The abolition of human sacrifice

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Who

Ancient Israelite religion and the Hebrew Bible, which repeatedly forbade child sacrifice; no single individual, but a tradition-wide teaching.

When

1st millennium BCE (biblical period)

Where

Ancient Israel / the Levant

In a world where neighbouring cultures practised child sacrifice, the Hebrew Bible repeatedly and emphatically forbade it, condemning offerings to Molech and treating human life as sacred. Many scholars read the Binding of Isaac, in which the sacrifice is halted, as dramatising this rejection, a moral stance Judaism helped pass on to later civilisations.

Sources

Part of “The Gifts of the Jews” — verified Jewish contributions to the world, with sources.