Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks through Jeremiah to the people of Judah at the Valley of Ben-hinnom, immediately following the condemnation of their temple defilement in Jeremiah 7:30. The oracle addresses a specific cultic site where the community has actively relocated its idolatrous practices.
The words — The verb וּ/בָנ֞וּ (u./va.Nu) translates literally as "and they have built," emphasizing human agency in constructing the high places. The term הַ/תֹּ֗פֶת (ha./To.fet) names the specific altar complex where the burning of children took place.
The thread — The prohibition against child sacrifice appears in Leviticus 18:21, while the historical reality of the practice is recorded in 2 Kings 17:17. King Josiah later desecrated this exact location to halt the ritual, as documented in 2 Kings 23:10.
Why it lands — The text explicitly attributes the construction of Topheth to the people, stating the act was never commanded nor considered by God. It requires the reader to separate human religious innovation from divine instruction and to reject any justification for actions explicitly denied by God.
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 they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 23:10 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Leviticus 20:1 Then the LORD said to Moses,
- 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.
- 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.
- Psalms 106:37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
- 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.
- 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?