the inexorable, all demanding God. Moloch, or Molech, was the god of the Ammonites, who burnt their children in his honour (Lev. xviii. 21 and 2 Kings xiii 10).
Milton in Paradise Lost, says that Moloch was worshipped in Rabba, Argob and Basan.
David took the crown from the head of the idol (2 Sam. xiii. 30) and Solomon built a high place for him (I Kings xi. 7).
The name is continually applied to any fiercely destructive person or state, such as personal tyrants, war, mob rule, the guillotine, etc.
from Word Origins: The Romance of Language by Cecil Hunt
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