scholars, according to McClintock and Strong’s “Cyclopedia,” consider that the Greek aspalax is
the animal intended by both the words translated mole. It is not the European mole, but is a kind
of blind mole-rat, from 8 to 12 inches long, feeding on vegetables, and burrowing like a mole, but
on a larger scale. It is very common in Russia, and Hasselquiest says it is abundant on the plains
of Sharon in Palestine.—ED.)
Molech
(king). The fire-god Molech was the tutelary deity of the children of Ammon, and essentially
identical with the Moabitish Chemosh. Fire-gods appear to have been common to all the Canaanite,
Syrian and Arab tribes, who worshipped the destructive element under an outward symbol, with
the most inhuman rites. According to Jewish tradition, the image of Molech was of brass, hollow
within, and was situated without Jerusalem. “His face was (that) of a calf, and his hands stretched
forth like a man who opens his hands to receive (something) of his neighbor. And they kindled it
with fire, and the priests took the babe and put it into the hands of Molech, and the babe gave up
the ghost.” Many instances of human sacrifices are found in ancient writers, which may be compared
with the description of the Old Testament of the manner in which Molech was worshipped. Molech
was the lord and master of the Ammonites; their country was his possession, (Jeremiah 49:1) as
Moab was the heritage of Chemosh; the princes of the land were the princes of Malcham. (Jeremiah
49:3; Amos 1:15) His priests were men of rank, (Jeremiah 49:3) taking precedence of the princes.
The priests of Molech, like those of other idols, were called Chemarim. (2 Kings 23:5; Hosea 10:5;
Zephaniah 1:4)
Moli
Mahli, the son of Merari. 1 Esdr. 8:47; comp (Ezra 8:18)
Molid
(begetter), the son of Abishur by his wife Abihail, and descendant of Jerahmeel. (1 Chronicles
2:29)
Moloch
The same as Molech. Molech
Money
Uncointed money.—It is well known that ancient nations that were without a coinage weighed
the precious metals, a practice represented on the Egyptian monuments, on which gold and silver
•
are shown to have been kept in the form of rings. We have no evidence of the use of coined money
before the return from the Babylonian captivity; but silver was used for money, in quantities
determined by weight, at least as early as the time of Abraham; and its earliest mention is in the
generic sense of the price paid for a slave. (Genesis 17:13) The 1000 pieces of silver paid by
Abimelech to Abraham, (Genesis 20:16) and the 20 pieces of silver for which Joseph was sold to
the Ishmaelites, (Genesis 37:28) were probably rings such as we see on the Egyptian monuments
in the act of being weighed. In the first recorded transaction of commerce, the cave of Machpelah
is purchased by Abraham for 400 shekels of silver. The shekel weight of silver was the unit of
value through the whole age of Hebrew history, down to the Babylonian captivity.
•Coined money.—After the captivity we have the earliest mention of coined money, in allusion,
as might have been expected, to the Persian coinage, the gold daric (Authorized version dram).
(Ezra 2:69; 8:27; Nehemiah 7:70,71,72) [Daric] No native Jewish coinage appears to have existed
till Antiochus VII. Sidetes granted Simon Maccabaeus the license to coin money, B.C. 140; and
it is now generally agreed that the oldest Jewish silver coins belong to this period. They are shekels