The valley was used as a burial place for criminals and for burning garbage. This is what happened in the Valley of Hinnom, which Jesus used as a type of the fire into which the wicked will be thrown. In ancient times, children were sacrificed to the pagan god Moloch in Gehenna. In Mark 9:43, where Jesus is supposed to have said, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. 1 This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy a clay jar. Eventually, part of Gei Ben Hinnom became a dump, with constant day and night burning of trash fires emitting a sulfurous stench. One section of the valley was called Tophet, or the fire-stove, where the children were slaughtered. Earl L. Henn (1934-1997) Basic Doctrines: The Fate of the Wicked And just like all garbage dumps, there were worms. 3 Say to them, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! The reason they didn't die out was because there was a constant supply of refuge being fed them. Is it a matter df geographical proximity? The valley of Gehenna was not only filled with garbage, refuse, and sewage, but also with dead bodies that people were trying to dispose of (due to crime, sickness, poverty, or shame). Recently it was in the area of biblical geography. I don’t think that was a coincidence. 2 Go out through the Gate of Broken Pots to the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and give them this message. It’s likely, imo, that some of Hinnom Valley was used as a trash dump along with other sites surrounding Jerusalem. 1 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a clay jar. Then ask some of the leaders of the people and of the priests to follow you. Gehenna (geena) is literally translated as "Valley of Ben Hinnon", which was a garbage dump located directly outside of Jerusalem. Under the collection contract, effective February 1, 2017, there are many available services. Jeremiah 19 This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy a clay jar. A continual fire was kept burning to dispose of the refuse deposited there. There is it — Gehenna seen from a … Among them: - Single-Stream Recycling Cart - 25 Excess Waste Stickers The Valley of Hinnom, Jerusalem. Thanks peshovski for the texture. It became a rejected part of the city that was converted to a burning pit to dump the city’s garbage. So is the garbage dump in the valley of Hinnom's son what Jesus was talking about when he reffered to, “Hell, the unquenchable fire”. Read verse in New Living Translation Jeremiah 19:6 So beware, for the time is coming, says the LORD, when this garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. The term comes from an association with the Valley of Hinnom -- but not the one usually repeated. Gehenna, or the valley of Hinnom, is an actual valley in the city of Jerusalem. Topheth and the Valley of Ben Hinnom were used as a garbage dump, and a place where the bodies of executed criminals were disposed of. What, then, is the connection between the eschato-logical Gehenna (valley of Hinnom) and the eternal fiery Gehenna beneath? Gehenna is a real place. 7:31,32; 19:2,6; 32:35. It has also been claimed that the valley of Hinnom became a garbage dump where people burnt their rubbish. Jeremiah’s Shattered Jar. The Valley of Hinnom is called “Topheth” in 2 Kings 23:10—King Josiah ceremonially defiled it in order to abolish the child sacrifices there. I have long wanted to do a little work to debunk the endlessly repeated myth that the Hinnom Valley (Gehenna) was a perpetually burning trash dump. Later this valley became the garbage dump of the city, where fires were kept burning contunuously. Tombs in the Hinnom Valley To the south of the ancient city of Jerusalem a valley curved to the west that was first identified in Scripture as “the valley of the Son of Hinnom” (Josh. 7:30-33). It then became necessary to burn their garbage in order to break it down and keep it from overflowing. The valley of Hinnom has a rather unpleasant history. Hinnom became a symbol of removing the bad. Never once is it translated as "hell" in the Old Testament. Valley Waste Service is proud to serve Beaver, Lawrence, and Allegheny counties, as well as Robinson, Stowe, Kennedy, Moon, Bridgeville and parts of southeast Ohio. After the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile, the valley became a garbage dump where anything considered unclean was placed. Once the residents of Jerusalem stopped throwing their garbage into that valley, the fire burned out. The NET translators point out, This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. The Valley of Kidron The Valley of Kidron was on the Eastern side of Jerusalem and connected with the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) on the south side. As you've pointed out, Gehenna (γέεννα) is just a transliteration of the Hebrew for "Valley of Hinnom" (גֵּי הִנֹּם) and the Aramaic for the same (גֵיהִנָּם / ܓܗܢܐ). One area in this valley was named Topheth (meaning altar). Until a few weeks ago it never dawned on me that the site of the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus -- Golgotha -- was right across the valley (the Kidron Valley), within eyesight of -- Gehenna -- Jerusalem’s garbage dump. After their return from the Babylonian exile, the people of Judah turned the Hinnom Valley into the city dump where garbage and anything deemed unclean was incinerated. 15:8; 18:16; 2 Kgs. They are used to get rid of the garbage that we don’t want because they will waste our useful space of living and working when the garbage is in other areas. The Greek Gehenna is a transliteration of the Hebrew phrase Ge-hinnom which, in a handful of variations throughout the OT, functions primarily as a toponym or “place-name.”2See Josh. Thus says the LORD: “Go and get a potter’s earthen flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. And thus the Valley of Hinnom became the city dump. And large trash dumps are regularly burnt and certainly have no shortage of flies and maggots (worms that do not die). There is no evidence that the valley was, in fact, a garbage dump, and thus his explanation is insuffi cient. T This point, however, is heavily disputed. From the reign of Josiah onward, it was used as a garbage dump where the fires burned the refuse continuously. Every city, even town, needs a place to discard their waste. Jeremiah 19:11 Go out through the Gate of Broken Pots to the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and give them this message. The common explanation is that the Valley of Hinnom (which is on the southern edge of the old city of Jerusalem) served as the city garbage dump, and that there was a perpetual fire there to burn garbage. Today with the belief by some that hell existing today is a place of fire and torment. There simply is no evidence to support the idea, but because it seems a reasonable explanation for the origin of the Hinnom Valley as “hell,” writers and preachers accept and propagate the story. In Jerusalem, in the Valley of Hinnom, there is a large trash dump referred to in the Book of Matthew as “ Gehenna ”. 28:3; 33:6; Neh. 15:8; 18:16). Arguably so, Dead animals and bodies of executed criminals would be put there along with all trash. The "ravine of hinnom" (Gehenna) was the city garbage dump in Jerusalem where the garbage was burned. 2 Go out through the Gate of Broken Pots to the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and give them this message. It was a sanitation dump because the city of Jerusalem was above the valley and the filth was allowed to flow into the valley. In the days of Jesus, the valley was used as the city dump. Gehenna (Hebrew:גהינום) is the Jewish equivalant to the conservative Christian's understanding of "Hell". And today we also have garbage dumps. When Jesus used it in the NT, it NEVER meant an afterlife punishment. Go out through the Gate of Broken Pots to the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and give them this message. This would also help to quench the smell of the rot. It was truly a contemptible, hellish place. Then ask some of the leaders of the people and of the priests to follow you. binic periods. God then told Jeremiah to take a clay bottle (earthen flask) to use for a spiritual illustration before some of the elders of the people and some … Go and get a potter’s earthen flask: In the previous chapter God taught Jeremiah at the potter’s house. For that purpose, a fire was kept constantly burning there. 3 Say to them, ‘Listen to this message from the LORD, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! It is a reference to the valley just outside of Jerusalem “variously designated in the Hebrew text as the valley ‘of the sons of Hinnom (2 Kings 23:10), ‘of the son of Hin… Among other things, some believe that child sacrifice was carried out in this valley. Jesus used it as an illustration of the final judgment of the wicked. Even the bodies of dead animals and unburied criminals were brought here. And go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I will tell you,” a. This place existed at the time Jesus spoke these very words. Josiah’s obedient act of polluting the Valley of Hinnom eventually became a custom for the people of Jerusalem. The Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) then was held in such detestation that it was made into a garbage dump where the fire burned the refuse continuously. Even though the word "Gehenna" comes from the Valley of Hinnom, simply rendering it as "garbage dump" or "valley of waste disposal" or "burning garbage" could not be an accurate translations, because that's not what Jesus and … Our courteous and knowledgeable personnel are just a phone call away. 23:10; 2 Chr. I love it when I discover truth, not realized before. Then ask some of the leaders of the people and of the priests to follow you. By the time of Jesus, the valley of Hinnom had become a garbage dump for Jerusalem with fires burning constantly to consume the garbage. 11:30; Jer. It is first mentioned as a landmark setting the boundaries of the territories of Judah and Benjamin. In Israel's past, it was used as a place of child sacrifice. In New Testament times, it was a trash dump where Jerusalem’s garbage was deposited and burned. It is clear: Gehenna is hell, not a trash dump. Waste Management is pleased to provide garbage and recycling collection to the residents of Washoe County. By Jesus’ time, the Valley of Hinnom was a full fledged garbage dump with its wretched rotting aromas, howls of scavenging wild animals, and smoldering and perpetual fires. In Hebrew, the Valley of Hinnom was "Ge Hinnom" which transliterated into Greek became "Gehenna." Whether the Hinnom Valley was used in Roman times as a trash dump with smoking embers – and thus a literal suggestion by Jesus – remains elusive. The valley was later declared to be 'the valley of slaughter' by Jeremiah (Jer.