Deuteronomio 12:31

31 No harás así á Jehová tu Dios; porque todo lo que Jehová aborrece, hicieron ellos á sus dioses; pues aun á sus hijos é hijas quemaban en el fuego á sus dioses.

Deuteronomio 12:31 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 12:31

Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God
Not serve and worship him after the manner of the Gentiles, nor introduce their rites and customs into his service, used by them in the worship of their gods:

for every abomination which he hateth have they done unto their gods;
as murder, adultery which God has expressed his aversion to, and indignation at; one instance of the former sort is given here:

for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to
their gods;
not only men have they sacrificed to them, but such near relations; and not only caused them to pass through the fire, but burnt them in it; so the Carthaginians are said to do, who learned this inhuman practice from the Phoenicians; they were a colony of the inhabitants of this land of Canaan. Of the Phoenicians Porphyry says {i}, that in great calamities, as war or pestilence, they sacrificed to Saturn some one of those that were dearest to them, appointed by suffrage. The Phoenician history, adds he, is full of such sacrifices, which Sanchoniatho wrote in the Phoenician language; and Curtius says {k}, this custom of sacrificing a fine boy to Saturn was received by the Carthaginians from their founders (the Tyrians and Phoenicians), and which they continued even to the destruction of their city.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 De Abstinentia, l. 2. sect. 56.
F11 Hist. l. 4. c. 3.

Deuteronomio 12:31 In-Context

29 Cuando hubiere devastado delante de ti Jehová tu Dios las naciones á donde tú vas para poseerlas, y las heredares, y habitares en su tierra,

30 Guárdate que no tropieces en pos de ellas, después que fueren destruídas delante de ti: no preguntes acerca de sus dioses, diciendo: De la manera que servían aquellas gentes á sus dioses, así haré yo también.

31 No harás así á Jehová tu Dios; porque todo lo que Jehová aborrece, hicieron ellos á sus dioses; pues aun á sus hijos é hijas quemaban en el fuego á sus dioses.

32 Cuidaréis de hacer todo lo que yo os mando: no añadirás á ello, ni quitarás de ello.