And upon them that worship the host of heaven upon
the
house tops
The sun, moon, and stars, which some worshipped upon their house
tops; the roofs of their houses being flat, as the roofs of the
houses of the Jews generally were; from hence they had a full
view of the host of heaven, and worshipped them openly; and
fancied, the nearer they were to them, the more acceptable was
their service; see ( Jeremiah
19:13 ) : and them that worship, [and] that swear the
Lord, and that swear by
Malcham;
that is, that worship the true God, or at least pretend to do so,
and swear by him when they take an oath: or, "that swear to the
Lord"; as the words F14 may be rendered; that swear
allegiance to him, to be true and faithful to him, to serve and
obey him, and to keep his statutes and ordinances; and yet they
swear by Malcham also, or Milchom, or Melchom, the same with
Molech, or Moloch, the god of the Ammonites. These were such as
partly worshipped God, and partly idols; they divided their
religion and devotion between them, sometimes served the one, and
sometimes the other; they halted between two opinions, and were a
sort of occasional conformists; and such were as detestable to
God as those that worshipped idols; as the Papists are, who
pretend to worship God and their images, or God in them, and with
them; and so all such persons that seek for justification and
salvation, partly by their own works, and partly by Christ, are
displeasing to the Lord, and miss of the thing; stumbling at the
stumbling stone, and so fall and perish.