They
have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I didn’t command, nor did it come into my mind. Therefore behold, the days come”, says Yahweh, “that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter; for they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury.
Jeremiah 7:31-32
Jeremiah 7 [27.] “You shall speak all these words to them; but they will not listen to you: you shall also call to them; but they will not answer you. You shall tell them, ‘This is the nation that has not listened to Yahweh their God’s voice, nor received instruction. Truth has perished, and is cut off from their mouth.’ Cut off your hair, and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Yahweh has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
Jeremiah 7 [30.] “For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight,” says Yahweh. “They have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it. They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I didn’t command, nor did it come into my mind. Therefore behold, the days come”, says Yahweh, “that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter; for they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury. The dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth; and no one shall frighten them away. Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall become a waste.”
Jeremiah 8 [1.] “At that time,” says Yahweh, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves; and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the army of the sky, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung on the surface of the earth. Death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says Yahweh of Armies.
Meaning:
Jeremiah preached in Jerusalem in the last decades before the Babylonians destroyed the city. In chapter 7 he stands at the gate of the temple and exposes the people’s false security. They trusted in the temple while worshipping other gods and committing terrible sins. These verses describe the worst of those sins and announce God’s judgement on the place where it happened. That place, the valley of Hinnom, later gave its name to Gehenna, the word Jesus used for final judgement (Mark 9:43-48).
- “The high places of Topheth … in the valley of the son of Hinnom”
The valley of the son of Hinnom (in Hebrew Ge Hinnom) is a deep ravine along the south and west sides of Jerusalem. Topheth was a site of worship in the valley, probably meaning “fireplace” or “hearth.” “High places” were open-air altars, often dedicated to foreign gods. This one stood within sight of the city and its temple.
- “To burn their sons and their daughters in the fire”
The people of Judah were sacrificing their own children by fire, copying the pagan worship of the nations around them. It is hard to imagine a more horrifying sin. God’s answer is emphatic: “which I didn’t command, nor did it come into my mind.” Such practices were the opposite of everything God had asked of his people. What he had commanded was simple: “Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Jeremiah 7:23).
- “The valley of Slaughter”
God announces that the valley’s name will change. It will no longer be Topheth or the valley of Hinnom, but “The valley of Slaughter,” because so many will die in the coming judgement that the dead will be buried there until there is no room left. The place of cruel sacrifice would become a place of judgement. By Jesus’ day, Ge Hinnom, in Greek “Gehenna,” had become the name for the place of final punishment, linked with Isaiah’s image of the worm that does not die and the fire that is not quenched (Isaiah 66:24).
The Significance of Jeremiah 7:31-32
- The seriousness of sin
These verses show how far people can fall when they turn from God, and how seriously God judges evil, especially evil done to the vulnerable. Jesus used the name of this valley to warn his followers to deal radically with sin in their own lives.
- God’s heart for children
God was outraged by the sacrifice of children. In contrast, Jesus took a little child in his arms and said, “Whoever receives one such little child in my name, receives me” (Mark 9:36-37). God’s people are called to protect and welcome children, never to sacrifice them to the idols of any age.
Cross-References:
Mark 9:47: "It is better for you to enter into God’s Kingdom with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire," Jesus used the name of the valley of Hinnom for final judgement.
Isaiah 66:24: "for their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind." Isaiah’s picture of judgement became linked with Gehenna.
Jeremiah 7:23: "Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you." What God had truly commanded his people.
Mark 9:37: "Whoever receives one such little child in my name, receives me," Jesus’ welcome of children stands in contrast to the sins of Topheth.
Conclusion: In the valley of the son of Hinnom, at Topheth, the people of Judah built altars to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, something God had never commanded or even imagined. God declared that the valley would become “The valley of Slaughter,” a place of judgement and burial. Its name, Ge Hinnom, became Gehenna, the word Jesus used for final punishment. The passage shows the horror of sin and the seriousness of God’s judgement, and it calls God’s people to listen to his voice and to cherish the children he loves.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible