Ezekiel 16:20 - Exposition

The next stage of idolatry is that of Moloch worship, which never wholly ceased as long as the monarchy of Judah lasted ( 2 Kings 16:3 ; Psalms 106:37 ; Isaiah 57:5 ; Jeremiah 7:32 ; Jeremiah 19:5 ; Micah 6:7 ; Le 18:21; 20:2). It will be noticed that the words, "the fire," are in italics, i.e. are not in the Hebrew, the verb "to pass through" having acquired so technical a meaning that it was enough without that addition. This, as the closing words indicate, was the crowning point. As though idolatry in itself was a small matter, it was intensified by infanticide.