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31 They have also built places of worship[a] in a place called Topheth[b] in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing![c]

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 7:31 tn Heb “high places.”sn These places of worship were essentially open-air shrines often located on hills or wooded heights. They were generally connected with pagan worship and equipped with altars of sacrifice and of incense and cult objects such as wooden poles and stone pillars that were symbols of the god and/or goddess worshiped at the sight. The Israelites were commanded to tear down these Canaanite places of worship (Num 33:52), but they did not do so, often taking over the site for the worship of Yahweh but even then incorporating some of the pagan cult objects and ritual into their worship of Yahweh (1 Kgs 12:31, 32; 14:23). The prophets were especially opposed to these places, both to this kind of syncretism (Hos 10:8; Amos 7:9) and to the pagan worship that was often practiced at them (Jer 7:31; 19:5; 32:35).
  2. Jeremiah 7:31 tn Heb “the high places of [or in] Topheth.”sn The noun Topheth is generally explained as an artificial formation of a word related to the Aramaic word for “cooking stove” combined with the vowels for the word for “shame.” Hence, Jewish piety viewed it as a very shameful act, one that was contrary to the law (see Lev 18:21; 20:2-6). Child sacrifice was practiced during the reigns of the wicked kings Ahaz and Manasseh and apparently during Jeremiah’s day (cf. 2 Kgs 16:3; 21:6; Jer 32:35).
  3. Jeremiah 7:31 tn Heb “It never entered my heart.” The words “to command such a thing” do not appear in the Hebrew but are added for the sake of clarity.

Go out to the part of the Hinnom Valley that is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate.[a] Announce there what I tell you.[b] Say, ‘Listen to the Lord’s message, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,[c] the God of Israel, has said, “Look here! I am about to bring a disaster on this place[d] that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it ring.[e] I will do so because these people[f] have rejected me and have defiled[g] this place. They have offered sacrifices in it to other gods that neither they nor their ancestors[h] nor the kings of Judah knew anything about. They have filled it with the blood of innocent children.[i] They have built places here[j] for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices[k] are something I never commanded them to make. They are something I never told them to do! Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind. So I, the Lord, say:[l] “The time will soon come that people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Hinnom Valley. But they will call this valley[m] the Valley of Slaughter!

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 19:2 sn The exact location of the Potsherd Gate is unknown since it is named nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. It is sometimes identified, on the basis of the Jerusalem Targum, with the Dung Gate mentioned in Neh 2:13; 3:13-14; and 12:31. It is probably called “Potsherd Gate” because that is where the potter threw out the broken pieces of pottery that were no longer of use to him. The Valley of Ben Hinnom has already been noted in 7:31-32 in connection with the illicit religious practices, including child sacrifice, that took place there. The Valley of Ben Hinnom (or sometimes Valley of Hinnom) runs along the west and south sides of Jerusalem.
  2. Jeremiah 19:2 tn Heb “the words that I will speak to you.”
  3. Jeremiah 19:3 sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this title.
  4. Jeremiah 19:3 sn Careful comparison of the use of this term throughout this passage and comparison with 7:31-33, which is parallel to several verses in this passage, will show that the reference is to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which will become a Valley of Slaughter (see v. 6 and 7:32).
  5. Jeremiah 19:3 tn Heb “which everyone who hears it [or about it] his ears will ring.” This is proverbial for a tremendous disaster. See 1 Sam 3:11 and 2 Kgs 21:12 for similar prophecies.
  6. Jeremiah 19:4 tn The text merely has “they.” But since a reference is made later to “they” and “their ancestors,” the referent must be to the people that the leaders of the people and leaders of the priests represent.
  7. Jeremiah 19:4 sn Heb “have made this city foreign.” The verb here is one that is built off of the noun and adjective, which relate to foreign nations. Comparison may be made to Jer 2:21, where the adjective refers to the strange, wild vine as opposed to the choice vine the Lord planted, and to 5:19 and 8:19, where the noun is used of worshiping foreign gods. Israel through its false worship has “denationalized” itself in its relation to God.
  8. Jeremiah 19:4 tn Heb “fathers.”
  9. Jeremiah 19:4 tn Heb “the blood of innocent ones.” This must be a reference to child sacrifice as explained in the next verse. Some have seen a reference to the sins of social injustice alluded to in 2 Kgs 21:16 and 24:4, but those are connected with the city itself. Hence the word children is supplied in the translation to make the referent explicit.
  10. Jeremiah 19:5 tn The word “here” is not in the text. However, it is implicit from the rest of the context. It is supplied in the translation for clarity.
  11. Jeremiah 19:5 tn The words “such sacrifices” are not in the text. The text merely says, “to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command.” The command obviously refers not to the qualification “to Baal” but to burning the children in the fire as burnt offerings. The words are supplied in the translation to avoid a possible confusion that the reference is to sacrifices to Baal. Likewise the words should not be translated so literally that they leave the impression that God never said anything about sacrificing their children to other gods. The fact is he did. See Lev 18:21; Deut 12:30; 18:10.
  12. Jeremiah 19:6 tn This phrase (Heb “Oracle of the Lord”) has been handled this way on several occasions when it occurs within first person addresses where the Lord is the speaker. See, e.g., 16:16; 17:24; 18:6.
  13. Jeremiah 19:6 tn Heb “it will no longer be called to this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom but the Valley of Slaughter.”sn See Jer 7:31-32 for an almost word-for-word repetition of vv. 5-6.