If the people of the land all hide their eyes from that person, when he gives of his offspring to Molech, and don’t put him to death;
Parallel translations
- KJV And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:
- BSB And if the people of the land ever hide their eyes and fail to put to death the man who gives one of his children to Molech,
- NKJV And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him,
- NASB If the people of the land, however, should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his children to Molech, so as not to put him to death,
- NLT And if the people of the community ignore those who offer their children to Molech and refuse to execute them,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If the community shuts its eyes to a man's child sacrifice and fails to act, they share in the guilt. Tolerating grave evil implicates the whole people.
Overview
God anticipates communal complicity, where people refuse to enforce justice against Molech worship. Looking away is not neutrality but participation in the sin. The verse teaches corporate responsibility: a holy people cannot ignore wickedness in their midst without inviting judgment upon themselves.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Deut 17:2–5If there is found among you, within any of your gates which Yahweh your God gives you, a man or woman who does that which is evil in Yahweh your God’s sight, in transgressing his covenant,
- Acts 17:30The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,
- Deut 13:8you shall not consent to him, nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him;
- Josh 7:12Therefore the children of Israel can’t stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will not be with you any more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.
- 1 Sam 3:13–14For I have told him that I will judge his house forever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves, and he didn’t restrain them.
- 1 Kgs 20:42He said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life will take the place of his life, and your people take the place of his people.’”
- Rev 2:14But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 20:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.