Jeremiah 32:35 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 32:35
And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
a gorge (from its lofty sides · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
son
בֶןven-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · proper noun, a place name
Hinnom
הִנֹּ֗םhi.Nom
H2011
Hinnom · proper noun, a place name
sons
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jeremiah 7:31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fi…
Leviticus 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
2 Chronicles 33:6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and u…
Leviticus 20:2-5 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that…
Jeremiah 19:5-6 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake i…
1 Kings 16:19 For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make…
2 Kings 23:10 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…
2 Chronicles 28:2-3 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 32:26–end
We have here God's answer to Jeremiah's prayer, designed to quiet his mind and make him easy; and it is a full discovery of the purposes of God's wrath against the present generation and the purposes of his grace concerning the future generations. Jeremiah knew not how to sing both of mercy and judgment, but God here teaches to sing unto him of both. When we know not how to reconcile one word of God with another we may yet be sure that both are true, both are pure, both shall be made good, and not one iota or tittle of either shall fall to the ground. When Jeremiah was ordered to buy the field in Anathoth he was willing to hope that God was about to revoke the sentence of his wrath and to or…
cause . . . pass through . . . fire--By way of purification, they passed through with bare feet (Lev 18:21).
Molech--meaning "king"; the same as Milcom (Kg1 11:33).
I commanded . . . not--This cuts off from the superstitious the plea of a good intention. All "will-worship" exposes to God's wrath (Col 2:18, Col 2:23).
John Gill on Jeremiah 32:35
And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom,.... Or "the high places of that Baal (k), which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom"; to distinguish him from other Baalim; and who seems to be the same with Molech after mentioned; and the signification of their names agree; the one is lord or master; the other king:
to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech: the phrase, "through the fire", is not in the text; but is well enough supplied from other places, where it is. Some think that their infants were not burnt to death with fire, but only were held over the flame by way of lustration; or were made to pass between tw…
Jeremiah 32:35
35. And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
35. Et adificarunt excelsa ipsi Baal, qui erat in valle filii Hinnom (vel, quae erant) ad trajiciendum filios suos et filias suas ipsi Moloch lmlk idolo) quod non mandavi ipsis, et non ascendit in cor meum, ad faciendum abominationem hanc, ut peccaret Jehudah (vel, ut peccare facerent Jehudah)
After having complained of the profanation of his own Temple, God now says that the Jews had sinned…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 35.) And they built high places (or altars) to Baal, which are in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, to burn their sons and daughters as offerings to the idol Moloch. The word 'initiate' is written in Hebrew as 'Ebir', which Aquila and Symmachus translated as 'offer'. The Seventy and Theodotion interpreted it as 'sacrifice'. We have already spoken more fully about the valley of the sons of Hinnom, which in Hebrew is called Ge-Hinnom, that it lies below the fountains of Siloam and has its own charm, because it is a watered place, which has led the people (some manuscripts add 'of Israel') to indulge in luxury, following the worship of idols. It should also be noted that altars and high places are called Bamoth in Hebrew, because there are doubts among those who read the books of Samuel and Kings about the meaning of this word. Moloch is the idol of the Ammonites, which is turned into a king. The divine Scripture signifies that the people not only served the idol Baal, but also Moloch and all the other demons in that place. Which I did not command them, neither did it come into my heart that they should do this abomination, and lead Judah into sin. Specifically, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin worshipped the idols of Baal and Molech in the temple (3 Kings 12). It is clear that the golden calves in Bethel and Dan, as well as the ten tribes known as Samaria, Joseph and Ephraim, also indulged in this (Alt. wanted). So much evil was done by the people that God testifies He never even considered or thought of the things they did. But all these things are humanly. And now because of these things, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to this city, of which you say, 'It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.' As those who hope for aid and trust in the strength of the walls, it is prophesied that Jerusalem will be overthrown and the people will soon be captured, and will perish by the sword, famine, and pestilence before captivity. So to those who despair and expect no salvation after the destruction of the city, He promises His aid, so that both confidence and pride may merit just judgment, and despair and humility may merit God's aid.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Idolatry · .Human sacrifices — .Human sacrifices
Molech · Children sacrificed to — Children sacrificed to
Tophet · Jewish children passed through the fire to the god Molech in — Jewish children passed through the fire to the god Molech in
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
בְּנֵיהֶ֣םbe.nei.Hem
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
daughters
בְּנוֹתֵיהֶם֮be.no.tei.Hem
H1323
a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
pass
לְ֠הַעֲבִירLe.ha.'a.vir
H5674
to cross over · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
Molech
לַמֹּלֶךְ֒la.mo.leKh
H4432
Molek (i.e. king) · preposition with the article + proper noun, a title
commanded
צִוִּיתִ֗יםtzi.vi.Tim
H6680
(intensively) to constitute · verb, piel perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
came
עָֽלְתָה֙'al.Tah
H5927
to ascend · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
mind
לִבִּ֔יli.Bi
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
do
לַעֲשׂ֖וֹתla.'a.Sot
H6213
to do or make · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
abomination
הַתּוֹעֵבָ֣הha.to.'e.Vah
H8441
properly · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
The answer of the Lord. - Behold, I am Jahveh, the God of all flesh; is there anything impossible to me? Jer 32:28. Therefore, thus saith Jahveh: Behold, I give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon, that he may take it. Jer 32:29. The Chaldeans that fight against this city shall come, and shall set fire to this city, and burn it and the houses on whose roofs you have burned incense to Baal and poured out libations to other gods, to provoke me. Jer 32:30. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only what is evil in mine eyes from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me with the work of t…
The people had sinned by defiling God’s own Temple with abominable idols (Ezek 8:3). The leaders of Judah were also known to sacrifice their own children to an Ammonite deity named Molech (cp. Jer 7:30-34).
Rashi on Jeremiah 32:33
I taught them lit., and teaching them. This is a participle, (apprenant in French).
