2 Kings 23:10 - Exposition

And he defiled Topheth. "To-pheth" or "Tophet" was the name given to the place in the valley of Hinnom where the sacrifices were offered to Moloch. The root of the word is thought by some to be taph ( תַּף ), "a drum," because the cries of the children burnt there were drowned by the beating of drums. Others suggest as the root, tuph ( תּוּף ), "to spit," because the place was "spat at" by the orthodox. But Gesenius and Bottcher derive it from an Aryan root, taph , or tap , "to burn," whence Greek θάπτειν τέφρα , Latin tepidus , Mod. Persian taftan , Sanskrit tap , etc; and regard the meaning as simply "the place of burning" (see the comment on Isaiah 30:33 ). Which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom. The valley of Hinnom, or of the sons of Hinnom, is generally allowed to be that which sweeps round the more western of the two hills whereon Jerusalem was built, in a direction at first south and then east, uniting itself with the Kidron valley a little to the south of Ophel. The origin of the name is uncertain; but it is most likely that the Beni-Hinnom were a tribe of Canaanites, settled on this side of Jerusalem in the time of Joshua ( Joshua 15:8 ). The "valley" is a ravine, deep and narrow, with steep, rocky sides. When the Moloch-worship first began in it we cannot say; but it was probably before the time of Solomon, who built a high place for Moloch ( 1 Kings 11:11 ), on one of the heights by which the valley is enclosed. (On the horrible profanations of the Moloch-worship, see Jeremiah 7:31 , Jeremiah 7:32 ; Jeremiah 19:4-13 ; Jeremiah 32:35 .) After the Captivity, the valley of Hinnom—Ge-Hinnom—was reckoned an accursed and abominable place, a sort of earthly counterpart of the place of final punishment, which. thence derived its name of "Geheuna" ( γέεννα ); (see Matthew 5:22 , Matthew 5:29 , etc.). That no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Moloch (see the comment on 2 Kings 16:3 ).