Jeremiah 19:6

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. THIS PLACE SHALL NO MORE HE CALLED TOPHET - from the Hebrew top (H8596), a drum; because in sacrificing children to Moloch drums were beaten to drown their cries. Thus the name indicated the joy of the people at the fancied propitiation of the god by this sacrifice; in antithesis to its joyless name subsequently. VALLEY OF SLAUGHTER - it should be the scene of slaughter, no longer of children, but of men; not of "innocents" (Jeremiah 19:4), but of those who richly deserved their fate. The city could not be assailed without first occupying the valley of Hinnom, in which was the onl...

We saw in the last Lecture that the Prophet was sent by God’s bidding to the house of the potter, that he might there take an earthen bottle, carry it to Topher, and there explain the judgment of God, which was nigh at hand on account of his worship being violated. And he shewed why the Jews deserved reproof, even because they made incense to Baal, built groves and high places for themselves, and committed their sons and daughters to the fire: they were not only profane towards God, but also cruel towards innocent souls. Now, lest they pretended an excuse, he also added, that such a thing never came to God’s mind; and this is worthy of notice, because God by this one expression fulminates against all those inventions with which men delight themselves. As then there is no command, it follows that whatever is thus attempted is frivolous and useless. He now denounces punishment, _The days a...

1-9 The prophet must give notice of ruin coming upon Judah and Jerusalem. Both rulers and ruled must attend to it. That place which holiness made the joy of the whole earth, sin made the reproach and shame of the whole earth. There is no fleeing from God's justice, but by fleeing to his mercy....

EXPOSITION With this chapter, Jeremiah 19:1 of the next ought undoubtedly to be connected to complete the narrative. Jeremiah here comes before us performing another symbolical action. By breaking a potter's vessel he foreshows the ruin impending over Jerusalem for the idolatry practiced in the valley of Hinnom. Not (remarks Graf) as if the worship of Moloch had been restored after the death of Josiah; verse 13, in fact, sufficiently shows that the Tophet had, ever since Josiah's time, continued to be an unclean place, and the sins which are here rebuked are the unexpiated abominations of Manasseh's reign (described in Jeremiah 15:4, as the immediate causes of the Captivity). Jeremiah's prophecy on the Tophet is followed by one on the fate of a certain Pashur, a high officer in the temp

THEREFORE, BEHOLD, THE DAYS COME, SAITH THE LORD,.... Or, "are coming" o; a little while and it will come to pass, what follows; to which a "behold" is prefixed, as calling for attention and admiration, as well as to assure of the certain performance of it: THAT THIS PLACE SHALL NO MORE BE CALLED TOPHET: as it had been, from the beating of drums in it, that the cries and shrieks of infants burnt in the fire might not be heard by their parents: NOR THE VALLEY OF THE SON OF HINNOM; which was its name in the times of Joshua, and long before it was called Tophet; but now it should have neither names: BUT THE VALLEY OF SLAUGHTER; or, "of the slain", as the Targum; from the multitude of those that should be killed here, at the siege and taking of Jerusalem; or that should be brought hither to be buried; see Jeremiah 19:11

CHAPTER 19 The Broken Bottle _ 1. The broken bottle and the message (Jeremiah 19:1) _ 2. The fate announced in the court of the Lord's house (Jeremiah 19:14) Jeremiah 19:1. He was to get a potter's earthen bottle accompanied by elders and priests, and go to the valley of the son of Hinnom. There he should proclaim the words Jehovah would breathe into him. The message is another judgment message and needs no further comment. In Tophet, the valley of Hinnom, they had worked their abominations, burnt their sons with fire. Now it should become the valley of slaughter, so that their carcasses should be eaten by the fowls and wild beasts. He would cause them to eat the flesh of their

JEREMIAH 19:1 TO JEREMIAH 20:6. THE EARTHENWARE FLASK; JEREMIAH IN THE STOCKS. This section seems to be editorially grouped with the last because of the further reference to pottery; the original prophecy may have been expanded in Jeremiah 19:3 by a later writer. It seems more natural to date these incidents after the Temple-sermon (Jeremiah 19:7) rather than before it; in either case, in the early years of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah is to take representatives of Judah to the Valley of Hinnom (Jeremiah 7:31), by the gate of potsherds (_mg.; i.e._ wh

TOPHET... HINNOM. Compare Jeremiah 7:31. THE VALLEY OF SLAUGHTER. Compare Jeremiah 7:32....

These _vv_. are probably an editorial insertion, for (_a_) the message which God was to give the prophet in the valley of Ben-Hinnom (Jeremiah 19:2) is here given him (Jeremiah 19:3 ff.) before he goes there, (_b_) the subject-matter of the passage is drawn to a large extent from other portions of the Book, specially from the last part of ch. 7, (_c_) as Gi. has pointed out, the style of the LXX rendering differs from that employed elsewhere; so that the Greek was probably added by a later hand, the original translator not having the passage in his copy, (_d_) the use of the plural "kings" (Jeremiah 19:3 and also in J

III. THE BROKEN VESSEL Jeremiah 19:1 to Jeremiah 20:6 In the parable of the potter and his clay the point was the possibility of remaking a vessel which has not met with approval; in chapter 19 the emphasis is on the destruction of a vessel which proves useless. Jeremiah first gathers the elders of the people and takes them to the edge of the valley of Hinnom and preaches to them (Jeremiah 19:1-9). He dramatically illustrated his message by smashing a clay vessel before them (Jeremiah 19:10-13). Returning to the Temple Jeremiah attempted to deliver the same message but was arrested ...