Topheth, located in the Valley of Hinnom (also called the Valley of Slaughter or Baca Valley) south of Jerusalem, was a site of pagan child sacrifice that was defiled by King Josiah (2Ki.23.10; Jer.7.31-32; 19:2, 6, 11-14; 32:35; Isa.30.33).
Also known as Tophet · Tophetteh · burning-place · Hinnom Valley · Valley of Hinnom · Valley of the Son of Hinnom · Valley of Slaughter · Baca Valley · Valley of Baca · Valley of Baka
Topheth was a place located in the Valley of Hinnom (also known as the Valley of Slaughter or Baca Valley), south of Jerusalem, where pagan child sacrifices were performed (2Ki.23.10; Jer.7.31-32; 19:2, 6, 11-14; 32:35; Isa.30.33). The name "Topheth" is believed to derive from the Hebrew word for "fireplace" or "hearth," indicating its association with burning. The Valley of Hinnom was used as a burial ground (Jer.19.11) and a place of idolatrous worship, where people burned their children as offerings to the Canaanite god Molech (2Ch.28.3; 33:6). King Josiah defiled Topheth to put an end to these practices (2Ki.23.10). The valley became a symbol of divine judgment and a metaphor for hell (Isa.30.33). In the New Testament, the Greek word "Gehenna," derived from "Valley of Hinnom," is used to refer to the place of eternal punishment (Matt 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mrk.9.43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; Jas.3.6).
Approximate location: 31.769, 35.228 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
and once To’phet (place of burning), was in the southeast extremity of the “valley of the son of Hinnom,” (Jeremiah 7:31) which is “by the entry of the east gate.” (Jeremiah 19:2) The locality of Hinnom is to have been elsewhere. [Hinnom] It seems also to have been part of the king’s gardens, and watered by Siloam, perhaps a little to the south of the present Birket el-Hamra . The name Tophet occurs only in the Old Testament. (2 Kings 23:10; Isaiah 30:33; Jeremiah 7:31,32; 19:6,11,12,13,14) The New does not refer to it, nor the Apocrypha. Tophet has been variously translated. The most natural meaning seems that suggested by the occurrence of the word in two consecutive verses, in one of which it is a tabret and in the other Tophet. (Isaiah 30:32,37) The Hebrew words are nearly identical; and Tophet war probably the king’s “music-grove” or garden, denoting originally nothing evil or hateful. Certainly there is no proof that it took its name from the beaten to drown the cries of the burning victims that passed through the fire to Molech. Afterward it was defiled by idols and polluted by the sacrifices of Baal and the fires of Molech. Then it became the place of abomination, the very gate or pit of hell. The pious kings defiled it and threw down its altars and high places, pouring into it all the filth of the city, till it became the “abhorrence” of Jerusalem.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
17 verses in 7 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H8612
From there the border went up the Valley of Ben-hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem) and ascended to the top of the hill that faces the Valley of Hinnom on the west, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.
Then it went down to the foot of the hill that faces the Valley of Hinnom at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim and ran down the Valley of Hinnom toward the southern slope of the Jebusites and downward to En-rogel.
He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.
Moreover, Ahaz burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages; in Lachish and its fields; and in Azekah and its villages. So they settled from Beersheba all the way to the Valley of Hinnom.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; even the autumn rain covers it with pools.
For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.
They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.
So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.
and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you,
So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.
and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potterʼs jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.
This is what I will do to this place and to its residents, declares the LORD. I will make this city like Topheth.
The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like that place, Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the host of heaven and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”
Then Jeremiah returned from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the courtyard of the house of the LORD and proclaimed to all the people,
They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered My mind, that they should commit such an abomination and cause Judah to sin.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.