7:31 high places. The usual name for pagan cult centers (2 Kin. 23:8, 9).

Topheth. Lit. “place of fire.” This was in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, where children were sacrificed to the foreign god Molech. Offering the firstborn child was practiced in the ancient world, but in Israel the first-born child was to be “redeemed” by substituting an animal for sacrifice (Ex. 13:2; 34:19, 20). Child sacrifice was expressly forbidden (Lev. 18:21; 20:2–5). See also 2 Kin. 23:10 and note.

Valley of the Son of Hinnom. Southwest of Jerusalem; its equivalent name in Greek is Gehenna, or “hell” (Matt. 5:22 note).