Jeremiah 7:32, commentary and pictures

Tophet lies within the valley of the son of Hinnom outside and to the south of Jerusalem, whose Greek name is Gehenna, translated hell, where Judah built high places and burned sons and daughters to Moloch and Molech, and for those abominations God renames it no more Tophet nor the valley of the son of Hinnom but the valley of slaughter, where they shall bury in Tophet till there be no place, with vast slaughter and carcasses left as meat for birds and beasts with none to drive them away. In its setting it denounces idolatry and shows outward temple worship is of no avail while the people remain ungodly in stubborn willfulness, which will soon be punished by Babylon coming as a swift avenger. That same valley later became a dumping ground for refuse and for the bodies of animals and executed criminals and malefactors, where worms consumed what was cast there and fires were kept burning to consume the remains and prevent disease. Its history as a place of judgment, crime and retribution explains Gehenna's name and its symbolism of utter destruction, meaning a place of punishment by slaughter, burning and death where the dead are destroyed and annihilated, not a place where the wicked are now being punished or will be kept alive in perpetual torments, for slaughter means killing, not preserving alive. Its worms consuming dead bodies and its fires consuming what remained are figures and agents of complete destruction that cannot be stopped before they finish their work, yet the fire eventually goes out, and Jesus used that image to illustrate God's final destruction of the wicked at the close of the millennium, making Gehenna a type and name for the future punishment and complete destruction of wickedness.

History and Impending Judgment

Tophet is the valley of the son of Hinnom, with Tophet lying within that valley outside Jerusalem and to the south of the city. Its Greek name is Gehenna, translated hell. That valley was the site of terrible idolatrous crime, where Judah built the high places of Tophet and practiced horrible rites. There sons and daughters were offered and burned in the fire to Moloch or Molech.

The valley later became a dumping ground for refuse and for the bodies of animals, executed criminals and malefactors. Worms consumed what was cast there, and fires were kept burning to consume the remains and prevent disease. Its worms and fires consumed corrupt and vile things cast into it. Because of those abominations God renames the place no more Tophet nor the valley of the son of Hinnom but the valley of slaughter.

Burial in Tophet will continue till there is no place, with vast slaughter and death and no room left. So many will be buried that no room remains, making it a place of extensive destruction and mass death and burial. Carcasses are left as meat for birds and beasts with none to drive them away. In its setting the verse denounces idolatry in the abominations of Topheth and shows outward temple worship is of no avail while the people remain ungodly. Their stubborn willfulness will soon be punished by Babylon coming as a swift avenger, turning Topheth and the valley of the son of Hinnom into that place of mass slaughter and burial.

Symbol of Final Destruction

The valley outside and to the south of Jerusalem where horrible rites and worship of Moloch and Molech were practiced was foretold to become a place of slaughter and burial till no room remained, and its Greek name Gehenna, translated hell, carries that history of judgment, crime and retribution as its explanation and its symbolism of utter destruction. Tophet lies within that valley of the son of Hinnom, and Tophet and the valley were to be no more called by those names but called the valley of slaughter because of the abominations and child sacrifice committed there. Its later use for refuse and dead bodies, for burning refuse and corpses, connects its idolatrous past with its use as an image of utter destruction.

Gehenna is therefore a place of punishment by slaughter, burning and death where the dead are destroyed and annihilated, pictured by mass death and burial and by carcasses left as meat for birds and beasts with none to drive them away. It is not a place where the wicked are now being punished, and never will be a place where they are kept alive in perpetual torments or kept alive forever. Slaughter means killing, not preserving alive, so to say the wicked will live there forever in torment charges God with naming it wrongly.

Its worms consuming dead bodies and its fires consuming what was cast there, including corrupt and vile things, refuse, animals and malefactors, are figures and agents of complete destruction, not immortal souls or a fire that burns forever. They cannot be stopped before they finish their work, but the fire eventually goes out after the remains are consumed, leaving the dead exposed to birds. Jesus used that image to illustrate God's final destruction of the wicked, making Gehenna a type and name for the future punishment and complete destruction of wickedness. That complete destruction will occur at the close of the millennium.

Tophet is also a brink of destruction where respectable people walk unaware with their children. No family is safe by good blood, beautiful home, loving care, or past freedom from drunkards, because indifference to the drink evil leaves mother and child exposed to sudden ruin when life's griefs and losses come and the saloon takes hold.