Bible Strands
Jeremiah 19:5
They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I never commanded or mentioned, nor did it even enter My mind.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks through Jeremiah to Judah’s officials and inhabitants during a prophetic sign-act in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. The declaration is delivered immediately before announcing the impending transformation of that locale into a place of slaughter.
The words — The Hebrew וּבָנ֞וּ (u./va.Nu) means "and they have built," coupled with בָּמ֣וֹת (ba.Mot) for "high places" and לִ/שְׂרֹ֧ף (li/s.Rof) for "to burn." These terms explicitly denote the construction of idolatrous altars for the ritual immolation of children.
The thread — The same location and practice appear in Jeremiah 32:35, which confirms the high places were erected in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. The prohibition against this act runs through Leviticus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 12:31, where it is classified as an abomination forbidden to Israel.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that the worshippers acted entirely on their own initiative, not by divine command. It demands a clear distinction between human religious invention and God’s actual instructions, leaving the described violence unsoftened.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 32:35 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.
- Deuteronomy 12:31 You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
- Leviticus 18:21 You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
- Psalms 106:37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
- Jeremiah 7:31 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.
- Ezekiel 16:20 You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?
- 2 Kings 17:17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Numbers 22:41 The next morning, Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could see the outskirts of the camp of the people.
- 2 Chronicles 28:3 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.
- Ezekiel 20:26 And I pronounced them unclean through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn in the fire—so that I might devastate them, in order that they would know that I am the LORD.