Jeremiah 19:2

19:2 Go out to the part of the Hinnom Valley which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. ¹  Announce there what I tell you. ² 

Jeremiah 19:11

19:11 Tell them the Lord who rules over all says, ³  ‘I will do just as Jeremiah has done. ⁴  I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter’s vessel which is broken beyond repair. ⁵  The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.’ ⁶ 

Jeremiah 7:32-33

7:32 So, watch out!” ⁷  says the Lord. “The time will soon come when people will no longer call those places Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. But they will call that valley ⁸  the Valley of Slaughter and they will bury so many people in Topheth they will run out of room. ⁹  7:33 Then the dead bodies of these people will be left on the ground for the birds and wild animals to eat. ¹⁰  There will not be any survivors to scare them away.

Joshua 15:8

15:8 It then went up the Valley of Ben Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites on the south (that is, Jerusalem), ¹¹  going up to the top of the hill opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom to the west, which is at the end of the Valley of the Rephaites to the north.

Isaiah 30:33

30:33 For ¹²  the burial place is already prepared; ¹³ 

it has been made deep and wide for the king. ¹⁴ 

The firewood is piled high on it. ¹⁵ 

The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,

will ignite it.

¹ sn The exact location of the Potsherd Gate is unknown since it is nowhere else mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. It is sometimes identified with the Dung Gate mentioned in Neh 2:13; 3:13-14; 12:31 on the basis of the Jerusalem Targum. It is probably called “Potsherd Gate” because that is where the potter threw out the broken pieces of pottery which were no longer of use to him. The Valley of Ben Hinnom has already been mentioned in 7:31-32 in connection with the illicit religious practices, including child sacrifice, which took place there. The Valley of Ben Hinnom (or sometimes Valley of Hinnom) runs along the west and south sides of Jerusalem.

² tn Heb “the words that I will speak to you.”

³ tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies.” For this title see the study note on 2:19. The translation attempts to avoid the confusion of embedding quotes within quotes by reducing this one to an indirect quote.

⁴ tn The adverb “Thus” or “Like this” normally points back to something previously mentioned. See, e.g., Exod 29:35; Num 11:15; 15:11; Deut 25:9.

⁵ tn Heb “Like this I will break this people and this city, just as one breaks the vessel of a potter which is not able to be repaired.”

⁶ sn See Jer 7:22-23 for parallels.

⁷ tn Heb “Therefore, behold!”

⁸ tn Heb “it will no longer be said ‘Topheth’ or ‘the Valley of Ben Hinnom’ but ‘the valley of slaughter.’

⁹ tn Heb “And they will bury in Topheth so there is not room.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.”

¹¹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹² tn Or “indeed.”

¹³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for arranged from before [or “yesterday”] is [?].” The meaning of תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh), which occurs only here, is unknown. The translation above (as with most English versions) assumes an emendation to תֹּפֶת (tofet, “Topheth”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) and places the final hey (ה) on the beginning of the next word as an interrogative particle. Topheth was a place near Jerusalem used as a burial ground (see Jer 7:32; 19:11).

¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Also it is made ready for the king, one makes it deep and wide.” If one takes the final hey (ה) on תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh) and prefixes it to גָּם (gam) as an interrogative particle (see the preceding note), one can translate, “Is it also made ready for the king?” In this case the question is rhetorical and expects an emphatic affirmative answer, “Of course it is!”

¹⁵ tn Heb “its pile of wood, fire and wood one makes abundant.”