(Malʹcam) [Their King].

1. A Benjamite and a son of Shaharaim by his wife Hodesh.​—1Ch 8:1, 8, 9.

2. The principal idol god of the Ammonites. (2Sa 12:30; 1Ch 20:1, 2; Jer 49:1, 3) Possibly the same as Milcom, Molech, and Moloch. (1Ki 11:5, 7; Ac 7:43) The name Malcam in the Masoretic text differs from Milcom, “the disgusting thing of the Ammonites,” only in the vowel pointing of the Hebrew. (1Ki 11:5) Contrary to the instruction given at Joshua 23:7, the Jews began making sworn oaths by Malcam. (Zep 1:5) It must be determined from context when the Hebrew should be rendered as the name of the god and when as “their king.”​—Am 1:15; see MOLECH.