Bible Strands
Jeremiah 31:40
The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah speaks this oracle to the reunited houses of Israel and Judah during a prophecy of national restoration. The speaker declares that a formerly defiled perimeter will be permanently consecrated to Yahweh.
The words — פְּגָרִים (pe.gā.rîm) translates literally to "corpses," and דֶּשֶׁן (de.shen) means "fatty ash." These terms name the valley's prior ritual impurity before the text states its future consecration.
The thread — The declaration mirrors the measuring line motif of Jeremiah 31:39 and aligns with Joel 3:17's promise that Zion will remain holy forever. It also references the geographic boundary near 2 Kings 11:16 at the Horse Gate.
Why it lands — The text states that a place of death and ash will become permanently holy and never be uprooted or demolished. It requires the reader to accept that divine sanctification permanently overrides prior defilement without requiring further ritual action.
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
And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 15:23 Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness.
- Joel 3:17 Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners.
- 2 Kings 11:16 So they seized Athaliah as she reached the horses’ entrance to the palace grounds, and there she was put to death.
- 2 Chronicles 23:15 So they seized Athaliah as she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate on the palace grounds, and there they put her to death.
- John 18:1 After Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where they entered a garden.
- 2 Kings 23:6 He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
- 2 Kings 23:12 He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD. The king pulverized them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.
- Nehemiah 3:28 Above the Horse Gate, each of the priests made repairs in front of his own house.
- Zechariah 14:20 On that day, HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the house of the LORD will be like the sprinkling bowls before the altar.
- Isaiah 51:22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.