And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter
English Standard Version (ESV)
It's easy to focus on the shocking act of child sacrifice itself, but notice how God calls these children "whom you had borne to me." This highlights that the children were not just Israel's own, but a gift from God, making their sacrifice an even deeper betrayal of their covenant relationship. The question, "Were your whorings so small a matter," powerfully links this horrific act directly to their spiritual unfaithfulness, framing child sacrifice as the ultimate expression of their broken relationship with God.
And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter
English Standard Version (ESV)
The prophet Ezekiel is vividly portraying Jerusalem's spiritual adultery, accusing the city of abandoning God, its husband, for foreign gods. This verse escalates the accusation, detailing how the city offered its own children, who were meant to belong to God, as horrific sacrifices to idols like Moloch. It’s a chilling picture of a nation so consumed by its idolatrous "whoredoms" that it committed the ultimate unnatural act, a sin far beyond mere unfaithfulness.
Ezekiel's message hits hard: the children sacrificed weren't just 'yours.' God claims ownership, making this sin an ultimate betrayal.
The prophet highlights a disturbing truth: the children offered to idols were described as 'whom you had borne to me.' This phrase is crucial.
God's Claim
Though born of human parents, these children were ultimately God's. They were part of the covenant community, born into a relationship with the Lord. By sacrificing them, Jerusalem wasn't just committing a horrific act of violence; they were stealing from God what belonged to Him.
Amplified Sin
This shifts the perspective entirely. It’s not just about parents harming their children; it’s about a spiritual community desecrating God's own property. This makes the sin even more profound and the accusation more searing.
Ezekiel points out that child sacrifice wasn't just another 'sin.' It was the horrifying climax of Jerusalem's spiritual adultery.
The verse presents a devastating escalation of sin. Jerusalem had already been accused of spiritual 'whoredom'—idolatry and unfaithfulness to God. But child sacrifice takes this betrayal to an unthinkable extreme.
The Crowning Act
Ezekiel rhetorically asks, 'Were your whoredoms so small a matter?' This implies that the idolatry itself was already a grave offense. However, the sacrifice of children to pagan deities like Molech wasn't just act of unfaithfulness; it was the most vile manifestation of it.
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Unnatural Cruelty
This practice involved actual burning or offering children to be consumed by fire, a horrific departure from natural parental love and divine command. It was the ultimate perversion, showing how far Jerusalem had fallen from God’s grace.
Understand the original words
zabach · Hebrew Verb
The act of offering something to a deity, often involving the destruction of the item or life, signifying total surrender or, in pagan contexts, a demonic substitute for true worship.
Ezekiel's powerful imagery of child sacrifice to idols like Molech isn't just a description of extreme paganism; it's presented as the ultimate betrayal within God's covenant relationship. The children, born to Judah while she was in covenant with God, were given to foreign gods, representing a horrific inversion of loyalty and a rejection of the very identity God had given her.
c. 18th century BC
Abrahamic Covenant established
God establishes a covenant with Abraham, promising him descendants and land, setting the stage for the unique relationship between God and Israel.
~1400 BC
Israel's Exodus and Law
God rescues Israel from slavery in Egypt and gives them His Law at Mount Sinai, formalizing their covenant relationship and establishing His unique claim over them.
c. 732 BC
Assyrian Empire's rise
The powerful Assyrian Empire begins its expansion, posing a significant military threat to the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and influencing regional religious practices.
722 BC
Fall of Samaria
The capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel falls to the Assyrians, leading to the deportation of its population and the scattering of the ten tribes. This event serves as a stark warning to the southern Kingdom of Judah.
626 BC
Neo-Babylonian Empire emerges
Nabopolassar establishes the Neo-Babylonian Empire, setting the stage for Babylon's dominance and future conflicts with Judah.
c. 640-609 BC
King Josiah's reforms
King Josiah attempts to purge Judah of idolatry and centralize worship in Jerusalem after the discovery of the Book of the Law. Despite reforms, underlying idolatrous practices persisted.
597 BC
First Babylonian Deportation
Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon deports King Jehoiachin and many Judean elites to Babylon. This marks the beginning of Judah's decline and foreshadows the final destruction of Jerusalem.
This passage directly records King Ahaz passing his son through the fire, mirroring the horrific child sacrifice described in Ezekiel, highlighting the historical reality of this practice within Judah.
Jeremiah 7:31Jeremiah also condemns the people of Judah for offering their children as burnt offerings to Baal, showing that this deep-seated idolatrous practice, condemned by Ezekiel, was a widespread problem not just in Jerusalem but throughout the land.
Psalm 106:37This psalm explicitly states that Israel sacrificed their sons and daughters to the demons, providing a direct parallel to Ezekiel's accusation and underscoring the spiritual perversion involved in offering God's children to demonic forces.
Micah 6:7Micah questions whether burnt offerings, even the firstborn for transgression, could appease God, referencing the abhorrent practice of child sacrifice which Ezekiel addresses as a grave sin against the Lord.
cambridgeEzekiel 16:20: "Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,"
20 seq . The sacrifice of children Jehovah is the husband of the idealized community, and the individual members are his children. Human sacrifices, though rare, were not altogether unknown in early Israel, as the instance of Jephthah proves (Judges 11). They were probably more common among the Canaa…
barnesEzekiel 16:20: "Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,"
Borne unto me - me is emphatic. The children of Yahweh have been devoted to Moloch. The rites of Moloch were twofold; (1) The actual sacrifice of men and children as expiatory sacrifices to, false gods. (2) The passing of them through the fire by way of purification and dedication. Probably the first…
It's easy to focus on the shocking act of child sacrifice itself, but notice how God calls these children "whom you had borne to me." This highlights that the children were not just Israel's own, but a gift from God, making their sacrifice an even deeper betrayal of their covenant relationship. The question, "Were your whorings so small a matter," powerfully links this horrific act directly to their spiritual unfaithfulness, framing child sacrifice as the ultimate expression of their broken relationship with God.
The prophet Ezekiel is vividly portraying Jerusalem's spiritual adultery, accusing the city of abandoning God, its husband, for foreign gods. This verse escalates the accusation, detailing how the city offered its own children, who were meant to belong to God, as horrific sacrifices to idols like Moloch. It’s a chilling picture of a nation so consumed by its idolatrous "whoredoms" that it committed the ultimate unnatural act, a sin far beyond mere unfaithfulness.
The prophet Ezekiel is vividly portraying Jerusalem's spiritual adultery, accusing the city of abandoning God, its husband, for foreign gods. This verse escalates the accusation, detailing how the city offered its own children, who were meant to belong to God, as horrific sacrifices to idols like Moloch. It’s a chilling picture of a nation so consumed by its idolatrous "whoredoms" that it committed the ultimate unnatural act, a sin far beyond mere unfaithfulness.
"And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter" — It's easy to focus on the shocking act of child sacrifice itself, but notice how God calls these children "whom you had borne to me." This highlights that the children were not just Israel's own, b…
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Last reviewed October 2026