Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 7:31
And they have built the high places of Tophet, which [is] in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded [them] not, neither came it into my heart.
31. high places ] read high place. There would not be more than one altar in Topheth. So LXX and Targ.
Topheth ] This probably is not the original vocalisation (LXX ), though the latter cannot be determined with certainty. As Bosheth was a frequent substitute for Baal (see on Jer 3:24), and as the vowels of the former word were for a similar reason given to the consonants MLK ( Melech, king), in order that offerings which the more enlightened felt it shameful to connect with Israel’s Divine King ( Melech) might be represented as really made to a heathen god (M o l e ch); so here the original form of the word Topheth is thought to have been disguised for the same purpose of discredit. The etymology of the word is doubtful. Perhaps it comes from a root appearing in Aramaic in the sense of fire-place. So Rob. Sm. Rel. of the Semites, p. 377 (1894), who points out that when the term “first appears in Hebrew, the chief foreign influence was that of Damascus” (2 Kings 16). A great pit constituted the “fire-place,” where the victims were consumed. See C. B. on Isa 30:33, where the word is from the same root, though in a slightly different form. As to the position of Topheth see next note. It was defiled by Josiah (2Ki 23:10) as the scene of idolatrous and cruel rites.
valley of the son of Hinnom ] The majority of scholars identify it with the Wady er-Rubbeh, running W. and S. of Jerusalem, rather than with the Tyropoeon or the Kidron valleys. The derivation and meaning of Hinnom are unknown. Possibly it was the name of a former owner. See further on Jer 2:23. As to the position of Topheth in connexion with it, all that we can say with tolerable certainty is that it was near the junction of the three valleys which encompass Jerusalem, and below Siloam. See HDB. Hinnom, Valley of, and Topheth.
to burn, etc.] The law laid down that firstborn alike of men and of cattle were dedicated to Jehovah. The firstborn of men and of unclean animals were to be redeemed, those of clean animals to be offered in sacrifice (Exo 13:2; Exo 13:12 f., Jer 22:29, Jer 34:19 f.; cp. Num 3:46 f., Jer 18:15 f.). The fact that neighbouring nations, Arabs, Phoenicians, Moabites, actually sacrificed their firstborn, together with a misinterpretation of the above passages, may have led to a belief that Jehovah meant that this should be done, and possibly Jeremiah in Jer 8:8 refers to a written perversion of the law in this direction. See note there. According to Ezek. (Eze 20:25) the people were left by God in this belief as a judicial punishment. (Cp. for a parallel case Eze 14:9.) Ezekiel there traces the custom to wilderness days. As human sacrifices came under the category of the burnt offering, and as animals were slain before they were consumed, we may presume that the same was done in these cases. (Milton, P.L. I. 394 ff. takes the other view.)
which I, etc.] Mic 6:7 shews that in his day the question of the efficacy of such sacrifices was a practical one.
mind ] mg. heart. See on ch. Jer 5:21.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
31, 32. For a recurrence of the substance of this passage see ch. Jer 19:5 f., 11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 31. Tophet – in the valley of the son of Hinnom] Tophet was the place in that valley where the continual fires were kept up, in and through which they consecrated their children to Moloch.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
High places of Tophet; See Poole “Isa 30:33“. It comes from Toph, that signifies a drum, because they did beat drums to hinder the noise of their childrens screeches, when they burnt them in sacrifice upon the altars, called here, high places, to Moloch, which is also called Melchom.
Which is in the valley of the son on Hinnom: Tophet was situate in a pleasant valley near Jerusalem, a place in the possession of the children of one Hinnom, Jos 15:8, watered by the river of Siloe.
To burn their sons and their daughters in the fire: this most inhuman practice of burning their children, even their own bowels, to Moloch, not their sons only, but their daughters, who were most tender, the did expressly against the command and caution of God; See Poole “Deu 18:10“; having learned it of the heathen, Deu 12:30,31, the devil commanding them so to do by his oracles. They took pattern from the Samaritans where those of every nation make gods of their own, 2Ki 17:29-31.
Neither came it into my heart; which was always so far from my approving, that I never let it come into my thought or debate, whether I should or not; or which I abhorred from my heart: he speaks herein after the manner of men: see Jer 3:16; 32:35
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
31. high places of Tophetthealtars [HORSLEY] ofTophet; erected to Moloch, on the heights along the south of thevalley facing Zion.
burn . . . sons (Ps106:38).
commanded . . . notputfor, “I forbade expressly” (Deu 17:3;Deu 12:31). See on Jer2:23; Isa 30:33.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they have built the high places of Tophet,…. Where was the idol Moloch; and which place had its name, as Jarchi thinks, from the beating of drums, that the parents of the children that were burnt might not hear the cry of them: which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom; a valley near Jerusalem, and lay to the south of it,
Jos 15:8:
to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire: which was done, as Jarchi says, by putting them into the arms of the brasen image Moloch, heated hot. The account he gives of Tophet is this,
“Tophet is Moloch, which was made of brass; and they heated him from his lower parts; and his hands being stretched out, and made hot, they put the child between his hands, and it was burnt; when it vehemently cried out; but the priests beat a drum, that the father might not hear the voice of his son, and his heart might not be moved:”
but in this he is mistaken; for “Tophet” was not the name of an idol, but of a place, as is clear from this and the following verse. There is some agreement between this account of Jarchi, and that which Diodorus Siculus z gives of Saturn, to whom children were sacrificed by the Carthaginians; who had, he says, a brasen image of Saturn, which stretched out his hands, inclining to the earth; so that a child put upon them rolled down, and fell into a chasm full of fire:
which I commanded them not: not in my law, as the Targum; nor by any of the prophets, as Jarchi paraphrases it; he commanded them, as Kimchi observes, to burn their beasts, but not their sons and daughters. The instance of Abraham offering up Isaac will not justify it. The case of Jephthah’s daughter, if sacrificed, was not by divine command. The giving of seed to Moloch, and letting any pass through the fire to him, is expressly forbidden, Le 18:21:
neither came it into my heart; it was not so much as thought of by him, still less desired, and much less commanded by him. Jarchi’s note is,
“though I spoke to Abraham to slay his son, it did not enter into my heart that he should slay him, but to make known his righteousness.”
z Bibliothec. Par. 2. l. 20. p. 756.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Jeremiah in this verse also inveighs against those superstitions by which the Jews had corrupted the true and pure worship of God. He says, that they had builded high places, which was prohibited in the law. (Lev 26:30.) Now God, as it has been before said, prefers obedience to all sacrifices, (1Sa 15:22 🙂 hence the Prophet justly condemned them, that they forsook the Temple and built for themselves high places or groves, and also altars.
He then mentions one particular place, even Tophet in the valley of Hinnom The prophets, in order to render the place detestable, no doubt designated the infernal regions by תפת , Tophet, and גיא הנם, gia enom. For when Isaiah speaks, in the thirtieth chapter, of the eternal punishment of the wicked, he mentions Tophet, which is the same word as we find here. As to the valley of Hinnom, it is called in Greek Gehenna, and is taken to designate eternal death, or the torments which await all the wicked. In a similar manner the word Paradise is metaphorically taken for the blessed state and for the eternal inheritance; for God so placed man at first in that eastern garden, that he might in a manner protect him under his own wings. As then the blessing and favor of God shone on that place where Adam first dwelt, that it might be a certain image of celestial life and of true happiness, so they called the glory, prepared for all God’s children in heaven, Paradise. So also on the other hand the prophets called hell גיא הנם, gia enom, in order that the Jews might detest those impious and sacrilegious modes of worship by which their fathers had polluted themselves. And for the same reason they call hell, Tophet. The ancients also say, that it was a place in the suburbs of the city. They were not wont then to assemble afar off for the sake of these abominations, since the place was within sight of the Temple, and they knew that there was the only true altar approved by God, and that it was not lawful to offer sacrifices anywhere else. Since they knew this, and God had set such a place before their eyes, the greater was their madness, when they preferred a filthy spot in which to worship God according to their own will, or rather according to their own wantonness.
Of this so great an audacity Jeremiah now complains: They builded for themselves high places, in Tophet, even in the valley He introduces the word son; but it is called הנם גיא, gia enom, the valley of Hinnom; whence comes the word Gehenna, as we have already said.
He adds, that they might burn their sons and their daughters It was a horrible and prodigious madness for parents not to spare their own children, but to cast them into the fire; for they must have been so seized with a diabolic fury as to divest themselves of all human feelings: and yet they had a plausible reason, as they supposed; for it was a zeal worthy of all praise to prefer God to their own children. When therefore they cast their children into the fire, this kind of zeal might have deceived the simple; and to this was added a pretext derived from example, for Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his own son. But it hence appears what men will do when they are led away by an inconsiderate zeal; for from the beginning of the world the source of all superstitions has been this, — that men have devised for themselves various modes of worship, and have given themselves the liberty to seek a way of their own to pacify God.
As to the pretended example, they were so blind as not to distinguish between themselves and Abraham; for he was commanded to offer his son, (Gen 22:2😉 but they, without any command, attempted to do the same thing; this was extreme presumption. As to Abraham, he obeyed God; and he could not have been led astray, when he knew that such a sacrifice was approved by God. But when the Jews emulated his zeal, it was an extreme folly; and they were especially culpable, because they neglected God’s command and wholly disregarded it. They were, however, so far carried away by their own wantonness as to cast their own children into the fire, and under the pretense of piety: so great and so savage a cruelty prevailed among them. We hence perceive that there is no end of sinning, when men give themselves up to their own inventions; for God surrenders those to Satan, that they may be led by the spirit of giddiness and of madness and of stupidity. Let us therefore learn ever to regard what God approves: and let this be the very beginning of our inquiry, whenever we undertake anything, whether God commands it; and this course ought especially to be observed with regard to his worship; for, as it has been already stated, religion is especially founded on faith, and faith is based on the word of God: and hence it is here added —
Which I commanded them not, and which never came to my mind This reason ought to be carefully noticed, for God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, “I have not commanded them,” whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions, than that they are not commanded by God: for when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to his commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship, in which they absurdly exercise themselves, would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying his word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet’s words then are very important, when he says, that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind; as though he had said, that men assume too much wisdom, when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew. It is indeed certain, that there was nothing hid from God, even before it was done: but God here assumes the character of man, as though he had said, that what the Jews devised was unknown to him, as his own law was sufficient.
Now, as the words Tophet and Gehenna were so stigmatized by the prophets, we may hence learn how displeasing to God is every idolatry and profanation of his true and pure worship: for he compares these notorious places in which the Jews performed so sedulously their devotions, to the infernal regions. And hence at this day, when the Papists boast of what they call their devotions, we may justly say, that there are as many gates, through which they throw themselves headlong into hell, as there are modes of worship devised by them for the purpose of conciliating God. It follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(31) High places.Not the same word as in Jer. 7:29, but bamoth, as in the high places of Baal, in Num. 22:41; Num. 23:3, the Bamoth-baal of Jos. 13:17. The word had become almost technical for the mounds, natural or (as in this passage) artificial, on which altars to Jehovah or to other gods were erected, and appears in 1Sa. 9:12; 1Ki. 3:4; Eze. 20:29; Amo. 7:9.
Tophet.This appears to have been originally, not a local name, but a descriptive epithet. The word appears in Job. 17:6 (by-word in the Authorised version) as a thing spat upon and loathed. Its use is probably therefore analogous to the scorn with which the prophets substituted bosheth, the shameful thing, for Baal (e.g., Jer. 3:24; Jer. 11:13). When the prediction is repeated in Jer. 19:5; Jer. 32:35, we have the high places of Baal, and Tophet here is obviously substituted for that name in indignant contempt. The word in Isa. 30:33, though not identical in form (Tophteh, not Tophet), had probably the same meaning. Other etymologies give as the meaning of the word a garden, a place of burning, or a place of drums, i.e., a music grove, and so connect it more closely with the Molech ritual. Possibly the last was the original meaning of the name, for which, as said above, the prophets used the term of opprobrium.
The son of Hinnom.Possibly the first recorded owner, or a local hero. The name is perpetuated in later Jewish language in Ge-henna = Ge-Hinnom = the vale of Hinnom. It was older than the Molech worship with which it became identified, and appears in the Doomsday Book of Israel (Jos. 15:8; Jos. 18:16).
To burn their sons and their daughters.The words are important as determining the character of the act more vaguely described in Jer. 32:35, as making to pass through the fire. The children were, in some cases at least, actually burnt, though often, perhaps (see Eze. 16:21), slain first. Horrible as the practice seems to us, it was part of the Canaanite or Phnician worship of Molech or Malcom (Lev. 18:21; Lev. 20:2-5), and had been practised by Ahaz (2Ki. 16:3; 2Ch. 28:3) and Manasseh (2Ki. 21:6; 2Ch. 33:6).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31. High places of Tophet The word for “high places” is not the same which has been repeatedly so translated in this book, as in Jer 7:29, but rather high altars. It applies to those artificial shrines raised for Baal worship at Jerusalem. Some have thought that the word “Tophet” is to be used here not as a proper noun, but an epithet abomination. But the reasons given are not conclusive. It is better to regard it here, as elsewhere, as simply the name for a definite locality. For the genesis of the word, see the dictionaries.
Valley of the son of Hinnom The origin of this designation is not known. Probably it came from some ancient hero of whose exploits this name is the only memorial. It is first used in the book of Joshua.
To burn their sons and their daughters See Jer 19:6; Jer 32:35; Lev 18:21; Lev 20:2-5; and Eze 16:20-21. This burning was literal, though, as would appear from Ezekiel, the victims were slain before being burned. They “caused their children to pass through the fire” in order to purify them and fit them for eternal bliss.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 7:31. The high places of Tophet The valley of Hinnom, or of the son of Hinnom, was near Jerusalem, and was the scene of those horrid sacrifices which the Israelites, in imitation of their idolatrous neighbours, made of their Children to Moloch. Tophet was the particular spot in the valley where the fires were made, into which the poor innocent victims were thrown; and is supposed to have derived its name from the drums and tabrets, which were beaten in order to drown the children’s cries. The high places, bamoth, were in all probability artificial mounts, or tumuli, thrown up about the place for the purpose of performing some of the rites with which these sacrifices were accompanied; or from which the persons assembled might command a view of the dreadful spectacle.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Tophet had been a remarkable place on several occasions. It was called Tophet because it had been a place of slaughter. And it had been a charnel house, or sepulchre for burying in; and also a place of sacrifice. See Jos 15:8 ; 2Ki 23:10 ; Isa 30:33 ; Psa 78:60 . The close of the Chapter is very affecting. There can be no cause for spiritual joy where the voice of the Bridegroom is not heard in his Church. His absence makes a gloom, let the surrounding circumstances otherwise be what they may.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 7:31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which [is] in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded [them] not, neither came it into my heart.
Ver. 31. To burn their sons and their daughters. ] Haply in a sinful imitation of Abraham or Jephthah; or else after the example of the Canaanites Deu 12:31 and other heathens, who thus sacrificed to the devil, commanding them so to do by his oracles, though Hercules taught the Italians to offer unto him rather men made of wax. a
a Macrob. Saturn., lib. vii.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
high places. Idolatrous places. Not the same word as Jer 7:29.
Tophet. In the valley of the son of Hinnom (2Ki 23:10. Isa 30:33. Isa 19:6, Isa 19:11-14).
Hinnom. Now Wady er Rababeh (Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16. 2Ki 23:10. 2Ch 28:3; 2Ch 33:6. Neh 11:30).
burn. This shows the result of passing them through the fire.
which I commanded them not. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 17:3; Deu 18:10). App-92. Note the sin of adding to God’s commands and words.
them. Some codices, with one early printed edition, Septuagint, and Syriac, read this “them”in the text. Compare Jer 32:35.
came = ascended. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species), for coming into the mind.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the high: Jer 19:5, Jer 19:6, Jer 32:35, 2Ki 23:20, 2Ch 33:6
the valley: Jer 19:2, Jos 15:8, 2Ch 28:3
to burn: Deu 12:31, 2Ki 17:17, Psa 106:37, Psa 106:38, Eze 16:20
which I: Lev 18:21, Lev 20:1-5, Deu 17:3
came it into: Heb. came it upon
Reciprocal: Lev 10:1 – which Lev 20:2 – giveth Jos 18:16 – the valley of the son 2Ki 23:10 – Topheth Neh 11:30 – the valley Isa 30:33 – Tophet Isa 57:5 – slaying Jer 2:23 – valley Jer 2:34 – Also Jer 19:4 – filled Jer 19:11 – bury Eze 20:31 – ye offer Eze 23:37 – have also Mic 6:7 – shall
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 7:31. Tophet was a spot in the famous valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem, This place had been used as a disposal plant for the waste materials of the city and for that reason there were fires kept continually burning. The idolatrous worshipers were using the place for their adominable practices until Josiah defiled it in his great reformative work (2Ki 23:10). The people of Judah went so far as to use their children as sacrifices to the false gods that were represented in this valley.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
7:31 And they have built the high places of {q} Tophet, which [is] in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I {r} commanded [them] not, neither came it into my heart.
(q) Of Topheth, read 2Ki 23:10 .
(r) But commanded the opposite, as in Lev 18:21; Lev 20:3, De 18:10 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The people had also built a shrine at a site called "Topheth," in the Valley of Hinnom just south of Jerusalem. The name "Topheth" may come from the Aramaic tephath, meaning "fireplace," "oven," or "hearth." The Hebrews made a play on its name by adding the vowels of bosheth, "shame," a name for Baal, to this word. Hinnom may have been a former owner of the valley. The idol worshipped there was Molech, a fire god. [Note: See also Dyer, in The Old . . ., p. 598.] The Israelites had offered their children as human sacrifices at this shrine during the reigns of Ahaz and Manasseh (2Ki 16:3; 2Ki 21:6), something that Yahweh neither commanded nor even entertained in His thinking (cf. Lev 18:21; Lev 20:2-5; 2Ki 23:10; Mic 6:7). King Josiah had attempted to wipe out this horrible practice (2Ki 23:10), but the people revived it after he died in 609 B.C. (Eze 20:25-26). [Note: Yahweh’s test of Abraham’s faith involved obeying a command that apparently involved child sacrifice, but it did not (Genesis 22). For more information about child-sacrifice, see A. R. W. Green, The Role of Human Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East, pp. 173-87.] What the Judahites were doing in the Valley of Hinnom was not fundamentally different from some of the forms of abortion that characterize modern life.