Psalms 106:38-39
they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
The shocking detail here is that the "innocent blood" refers to the children of the Israelites themselves, sacrificed to pagan deities. This wasn't just a lapse in judgment; it was a deliberate act of turning away from God, deeply polluting the very land He had given them.
This passage comes after the psalm has recounted Israel's repeated unfaithfulness to God, moving from their wilderness wanderings to their actions in the Promised Land. It specifically highlights how Israel failed to drive out the Canaanite nations as God commanded, becoming mingled with them and learning their detestable practices, including the horrific ritual of sacrificing their own children to idols. This act of shedding innocent blood is presented as a profound defilement of the land itself.
Imagine a love so twisted, it turns a parent's heart to stone, leading them to offer their own children as blood sacrifices. This wasn't a fringe cult; it was a pervasive horror that stained the land.
A Devastating Spiritual Corruption
Psalms 106:38 paints a chilling picture of Israel's descent into depravity: "they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan." This wasn't just a violation of natural law; it was a direct affront to God's command and a profound betrayal of His people.
God gave the land to Israel as a sacred trust. But their actions didn't just anger God; they made the very ground cry out in protest.
A Sacred Trust Desecrated
The repeated emphasis on the land being "polluted with blood" in Psalm 106:38 is a crucial theological point. God's promises and provisions for Israel were intrinsically linked to their obedience and the land's spiritual purity.
Understand the original words
naqi dam · Hebrew Noun Phrase
Refers to the taking of a life that has not committed a capital crime or is morally blameless in a specific context. The shedding of such blood is a grave moral abomination that cries out for divine justice and brings defilement upon the land.
tame’ · Hebrew Adjective/Verb
To be made ceremonially or morally impure. It denotes a state of corruption or contagion that separates a person or a nation from the presence, blessing, and holiness of God.
zanah · Hebrew Verb
A frequent prophetic metaphor used to describe apostasy, spiritual unfaithfulness, and the abandonment of the covenant relationship with God in favor of worldly or idolatrous pursuits. It highlights the betrayal of God's exclusive love and authority.
This verse highlights how deeply Israel fell into the sin of child sacrifice, a practice abhorrent to God and forbidden by His law, ultimately leading to the land's defilement and divine judgment.
c. 1500-1000 BC
Canaanite Idolatry Flourishes
The Canaanites, whom the Israelites were later commanded to displace, practiced various forms of idolatry, including the abhorrent ritual of child sacrifice to deities like Baal and Moloch.
c. 1400 BC
Israel Enters Canaan
The Israelites, after their exodus from Egypt, were commanded by God to drive out the Canaanites and not adopt their practices, including their idolatry and child sacrifice.
c. 1000-600 BC— this verse
Israel Adopts Canaanite Practices
Despite divine commands, many Israelites fell into worshipping Canaanite idols, learning their abominable ways, and even sacrificing their own children to these false gods.
c. 600 BC
Exile and Judgment
The persistent shedding of innocent blood and widespread idolatry led to severe divine judgment, including the Babylonian exile, as the land itself was considered defiled.
This verse directly condemns the practice of sacrificing children to Molech, highlighting the abhorrent nature of the sin described in Psalms 106:38 and its violation of God's law.
Deuteronomy 12:31God explicitly warns Israel against adopting the detestable practices of the Canaanites, including child sacrifice, reinforcing that the actions in Psalms 106:38 were a direct disobedience to His commands.
Ezekiel 16:20-21The prophet Ezekiel condemns Israel for taking their sons and daughters, whom they had sacrificed to their idols, directly mirroring the sin described in Psalms 106:38 and showing its persistent and grave nature.
Jeremiah 7:31Jeremiah denounces the people for building the high places in Topheth to sacrifice their sons and daughters, providing a prophetic parallel that emphasizes the continuity of this horrific practice and God's judgment upon it.
Numbers 35:33This passage states that blood defiles the land, making it clear why the shedding of innocent blood, as described in Psalms 106:38, was a pollution that warranted divine wrath.
pulpitPsalms 106:38: "And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood."
Verse 38. - And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters. Infants, who could have committed no actual sin, were the ordinary victims in the Moloch sacrifices (see Jarchi on Jeremiah 7:31; Diod. Sic., 20:14; Dollinger, 'Judenthum und Heidenthum,' 1:427, Engl. trans.). Whom they sacrifice…
ellicottPsalms 106:38: "And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood."
(38) Innocent blood. —Human sacrifice, and especially that of children, was a Canaanite practice. It seems to have been inherent in Phoenician custom, for Carthage was, two centuries after Christ, notorious for it. (See Sil. Ital., iv. 767.)
The shocking detail here is that the "innocent blood" refers to the children of the Israelites themselves, sacrificed to pagan deities. This wasn't just a lapse in judgment; it was a deliberate act of turning away from God, deeply polluting the very land He had given them.
This passage comes after the psalm has recounted Israel's repeated unfaithfulness to God, moving from their wilderness wanderings to their actions in the Promised Land. It specifically highlights how Israel failed to drive out the Canaanite nations as God commanded, becoming mingled with them and learning their detestable practices, including the horrific ritual of sacrificing their own children to idols. This act of shedding innocent blood is presented as a profound defilement of the land itself.
This passage comes after the psalm has recounted Israel's repeated unfaithfulness to God, moving from their wilderness wanderings to their actions in the Promised Land. It specifically highlights how Israel failed to drive out the Canaanite nations as God commanded, becoming mingled with them and learning their detestable practices, including the horrific ritual of sacrificing their own children to idols. This act of shedding innocent blood is presented as a profound defilement of the land itself.
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Ask a follow-up
Ask Sola things like:
Live chat about Psalms 106:38-39 is available in the Sola app.
"they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the wh…" — The shocking detail here is that the "innocent blood" refers to the children of the Israelites themselves, sacrificed to pagan deities. This wasn't just a lapse in judgment; it was a deliberate act o…
