Wikipedia
In the Hebrew Bible, Chemosh (; from ), was the god of the Moabites (Num. 21:29; Jer. 48:7, 13, 46). The etymology of "Chemosh" is unknown; it is speculated to be related to the name of the Babylonian deity Shamash. He is also known from Ebla as Kamish.
Chemosh was the national deity of the Moabites whose name most likely meant "destroyer," "subduer," or "fish god." While he is most readily associated with the Moabites, according to Judges 11:24 he seems to have been the national deity of the Ammonites as well.
According to the Hebrew Bible, the worship of this god, "the abomination of Moab," was introduced at Jerusalem by Solomon (1 Kings 11:7), but was abolished by Josiah (2 Kings 23:13). (Note: The Talmud quoted by Rashi says that his wives built the temples and he is considered responsible for not stopping them.) On the Moabite stone, Mesha (2 Kings 3:5) ascribed his victories over the king of Israel to this god, "And Chemosh drove him before my sight."
According to Morris Jastrow, Jr. and George Aaron Barton in the Jewish Encyclopedia,
The name of the father of Mesha, Chemosh-melek ("Chemosh is Malik" or "Chemosh is king"; compare Moabite Stone, line 1), indicates the possibility that Chemosh and Malik (or Moloch) were one and the same deity. Book of Judges xi. 24 has been thought by some to be a proof of this, since it speaks of Chemosh as the god of the Ammonites, while Moloch is elsewhere their god (compare 1 Kings xi. 7, 33). Solomon is said to have built a sanctuary to Chemosh on the Mount of Olives (I Kings xi. 7, 33), which was maintained till the reform of Josiah (II Kings xxiii. 13). This movement by Solomon was no doubt to some extent a political one, but it made the worship of Chemosh a part of the religious life of Israel for nearly 400 years.
According to I Kings xi. 7, evidence is given that Chemosh and Moloch were perhaps two manifestations of the same god, at least to the peoples who worshiped them. Solomon had "high places" built for both gods at the same time and in the same location, "on the mountain which is East of Jerusalem." Both Chemosh and Molech may have had the same origins but if so, by Solomon's time they had been denominated into differing objects for different peoples, Chemosh for the Moabites and Moloch for the Ammonites. According to Genesis xix. 30-38, both the people of Moab and Ammon were descended from the two sons of Lot (themselves half-brothers by his two daughters), Moab and Ben-ammi.
- Redirect List of Dragonlance deities#Chemosh
Chemosh refers to more than one thing:
- For the biblical God of the Moabites, see Chemosh
- For the Dragonlance God, see Chemosh (Dragonlance)