offered him: In cases of great extremity, it was customary in various heathen nations, to offer human sacrifices, and even their own children. This was frequent among the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Scythians, Gauls, Africans, and others; and was the natural fruit of a religious system, which had for the objects of its worship cruel and merciless divinities. The king of Moab, in this case, sacrificed his son to obtain the favour of Chemosh his god, who, being a devil, delighted in blood and murder, and the destruction of mankind. The dearer anything was to them, the more acceptable those idolaters thought the sacrifice, and therefore burnt their children in the fire to their honour. Genesis 22:2, Genesis 22:13; Deuteronomy 12:31; Judges 11:31, Judges 11:39; Psalms 106:37-38; Ezekiel 16:20; Micah 6:7
they departed: 1 Samuel 14:36-46; 1 Kings 20:13, 1 Kings 20:28, 1 Kings 20:43