Jeremiah 7:31 (WEB)

Passage

They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I didn’t command, nor did it come into my mind.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 7:29 Cut off your hair, and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Yahweh has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

Jeremiah 7:30 “For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight,” says Yahweh. “They have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

Jeremiah 7:31 They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I didn’t command, nor did it come into my mind.

Jeremiah 7:32 Therefore behold, the days come”, says Yahweh, “that it will no more be called ‘Topheth’ or ‘The valley of the son of Hinnom’, but ‘The valley of Slaughter’; for they will bury in Topheth until there is no place to bury.

Jeremiah 7:33 The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth. No one will frighten them away.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "built", "high", "places", "topheth", "valley", "hinnom", "burn", and "sons". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "built" and "high", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "For the children of Judah have done..." into verse 32's "Therefore behold the days come says Yahweh...", so "built" and "high" belong inside that flow. In Jeremiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "built" and "high" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.