the contexts of reference, not distinct senses.

1. Capital Prohibition in the Holiness Code¶

Molech-worship is legislated as a capital offense of seed-offering, punished by stoning and kareth (being cut off). - Lev 18:21 — "thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through [the fire] to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God" - Lev 20:2 — "Whosoever... that giveth [any] of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death" - Lev 20:3 — "he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name" - Lev 20:5 — "to commit whoredom with Molech"

2. Royal Apostasy — Solomon's High Place¶

A single historical notice where Molech-worship enters Israelite practice through Solomon's political marriages. - 1 Kgs 11:7 — "Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab... and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon"

3. The Topheth / Valley of Hinnom Cult¶

Jerusalem-local cult site where child-sacrifice by fire is practiced under later monarchy. - 2 Kgs 23:10 — "he defiled Topheth, which [is] in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech" - Jer 32:35 — "they built the high places of Baal, which [are] in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through [the fire] unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind"

4. Wilderness Retrojection / Astral Syncretism¶

Amos charges that Molech-worship was carried through the wilderness alongside astral/Mesopotamian images. - Amos 5:26 — "But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god" (cited in Acts 7:43)

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אִישׁ (ʼîysh)	H376	5x (56%)	"whosoever / any man" — introduces the violator formula
אֲשֶׁר (ʼăsher)	H834	5x (56%)	relative particle in the casuistic construction "[any] who gives"
בֵּן (bên)	H1121	4x (44%)	"son(s)" — the victim ("his son... to Molech")
זֶרַע (zeraʻ)	H2233	4x (44%)	"seed/offspring" — the sacrificial object ("give of his seed")
נָתַן (nâthan)	H5414	4x (44%)	"give" — the cultic verb ("give his seed unto Molech")
עַם (ʻam)	H5971	4x (44%)	"people" — the community liable for kareth or responsible for stoning
עָבַר (ʻâbar)	H5674	3x (33%)	"pass through / cause to pass" — the fire-rite idiom (heʿĕbîr bāʾēš)
פָּנִים (pânîym)	H6440	3x (33%)	"face" — "I will set my face against that man"
בָּמָה (bâmâh)	H1116	2x (22%)	"high place" — the cult installation (1 Kgs 11:7; Jer 32:35)
גַּיְא (gayʼ)	H1516	2x (22%)	"valley" — of Hinnom, site of the Topheth cult
הִנֹּם (Hinnôm)	H2011	2x (22%)	"Hinnom" — the specific Jerusalem ravine (gê-hinnōm → Gehenna)
חָלַל (châlal)	H2490	2x (22%)	"profane" — the cultic injury to YHWH's name/sanctuary
טָמֵא (ṭâmêʼ)	H2930	2x (22%)	"defile" — Molech-worship defiles YHWH's sanctuary
כָּרַת (kârath)	H3772	2x (22%)	"cut off" — the kareth penalty imposed on the offender
בַּת (bath)	H1323	2x (22%)	"daughter(s)" — victims alongside "sons"
בָּנָה (bânâh)	H1129	2x (22%)	"build" — high places constructed for Molech

Signature formula: nātan mizzarʿô ləmōlek + heʿĕbîr bāʾēš — "give of his seed to Molech" / "cause to pass through the fire."

Word Family / Cognates¶

H4428 מֶלֶךְ (melek) — "king" (common noun); shares consonantal root מלך. Molek is almost certainly a deliberate vocalization of melek with the vowels of bōšet ("shame"), a Masoretic or earlier polemical pointing
H4427 מָלַךְ (mālak) — verb "to reign, be king"
H4445 מַלְכֹּם (Malkom / Milcom) — "their king"; Ammonite deity name, near-synonym of Molek (1 Kgs 11:5, 33; 2 Kgs 23:13; Jer 49:1, 3; Zeph 1:5). Some scholars treat Milcom and Molek as the same Ammonite god under different vocalizations
H4432 appears alongside the alternate form מֶלֶךְ (as deity) in some textual traditions (e.g., LXX readings of 1 Kgs 11:7 presuppose Milcom)

Synonyms¶

No synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H4432.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H4432.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Domain	Key Difference
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	same consonants מלך	H4428 = common noun "king" (2,500+ uses); H4432 = deity name, distinguished by o/e vowel-pointing polemic
מַלְכֹּם / מִלְכֹּם (Milcom)	H4445	Ammonite "king-god"	The Masoretic-distinguished Ammonite national deity; some passages (e.g., 1 Kgs 11:7 LXX) read Milcom where MT has Molek. Functionally the same deity or a close variant
בַּעַל (Baʻal)	H1168	Canaanite high god	Different deity (Phoenician/Canaanite storm-god); however Jer 32:35 pairs Baal's high places with the Molech-rite, linking the two cults topographically
כְּמוֹשׁ (Kᵉmôwsh)	H3645	national pagan deity	Chemosh is the Moabite national god (1 Kgs 11:7); Molech is the Ammonite national god — listed side-by-side in Solomon's apostasy
שִׁקּוּץ (shiqquwts)	H8251	"abomination"	Molech himself is called shiqquts (1 Kgs 11:7); shiqquts is the general category, Molek a specific instance
תֹּפֶת (Tôpheth)	H8612	cult-site term	Name of the Molech installation in the Hinnom valley (2 Kgs 23:10); not a deity but its locus

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	Notes
Μολόχ (Molóch)	G3434	3	Primary transliteration; survives into NT via Acts 7:43 (quoting LXX Amos 5:26)
ἄρχων (árchōn)	G758	5	"ruler/prince" — LXX sometimes renders mōlek as "their ruler" (treating as common noun melek), reflecting textual/vocalic uncertainty between H4432 and H4428
σπέρμα (spérma)	G4690	4	Collocation: "seed" in the phrase "give of his seed to Molech"
δίδωμι (dídōmi)	G1325	4	Collocation: "give" in the sacrificial formula
ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos)	G444	3	Collocation: "man / whosoever" in the prohibition
υἱός (huiós)	G5207	4	Collocation: "son(s)" — the victims

The ἄρχων renderings are significant: several LXX witnesses read the consonantal text as "their king/ruler" rather than as the deity name, showing that the distinction H4428/H4432 is partly a later Masoretic pointing decision.

Semantic Domains¶

[003001004] Names of Deities — search_relationships.py groups Molek with the deity-name field, alongside entries such as H152 אַדְרַמֶּלֶךְ, H410 אֵל, H411 אֵל, and H415 אֵל.