Bible Strands
Jeremiah 19:6
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to the people of Judah and Jerusalem at the moment he commands the prophet to stand in the Valley of Ben-hinnom near the Potsherd Gate.
The words — The text highlights הִנֵּֽה־ (hi.neh-), meaning "behold" or "here," and יִקָּרֵא (yi.ka.Re'), meaning "it will be called."
The thread — The Valley of Ben-hinnom appears as a southern boundary marker in Joshua 15:8 and as a site of child sacrifice in Jeremiah 19:5. Isaiah 30:33 describes Topheth as a prepared funeral pyre, while Jeremiah 19:2 directs the prophet to this same location to deliver the message.
Why it lands — The passage states that a location defined by idolatrous sacrifice will be renamed the Valley of Slaughter when the days arrive. It requires the reader to acknowledge that God's declared future will overwrite existing religious geography and practice.
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
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
Cross-references
- Joshua 15:8 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.
- Isaiah 30:33 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.
- Jeremiah 19:2 and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you,
- Jeremiah 7:32 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.
- Jeremiah 19:11 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 potter’s jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.