2 Kings 23:10

10 And he defiled Topheth, which [is] in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

2 Kings 23:10 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 23:10

And he defiled Topheth
A place so called, as is generally thought, from the beating of drums or timbrels in it, that the shrieks of the infants sacrificed here to Molech might not be heard by their parents, and they repent of delivering them to him, and take them away. So the Indians in India now, at the burning of wives with their deceased husbands, attend them with drums and trumpets; and at such time as the fire is put to the wood, the drums and trumpets make a terrible noise for fear their cries should be heard ^F2; (See Gill on Isaiah 30:33) (See Gill on Jeremiah 7:31) this he defiled by casting any sort of filth or unclean thing into it, in contempt of the idolatry there committed, and to alienate the minds of men from it:

which is the valley of the children of Hinnom;
a valley that belonged to the posterity of a man of this name, near to Jerusalem, see ( Joshua 15:8 ) , hence the Greek word "geenna" for hell, in the New Testament:

that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to
Molech;
which piece of idolatry used to be committed in this place.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F2 Agreement of Customs between the East Indians and Jews, art. 25. p. 85, 86.

2 Kings 23:10 In-Context

8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burnt incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba, and broke down the high places of the gates that [were] in the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which [were] on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.

9 Nevertheless, the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate of the unleavened bread among their brethren.

10 And he defiled Topheth, which [is] in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which [was] in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

12 And the altars that [were] on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and broke [them] down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.