Tophet
Summary
Tophet was a site in the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem where children were sacrificed to Molech, later desecrated by Josiah and used as a refuse dump.
☩Site of Idolatrous Worship
Tophet was located in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom (Gehenna) south of Jerusalem. Here Israelites practiced the abominable worship of Molech, burning their sons and daughters in the fire—something the Lord declared He never commanded nor even entered His mind. Jeremiah prophesied that Tophet would become a place of burial due to the multitude of dead in coming judgment.
☩Josiah's Reform
King Josiah defiled Tophet as part of his religious reforms, making it unfit for worship. The site became associated with burning refuse and the corpses of criminals, contributing to Gehenna becoming a symbol of final judgment and destruction in later Jewish and New Testament teaching.
