Psalms 106:37

My Notes

What Does Psalms 106:37 Mean?

This verse records one of the most horrifying details in Israel's history of apostasy. Psalm 106 is a confession psalm — a long, unflinching review of Israel's failures from Egypt through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Verse 37 describes the ultimate depth of their spiritual degradation.

"They sacrificed their sons and their daughters" — the Hebrew zavach (sacrificed) is the same word used for legitimate sacrificial worship. The horror is in the corruption of sacred vocabulary — the word for offering to God is now used for offering children to demons. What should have been devoted to Yahweh was given to His enemies.

"Unto devils" — the Hebrew shedim (devils, demons) appears only here and in Deuteronomy 32:17. The word likely derives from Akkadian shedu, referring to protective spirits in Mesopotamian religion. The psalmist is not granting these entities divine status; he's categorizing what Israel actually worshipped when they thought they were worshipping gods. They weren't worshipping rivals to Yahweh. They were worshipping demons.

The practice described is child sacrifice, historically associated with the worship of Molech (Leviticus 18:21, 20:2-5) and attested in the Hinnom Valley outside Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:10, Jeremiah 7:31). Archaeological evidence from Carthage and other Phoenician sites confirms the practice in the broader Canaanite cultural world. Israel didn't invent this horror; they adopted it from the nations they were supposed to displace.

Verses 38-39 complete the picture: innocent blood polluted the land, and the people "were defiled with their own works." The psalmist traces a clear trajectory: idolatry began with spiritual unfaithfulness (v. 34-36) and ended with the literal destruction of their own children. The progression is a warning: false worship doesn't stay abstract. It eventually demands the sacrifice of what you love most.

Reflection Questions

• 1.The psalm traces a progression: cultural mixing, adopting practices, serving idols, sacrificing children. Where do you see the early stages of that progression in your own life or culture?
• 2.Whatever you worship eventually demands your most precious thing. What is currently demanding more from you than it deserves — more time, more energy, more of your family?
• 3.The Israelites didn't recognize they were worshipping demons; they thought these were gods. What might you be giving devotion to that isn't what it appears?
• 4.This verse sits inside a confession psalm. What does honest corporate confession look like for your community or generation? What would you name?

Devotional

This is the verse in the Bible that makes you stop reading.

They sacrificed their children. Their sons and daughters — not strangers, not enemies, their own kids — offered to demons they had mistaken for gods. And the psalmist records it with devastating matter-of-factness, as the logical endpoint of a spiritual decline that started much earlier with smaller compromises.

It's tempting to read this as ancient barbarism that has no modern parallel. But the psalm isn't just recording history. It's tracing a pattern: first they mixed with the nations (v. 35), then they adopted their practices (v. 35), then they served their idols (v. 36), then they sacrificed their children (v. 37). The progression wasn't sudden. Each step made the next one thinkable.

The principle underneath this horror is uncomfortably universal: whatever you worship will eventually demand your most precious thing. Idols always escalate. What starts as a harmless compromise — just a little accommodation, just a small concession to the culture — eventually asks for more than you planned to give. And by the time you realize the cost, you've already been giving pieces of yourself (and the people you love) away for a long time.

You probably aren't burning offerings in the Hinnom Valley. But the question this verse presses is still live: what are you sacrificing your children to? Your marriage to? Your health to? Your peace to? Not in dramatic, ritualistic ways — but in the daily, incremental giving of your best things to pursuits and pressures that don't deserve them. The idols look different now. The pattern hasn't changed.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture