Psalms 106:37
in Psalms 106They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons,
KJV
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
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This verse in Psalms 106
Commentary
9 notes on this verseYea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils. Who have their name here given them from a word that signifies to waste and destroy, they being the destroyers of mankind. So the Targum renders it by מזיקיא, which signifies spirits noxious and hurtful; but R. Elias Levita, in his Tishbi, p. 233, says it is a mistake to derive it from the root which signifies to waste and destroy; for then he says the "daleth" should have a "dagesh"; but does not tell us from whence it is derived.
This site's exposition
They did not destroy the peoples
on Psalms 106:34-39
They left alive the peoples the LORD had commanded them to destroy. They mingled with the nations, took their customs and their idols, and sacrificed their own sons and daughters to demons, which Deuteronomy 12:31 and 18:10 had already forbidden. The land was polluted with blood.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Yea, they offered their sons and their daughters unto devils" [Psalm 106:37]; "and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they offered unto the idols of Canaan" [Psalm 106:38]. That history does not relate that they offered their sons and daughters to devils and idols; but neither can that Psalm lie, nor the Prophets, who assert this in many passages of their rebukes. But the literature of the Gentiles is not silent respecting this custom of theirs.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Devils - They did not worship God as they pretended, but devils in their idols; for those spirits, which were supposed by the Heathen idolaters to inhabit in their images, were not good spirits, but evil spirits, or devils.
They shed innocent blood, the most innocent, for it was infant-blood, nay, it was the blood of their sons and their daughters. See the power of the spirit that works in the children of disobedience, and see his malice.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils. This was being snared indeed; they were spell bound by the cruel superstition, and were carried so far as even to become murderers of their own children, in honour of the most detestable deities, which were rather devils than gods. "And shed innocent blood." The poor little ones whom they put to death in sacrifice had not been partakers of their sin, and God looked with the utmost indignation upon the murder of the innocent.
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils. This was being snared indeed; they were spell bound by the cruel superstition, and were carried so far as even to become murderers of their own children, in honour of the most detestable deities, which were rather devils than gods. "And shed innocent blood." The poor little ones whom they put to death in sacrifice had not been partakers of their sin, and God looked with the utmost indignation upon the murder of the innocent. "Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan." Who knows how far evil will go? It drove men to be unnatural as well as ungodly. Had they but thought for a moment, they must have seen that a deity who could be pleased with the blood of babes spilt by their own sires could not be a deity at all, but must be a demon, worthy to be detested and not adored. How could they prefer such service to that of Jehovah? Did he tear their babes from their bosoms and smile at their death throes? Men will sooner wear the iron yoke of Satan than carry the pleasant burden of the Lord; does not this prove to a demonstration the deep depravity of their hearts? If man be not totally depraved, what worse would he do if he were? Does not this verse describe the ne plus ultra of iniquity? And the land was polluted with blood. The promised land, the holy land, which was the glory of all lands, for God was there, was defiled with the reeking gore of innocent babes, and by the blood red hands of their parents, who slew them in order to pay homage to devils. Alas! alas! What vexation was this to the spirit of the Lord.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils - See 2Ki 16:3; Isa 57:5; Eze 16:20; ezekiel Eze 20:26. That causing their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Moloch did not always mean they burnt them to death in the flames, is very probable. But all the heathen had human sacrifices; of this their history is full. Unto devils, לשדים lashshedim, to demons. Devil is never in Scripture used in the plural; there is but One devil, though there are Many demons.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters - See 2Ki 16:3; Eze 16:20; Eze 20:31; Isa 57:5. Unto devils - Hebrew, שׁדים shêdiym. The Septuagint, δαιμονίοις daimoniois, “demons.” So the Vulgate, “daemoniis.” The word is used only in the plural number, and is applied to idols. It occurs only in this place, and in Deu 32:17. On the meaning of this, see the notes at 1Co 10:20.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּזְבְּח֣וּ | vaiyizbechu | and they sacrificed | H2076 → | 134 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּ֭נֵיהֶם | beneihem | sons their | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֽוֹתֵיהֶ֗ם | benoteihem | daughters their | H1323 → | 588 times |
| לַשֵּֽׁדִים׃ | lashedim | to <the> demons | H7700 → |
וַיִּזְבְּח֣וּand they sacrificed
vaiyizbechuH2076 →134 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּ֭נֵיהֶםsons their
beneihemH1121 →4930 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בְּנֽוֹתֵיהֶ֗םdaughters their
benoteihemH1323 →588 times
לַשֵּֽׁדִים׃to <the> demons
lashedimH7700 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 16:3Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:31
You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 106:37–38
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 12:31
Through
Jeremiah 7:31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.
it leads to
- Leviticus 18:21
You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 23:10
He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.
- 2 Kings 17:17
They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Leviticus 18:21
Through
2 Kings 17:17They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 21:6
He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- 2 Kings 16:3
Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the…
- Deuteronomy 18:10–12
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,
- 2 Kings 21:6
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 106; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.