Jeremiah 7:32

Jer 7:32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.

Ver. 32. It shall no more be called Tophet.] Unless it be quasi Mophet, i.e., Portentum.

Nor the valley of the son of Hinnom.] As it had been called from Joshua’s days. {Jos 15:8}

But the valley of slaughter.] Or, Gehaharegah; for the great slaughter that the Chaldees shall make there. Ecce congrua poena peccato, saith Oecolampadius.

For they shall bury in Tophet.] It shall become a polyandrion, or common burial place, till there be no place or room left.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jer 7:32-34. It shall be no more called Tophet, but The valley of Slaughter — King Josiah first of all defiled this place, as the text speaks, 2Ki 23:10; that is, polluted it by burying dead bodies in it, by casting filth into it, and scattering there the dust and ashes of the idols which he had broken to pieces and burned. And afterward, when great numbers died in the siege of Jerusalem, and the famine that followed upon it, it became a common burying-place of the Jews: see Jer 19:6. Whereby was fulfilled that prophecy of Eze 6:5, I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols. They shall bury in Tophet till there be no place — Till it be entirely filled, and there be no vacant place left. The Vulgate reads this clause, “They shall be buried in Tophet, because there shall be no place,” which reading Houbigant approves. “The time shall come when there shall be so great a slaughter in Jerusalem, that, the graves being insufficient to bury the dead, they shall be forced to throw them into Tophet, and leave them without interment. This prediction received its last and perfect completion in the war of Nebuchadnezzar against the Jews, and that of the Romans against the same people. Josephus informs us, that in this latter war an infinite number of dead bodies were thrown over the walls, and left in the valleys round the city; insomuch, that Titus himself, beholding this spectacle, could not help lifting up his hands to heaven, and calling God to witness that he had no part in these inhuman practices.” In chap. 19., Jeremiah “repeats the same threatenings with more latitude and force; declaring that Tophet shall become the lay-stall of Jerusalem, and that Jerusalem herself shall be reduced to the condition of Tophet; that is to say, polluted and filled with dead bodies.” And in Jer 31:40, he calls it the valley of the dead bodies. Then will I cause to cease the voice of mirth, &c. — All kinds and degrees of mirth shall cease, all places shall be filled with lamentation and wo, their singing shall be turned into sighing, and they shall lay aside all things that are for the comfort of human society. The voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride — Persons will have no encouragement to marry when they see nothing but ruin and desolation before their eyes.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

valley of slaughter--so named because of the great slaughter of the Jews about to take place at Jerusalem: a just retribution of their sin in slaying their children to Moloch in Tophet.

no place--no room, namely, to bury in, so many shall be those slain by the Chaldeans (Jer 19:11; Eze 6:5).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 32. The valley of slaughter] The place where the slaughtered thousands of this rebellious people shall be cast, in order to their being burnt, or becoming food for the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, Jer 7:33. These words are repeated, and their meaning more particularly explained, Jer 19:6-15.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Prophet denounces a punishment, though the Jews thought that they deserved a reward. The case is the same with the Papists at this day, who thoughtlessly boast, when they heap together many abominations; for they think that God is bound as it were by a law, not to overlook so much diligence. But the Prophet shews how grossly deceived they are who worship God superstitiously, without the authority of his word; for he threatens them here with the heaviest judgment, — Called no more, he says, shall it be Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom; but The valley of slaughter shall it be called; for the whole land was to be filled with slaughters.

He adds, Bury shall they there, for elsewhere there will be no place He intimates that so great would be the slaughters, that Jerusalem would not contain the dead: hence, he says, graves will be made in Tophet; and many also will be slain there. A dead body, we know, was unclean by the Law; and it was not lawful to offer sacrifices to God near graves. (Numbers 19:11, 16.) The Prophet then shows, that when the Jews foolishly consecrated that place to God, they committed a dreadful profanation, for that place was to be wholly filled with dead bodies, and polluted also by the slaughter of men. We hence see what the superstitious do when they follow their own devices — that they provoke God’s wrath; for by the grievousness of the punishment we may form a judgment as to the degree in which God abominates all false modes of worship, which men devise without the warrant of his law; for we must ever remember this principle, I commanded it not, nor hath it ever come to my mind It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(32) Till there be no place.—Better, because there is no room—i.e., for want of space the dead should be buried even in the spot which the worshippers of Molech looked on as sacred, and the worshippers of Jehovah as accursed, and which both therefore would willingly avoid using as a place of sepulture.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32. “Where they have butchered their children, they shall themselves be butchered, hence the name Valley of Slaughter will replace the older name.” Pe.

till there be no place to bury] mg. because there shall be no place else, is the clear meaning of the MT. (and LXX agrees). But, under the circumstances the scene of the slaughter would be the natural place for burial. Possibly the MT. does not give the original form of the clause. Du. omits it, but it recurs in Jer_19:11. To be left unburied was much dreaded. Cp. Deu_28:26; Isa_18:6.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,.... And they were coming on apace; a little longer, and they would be come; for it was but a few years after this ere Jerusalem was besieged and taken by the army of the Chaldeans, and the slaughter made after mentioned:

that it shall no more be called Tophet: no more be used for such barbarous and idolatrous worship; and no more have its name from such a shocking circumstance:

nor the valley of the son of Hinnom; as it had been from the times of Joshua:

but the valley of slaughter: or, "of the slain"; as the Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; because of the multitude of men that should be killed there, or brought there to be buried; as follows:

for they shall bury in Tophet till there be no place: till there be no more room to bury there; or, "because there was no place" (a) elsewhere; the number of the slain being so many: this was in righteous judgment, that where they had sacrificed their children, there they should be slain, at least buried.

(a) "quod, vel eo quod nullus (alius. sit) locus", Munster; "ideo quod non (erie) locus", Schmidt.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Place, elsewhere. (Haydock) --- This was verified when Nabuchodonosor and Titus besieged the city. (Calmet) --- The latter was quite shocked. (Josephus, Jewish Wars vi. 14.) See chap. xix., and xxxi. 40.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

It shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom: they were called so after this, and are known by those names to this day; but the meaning is, they shall acquire a name from another occasion, that shall suit them as well, viz. for the great slaughter that shall be made there, or rather thereabouts, in and about Jerusalem, and therefore called

the valley of slaughter, from the effect of slaughter; as Judas’s field was called Aceldama, Act 1:19, being a place for burying of the slain, as the next words show.

They shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place; either there shall be so great a slaughter made upon that spot by the Chaldeans, that they shall bury as many as the place will contain, and the rest of the carcasses they shall throw on heaps, to rot above ground; for to lie unburied is frequently used as a curse on such, the burying of the dead being accounted as a thing sacred, and a significant symbol of the resurrection: or those that are slain in and about Jerusalem, at the siege and taking of it, shall be carried thither to be buried, either because there shall be no burying-places left about Jerusalem, or that valley shall be filled till there be no place for more, that hereby it may be so polluted, that no thoughts of holiness may remain in it; for a dead carcass under the law was unclean; and that which before was a valley of pleasure and great delight, and they had dedicated to God, shall now be a valley of slaughter.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

32. Valley of slaughter — Where they sinned they shall die. Where they slaughtered their own children, in blasphemous and cruel idolatry, shall they be slaughtered. This slaughter shall be so fearful that the dead shall remain unburied, and the solitude and desolation shall be so perfect that not even shall the passers by scare away the vultures from the carcasses.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The valley of slaughter; with reference to the great slaughter reserved for the unbelieving Jews. The scene of their sin shall be that of their punishment. Till there be no place; rather, for want of room (elsewhere).

Ver. 32-Rom_6:23)

2. Shame. The corpses are to be unburied and exposed to the ravages of unclean animals for the Jew a fearful degradation. Sin exposed, confounded, defeated, will reflect burning shame on the sinner.

3. Anguish. "The voice of mirth," etc., will cease; men will prefer death to. (Jer_8:3)

4. A peculiar relation of penalty to offence. Tophet, the scene of horrible wickedness, shall be the spot for retributive slaughter. Where wretched men immolated their children their own dead bodies shall be cast. The sun and moon and stars which they worshipped shall look down on their bones bleaching out in the open.

III THERE ARE TIMES WHEN IT IS NECESSARY TO MAKE MEN THINK OF THE HORRORS OF RETRIBUTION. The language of Jeremiah is explicit and graphic.

1. Details of future retribution should not take the chief place in instruction. They lose their effect by too frequent repetition. By themselves they are not able to produce a better life, but may result in hardness, unbelief, and disgust. The love of God in Christ is the great power to lead to holiness.

2. Nevertheless we must not shun to declare "the whole counsel of God." Thoughts of retribution may be powerful means for rousing convictions of sin, if they are accompanied by appeals to conscience which make men feel the due proportion of guilt to punishment.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.