Editing Human sacrifice (section)

====Biblical accounts====
{{Further|Binding of Isaac|Herem (war or property)|Gehenna}}

References in the [[Bible]] point to an awareness of and disdain of human sacrifice in the history of [[ancient Near East]]ern practice. During a battle with the [[Israelites]], the King of [[Moab]] gives his firstborn son and heir as a whole [[Burnt offering (Judaism)|burnt offering]] (''olah'', as used of the Temple sacrifice) ([[2 Kings]] 3:27).<ref>{{cite book |first1=N.C. |last1=Asthana |first2=Anjali |last2=Nirmal |year=2009 |title=Urban Terrorism: Myths and realities |publisher=Pointer Publishers |isbn=978-81-7132-598-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8EqWnqdsgZMC}}</ref> The Bible then recounts that, following the King's sacrifice, "There was great indignation [or wrath] against Israel" and that the Israelites had to raise their siege of the Moabite capital and go away. This verse had perplexed many later Jewish and Christian commentators, who tried to explain what the impact of the Moabite King's sacrifice was, to make those under siege emboldened while disheartening the Israelites, make God angry at the Israelites or the Israelites fear his anger, make [[Chemosh]] (the Moabite god) angry, or otherwise.<ref>{{cite web |title=Commentaries on 2&nbsp;Kings 3:27 |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/2_kings/3-27.htm |website=Bible Hub |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref>{{npsn|date=July 2024}} Whatever the explanation, evidently at the time of writing, such an act of sacrificing the firstborn son and heir, while prohibited by Israelites ([[Deuteronomy]] 12:31; Deut. 18:9–12; Leviticus 18,22-23, about [[Moloch]]<ref name="Manzini">[[Vincenzo Manzini]] (1 January 1988), ''Sacrifici umani e omicidi rituali nell'antichità'', Fratelli Melita Editori, pp. 64-65. {{ISBN|978-8840391281}} (reprinted by Gherardo Casini editore, Series "Esoterismo e magia", 2022, {{ISBN|9788864101262}}).</ref>), was considered as an emergency measure in the Ancient Near East, to be performed in exceptional cases where divine favor was desperately needed.{{npsn|date=July 2024}}

{{bibleref2|Leviticus|27,29|NKJV}} prohibits redeeming those destined for sacrifice (''Non redimatur, sed morte moriatur''). This concerned offenders condemned to death by penal ''[[Herem (censure) |Herem]]'', an [[anathema]] pronounced solemnly by God or authority, akin to the Roman ''[[sacratio]]''.[17] [[Canaanites]] and [[Amorites]] were punished by God without possibility of redemption (Exodus 22; Deuteronomy 13; Judges 21).<ref name ="Manzini" />

The [[binding of Isaac]] appears in the [[Book of Genesis]] (22), where God tests [[Abraham]] by asking him to present his son as a sacrifice on [[Moriah]]. Abraham agrees to this command without arguing. The story ends with an [[angel]] stopping Abraham at the last minute and providing a ram, caught in some nearby bushes, to be sacrificed instead. Many Bible scholars have suggested this story's origin was a remembrance of an era when human sacrifice was abolished in favour of animal sacrifice.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Susan |last=Ackerman |author-link=Susan Ackerman (biblical scholar) |date=June 1993 |title=Child Sacrifice: Returning God's Gift |journal=[[Biblical Archaeology Review]] |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=20–29, 56 |url=http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBR&Volume=9&Issue=3&ArticleID=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first1= Lawrence E. |last1=Stager |first2=Samuel R. |last2=Wolff |date= Jan–Feb 1984 |title=Child sacrifice at Carthage – religious rite or population control? |journal=Biblical Archaeology Review |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=30–51 |url=http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=10&Issue=1&ArticleID=2}}</ref>

Another probable instance of human sacrifice mentioned in the Bible is [[Jephthah]]'s sacrifice of [[Jephthah's daughter|his daughter]] in Judges 11. Jephthah vows to sacrifice to God whatever comes to greet him at the door when he returns home if he is victorious in his war against the [[Ammon]]ites. The vow is stated in the [[Book of Judges]] 11:31: "Then whoever comes of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord's, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering ([[New Revised Standard Version|NRSV]])." When he returns from battle, his virgin daughter runs out to greet him, and Jephthah laments to her that he cannot take back his vow. She begs for, and is granted, "two months, so that I may go and wander on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, my companions and I", after which "[Jephthah] did with her according to the vow he had made."<ref>(excerpted from Judges 11:34–39, [[New Revised Standard Version|NRSV]])</ref> Jewish rabbis, [[Saint Jerome]] and Saint [[Augustine of Hippo]] state that the daughter of Jephthah was sacrificed, but not according to the will of the Judeo-Christian God, but in a cruel and arbitrary manner.<ref name ="Manzini" />

Two kings of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], [[Ahaz]] and [[Manasseh of Judah|Manassah]], sacrificed their sons. Ahaz, in 2&nbsp;Kings 16:3, sacrificed his son. "...&nbsp;He even made his son pass through fire, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel (NRSV)." King Manasseh sacrificed his sons in [[2 Chronicles]]&nbsp;33:6. "He made his son pass through fire in the [[Valley of Hinnom|valley of the son of Hinnom]]&nbsp;... He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger (NRSV)." The valley symbolized hell in later religions, such as [[Christianity]], as a result.{{npsn|date=July 2024}}

{{bibleref2|1 Corinthians|10,20}} affirms that [[Gentiles]] do sacrifices to [[demon|demons]] and not to God.