Editing Tophet (section)

===Theories===

Although a minority of scholars has argued that the tophet ritual described in the Bible was a harmless activity that did not involve sacrificing any children, the majority of scholars agree that the Bible depicts human sacrifice as occurring at the tophet.{{sfn|Stavrakopoulou|2013|p=140}} Modern scholarship has described sacrifice at the Tophet as a ''mulk'' or ''mlk'' sacrifice. The term appears to derive from a verb meaning "presentation as an offering" from the root {{lang|xpu|ylk}} "to offer, present" and found in Phoenician and Carthaginian inscriptions in the phrases {{lang|xpu|mlk ʾdm}} "sacrifice a human", {{lang|xpu|mlk bʿl}} "to sacrifice a citizen", and {{lang|xpu|mlk bšr}} "sacrifice in place of flesh".{{sfn|Holm|2005|p=7134}} Lawrence Stager and Samuel Wolff argue that the term "refers to a live sacrifice of a child or animal".{{sfn|Stager|Wolff|1984}}{{sfn|Kerr|2018}}

The god to whom these sacrifices was directed is disputed in modern scholarship, with a dispute arising over whether the sacrifices were part of the cult of [[Yahweh]].{{sfn|Xella|2013|p=265}} Traditionally, the god to whom the sacrifices were offered has been said to be [[Molech]], supposedly an underworld god whose name means king.{{sfn|Cooper|2005|p=7132}}{{sfn|Stavrakopoulou|2013|p=143}} The Bible connects the Tophet with Moloch in two later texts, 2 Kings 23:10 and Jeremiah 32:35.{{sfn|Stavrakopoulou|2013|pp=143-144}} Lindsay Cooper writes in support of this connection that "The location of the Jerusalem tofet outside the city's eastern wall, at the traditional entrance to the netherworld, explicitly connects child sacrifice with the cult of death."{{sfn|Cooper|2005|p=7132}} However, while scholars recognize the existence of an underworld deity called "M-l-k" with various vocalizations (e.g. Molech, Milcom) as well as an [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] term {{lang|akk|maliku}} for the shades of the dead, there is no evidence to connect these deities or shades to human sacrifice. Later Phoenician and Punic sacrifices of children called ''mlk'' in inscriptions or described by Greco-Roman sources are not associated with these gods.{{sfn|Holm|2005|p=7134}} On the basis of the word {{lang|he|mlk}} meaning "to sacrifice" "an increasing number of scholars now take the biblical traditions to attest not to the offering of children in fiery sacrifices to the deity "Molek", but rather to the sacrifice of children as "mlk" offerings to another deity".{{sfn|Stavrakopoulou|2013|p=147}} On the basis of the stories of [[Abraham]] and [[Jephthah]] offering their children to Yahweh, as well as Micah 6:6-7 and other passages, Francesca Stavrakopoulou argues that the offerings were in fact for Yahweh rather than for a foreign deity.{{sfn|Stavrakopoulou|2013|pp=147-152}}