2 Kings 21:6

And he made his son pass through the fire,.... To Molech, after the manner of the old Canaanites and Phoenicians; his son Amon, that succeeded him, and other children, as appears from 2 Chronicles

And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Made his son pass through the fire; of which See Poole " ". Observed times, i.e. lucky or unlucky days or seasons for the despatch of businesses, according to the superstitious practice of the heathens. See : see also ,11.

2 Kings 21:6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke [him] to anger.Ver. 6. And he made his son to pass through the fire.] Yea, more than one of his children. See 2 Kings 16:3. And observed times.] Vacabat arti ariolandi et auguriis, he was both a soothsayer and a sorcerer. By the position of stars and flying of birds, he took upon him to divine and to foretell future contingents. And dealt with familiar spirits.] He ordained that there should always be somebody possessed with such a kind of spirit as should give answers instead of an oracle. To provoke him to anger.] Deliberately, as it were, and on set purpose, to vex the Lord. Diod.

(6) And he made his son . . .—The LXX. has his sons; so Chronicles.Dealt with familiar spirits . . .—made a necro-mancer—i.e., formally appointed such a person as a court official (1 Kings 12:31). (See the Notes on chaps. 16:3, 17:17, and especially 2 Chronicles 33:6.)“In the time from Manasseh onwards, Moloch-worship and worship of the Queen of Heaven appear as prominent new features of Judah’s idolatry. It is also probable that the local high places took on their restoration a more markedly heathenish character than before” (Prof. Robertson Smith).

Verse 6. Made his son pass through the fire] Consecrated him to Moloch. Observed times] ועונן veonen; he practiced divination by the clouds; by observing their course at particular times, their different kinds, contrary directions, c., c. Used enchantments] ונחש venichesh he used incantations, spells, and charms. Dealt with familiar spirits] ועשה אוב veasah ob he was a necromancer; was a raiser of spirits, whom he endeavoured to press into his service; he had a Python. And wizards] וידענים veyiddeonim; the knowing ones, the white witches, and such like; see on Leviticus 19:26-31, where most of these terms are particularly explained and illustrated.

6. And he made his son] The LXX. represents ‘sons’ here, and the Chronicler has the plural in the parallel passage, ‘He caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom’. Probably the expression in Chronicles only means that he practised this Moloch-worship, and the plural number need not be literally pressed. pass through the fire] See note on 2 Kings 16:3. ‘The valley of the son of Hinnom’ mentioned by the Chronicler was a ravine on the south and west of Jerusalem, the south-east extremity of which had the name of Tophet. Because of the horrors which had been perpetrated there, the place was defiled, and converted into a receptacle of all that was foul and offensive, for the destruction of which constant fires were kept burning. For this reason the name Ge Hinnom, modified into Gehenna, came to be employed to designate the region of eternal torment. and observed times] R.V. practised augury. The rendering of A.V. is from the Vulgate, but that version in other places represents the sense as being ‘to use augury’. (See Vulg. of Isaiah 2:6; Isaiah 57:3.) In the LXX. the renderings express the gathering of omens, either from sounds heard or from the flight of birds. The Jewish interpreters say it means one who decides by certain signs what days are good for trade, and which to travel on, &c. This is the idea in observing times, but the R.V. appears to embrace the whole of the senses given to the word. used enchantments] The word is that which is used Numbers 24:1 of Balaam going ‘to seek for enchantments’. It refers to gathering of signs as the superstitious are wont to do, from this or that, whether they are to do or leave undone any undertaking they contemplate. dealt with [R.V. with them that had] familiar spirits] The Hebrew word Ob, usually translated ‘one that hath a familiar spirit’, means originally ‘a bottle’. It is applied first of all to the spirit supposed to reside within the persons so possessed; then to the person himself. After that because the answers were supposed to be derived from the spirits of the dead, it was applied to one called up from the dead. So 1 Samuel 28:8 Saul asks at Endor ‘Divine unto me by the familiar spirit’. The second use of the word is exemplified in the verse before us, where those that deal with the spirit are called Ob, and the third sense is found in Isaiah 29:4 where the voice of an Ob is said to come out of the ground and to whisper out of the dust. The LXX. renders the word by ἐγγαστρίμυθος, ventriloquist, probably because the utterances of ventriloquists seem to come from within the speaker without motion of the lips. The verb rendered ‘deal with’ is literally ‘made’. Hence it has been thought that Manasseh gave offices to such persons as are here spoken of, and appointed (see R.V. marg.) them as official diviners.

On the meaning of the phrase “passing through the fire,” see 2 Kings 16:3, and Leviticus 20:2-5.

6. Made his son pass through the fire — So he equalled the wicked Ahaz in the horrible abomination. See 2 Kings 16:3, note. Observed times — Rather, practised magic.