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Hinnom Valley....
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The Hinnom Valley is a deep, narrow ravine located in
Jerusalem, running south from the
Jaffa Gate on the west side of the
Old City, then eastward along the south side
of Mount Zion until it meets the
Kidron Valley which separates the
Temple Mount from the
Mount of Olives on the east side of the city. It is named from a
certain "son of Hinnom" who apparently owned or had some significant
association with the valley at a time prior to Joshua 15:8.
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The Valley of Hinnom had a very horrendous history in
ancient times. It was used as a place where the pagan worshipers did all
sorts of vile and wicked things - including burning children alive as
sacrifices to the idols Moloch and Baal. One section
of the valley was called Tophet, or the "fire-stove," where the children
were slaughtered (2 Kings 23:10). It was a place of tremendous evil for many
years. |
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After their return from the
Babylonian exile, the Jews turned the Hinnom Valley into the city dump
where garbage and anything deemed unclean (including the bodies of executed
criminals) was incinerated. For that purpose, a fire was kept constantly
burning there. Even though it was no longer used for evil worship, with all
the filth and thick smoke it remained a very dark and dreary place. |
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The Hebrew name Hinnom when
translated into Greek is gehenna, from which the
word and concept of hell originated. By the time of
Jesus Christ, the deep, constantly-burning Valley of Hinnom
was also
known as the Valley of Gehenna, or Hell, and had taken on a popular image
as the place "down there" where the wicked would eventually be cast into
the flames for destruction. |
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