As to the term מלכם, melkom, it may be properly rendered, their king; for מלך, melak, as it is well known, means a king; but it is here put in construction, מלכם, melkom, their king; they swear by their own, king It appears that this idol had two names, Moloc and Milcom, or Molcam. It is called Moloc, or Molec, in Leviticus 20:5, and in seven other places; but Milcom in 1 Kings 11:5,33; 2 Kings 23:14; as well as here, and also in Jeremiah 49:1,3, though improperly rendered in our version, "their king.” The Ammonites are the people spoken of. The swearing is here differently expressed: it is to [(ל)] Jehovah; and by [(ב)] Milcam. To swear to, is to make a promise to another by an oath, or, in this instance, to swear allegiance to God: but to swear by, is to appeal to another as witness to an engagement. We have the two forms together in Joshua 9:19. The Jews made a solemn profession of obedience to God, and yet they acknowledged Melcam as God, by appealing to him as a witness to the truth. It is called the abomination of the Ammonites, 1 Kings 11:33 The image of this god, according to the Rabbins, was hollow, made of brass, and had seven compartments. In the first, they put flour—in the second, turtles—in the third, an ewe—in the fourth, a ram—in the fifth, a calf—in the sixth, an ox—and in the seventh, a child! All these were burnt together by heating the image in the inside! To drown the cries and noises that might be made, they used drums and other instruments. See [מלך] in Parkhurst. How cruel is superstition! and yet how wedded to it is man by nature! Though the Jews had knowledge of the religion of him who is the God of love and mercy; yet they preferred the religion of savages and barbarians. How strongly does this fact prove man’s natural antipathy to God!—Ed. The Prophet, I doubt not, alludes to the word מולך, Molok, which is derived from the verb, to reign: for though that word was commonly used by all as a proper name, it is yet certain that that false god was so called, as though he was a king: and the Prophet increases the indignity by saying—They swear by Malkom. He might have simply said, They swear by Moloch; but he says, They swear by Malkom; that is, They forget that I am their king, and transfer my sovereignty to a dead and empty image. God then does here, by an implied contrast, exaggerate the sin of the Jews, as they sought another king for themselves, when they knew that under his protection they always enjoyed a sure and real safety. Let us now proceed—