MILCOM. The national deity of Ammon. Solomon established a sanctuary for him on the Mount of Olives, which seems to have continued till it was destroyed by Josiah ( 1Ki 11:5; 1 Kings 11:33 , 2 Kings 23:13 ). In 2 Samuel 12:30 , 1 Chronicles 20:2 , Jeremiah 49:3 , and Zephaniah 1:5 Malcam (‘their king’) is probably an incorrect vocalization of Milcom . The name is from the common Semitic root malk, melek (‘king’ or ‘prince’), probably with an Inflectional termination. The traditional identification of Milcom with Molech is based only upon 1 Kings 11:7 , a verse which is probably corrupt. See Molech.

W. M. Nesbit.