Leviticus 18:21

Summary

The verse prohibits giving one's offspring to be "passed" to Molech, and forbids profaning the name of the speaker's God. It closes with the self-identification formula "I am Yehovah."

Key words

• zar'a ("offspring", H2233) — construct form followed by the suffix kha ("your"), literally "seed of you," referring to descendants.
• ha'avir ("to cause to pass", H5674) — hiphil (causative) infinitive; the causative stem indicates making something/someone pass, here governed by the preposition le- ("to/for").
• Molekh ("Molech", H4432) — proper name preceded by la- (preposition + article), the entity to which the passing is directed.
• techallel ("you will profane", H2490) — piel (intensive) imperfect, second person masculine; the intensive stem marks a strong or effective action of desecration, not merely accidental defilement.
• Elohei-kha ("your God", H0430) — construct plural noun with second-person suffix, part of the phrase shem Elohekha ("the name of your God").

What the text says

The verse contains two parallel prohibitions, each introduced by lo' ("not", H3808) plus an imperfect verb, a common Hebrew construction for enduring prohibition. The first clause, lo-titten le-ha'avir la-Molekh ("you will not give, to cause to pass, to Molech"), uses titten ("you will give", H5414) followed by the infinitive ha'avir in the hiphil stem — the causative form implies that the subject is not merely permitting but actively causing the "passing" of the offspring to Molech. The object of this action, mi-zar'akha ("from your offspring"), is fronted at the start of the verse, giving it emphatic position before the verb.

The second clause shifts to a different verb, techallel ("you will profane"), in the piel (intensive) stem, governing the direct object marker 'et (H0853) plus the construct phrase shem Elohekha ("the name of your God"). The construct chain shem Elohei-kha links "name" directly to "your God" without an intervening preposition, a standard construct relationship in Hebrew.

The verse ends with the formula ani Yehovah ("I am Yehovah"), a first-person pronoun followed by the divine name, without a copula verb — a common self-declarative pattern in this section of Leviticus.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders la-Molekh ("to Molech") as ἄρχοντι ("to a ruler"), not preserving the proper name Molech found in the Hebrew. Where the Hebrew has shem Elohekha ("the name of your God"), the LXX has τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἅγιον ("the holy name"), omitting the possessive "your God" and adding the qualifier "holy." The Vulgate expands le-ha'avir ("to cause to pass") into ut consecretur idolo Moloch ("that it be consecrated to the idol Moloch"), adding the words "idol" and "consecrated," which are not distinct lexical items in the Hebrew clause.