Jeremiah 7:31

High places. The Hebrew word used here, bamoth, is different from that translated “high places” in v. 29, and refers to established places for idolatrous worship (see 1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 17:9; Eze. 16:16).

Tophet. A place in the Valley of Hinnom where children were sacrificed to Molech (2 Kings 23:10) and to Baal (Jer. 19:5, 6). The derivation of “Tophet” is uncertain. Some consider the word to be derived from the Heb. tuph, meaning “to spit,” or “spew out,” and regard it as a term of abomination or abhorrence. Tophet may have been an opprobrious title for this center of idolatry, as bosheth, “shame,” was for Baal (see on Judges 6:32; 2 Sam. 2:8). However, others believe that Tophet is derived from toph, a “hand drum” (see Vol. III, pp. 30, 31), and assert that the name was given to this place because of the custom of using drums to drown the cries of the children being sacrificed. In his Paradise Lost (bk. I, ll. 391–396) Milton alludes to such a practice:

“First, Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood

Of human sacrifice, and parents’ tears;

Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud

Their children’s cries unheard, that passed through fire

To his grim idol.”

Hinnom. A valley south and west of Jerusalem now called Wâdī er–Rabâbeh. Anciently it was probably a deep and narrow ravine with steep, rocky sides, but the erosion of the centuries has made the depression less pronounced. During the period of the kings of Judah the valley became identified with the worship of Molech. Solomon was the first to introduce this abominable rite (see 1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13). Molech worship (see on Lev. 18:21) became particularly prominent in the days of Ahaz and Manasseh (see 2 Chron. 28:3; 33:6). To put an end to these abominations Josiah “defiled” the valley (2 Kings 23:10, 14), making it, according to tradition, the receptacle of carcasses and filth. The book of Enoch (27:1) refers to the place as “the accursed valley.” The Greek name gehenna in the NT is a transliteration of the Heb. ge Hinnom, the name of this valley.

Burn their sons. The sacrificing of children formed part of the idolatrous worship of the Phoenicians, Moabites, Ammonites, and others. This horrid practice was taken over by Ahaz (see on 2 Kings 16:3) and Manasseh (see on 2 Kings 21:6). Diodorus Siculus (xx. 14) describes such a sacrifice to “Cronus of Tyre” (footnote: Baal or Moloch) as it took place in his day in Carthage, a Phoenician colony. The bronze statue of the god had the form of a human figure with outstretched arms extending toward the ground. The child sacrificed, when placed on the arms, rolled down into a pit filled with fire. Diodorus is unclear as to whether the child was burned alive or was first slain, as usually with a burnt offering (see Jer. 19:5; Eze. 16:20, 21). Plutarch (On Superstition 13), describing such rites, says the child’s throat was cut. The mothers, standing by, were forbidden to weep; flutes and drums drowned the sounds of lament. It is possible that in the time of Jeremiah the children were first slain. Such sacrifices, the psalmist declared, were offered “unto devils” (Ps. 106:37, 38).

Commanded them not. See chs. 19:5; 32:35. Not only had God not commanded these rites, He had strictly forbidden such practices under the severest penalties (see Lev. 18:21; 20:1–5; Deut. 12:31; 18:9, 10).