Nor can we wonder that the place itself should have been called Tophet, i.e., abomination, detestation (from toph, to vomit with loathing).” (Jer. We cannot wonder, then, at the severe terms in which the worship of Moloch is everywhere denounced in the Scriptures.

It was hollow within and, being heated by fire, children were laid in its arms and were literally roasted alive. If we may credit the Rabbins, the head of the idol was like that of an ox while the rest of the body resembled that of a man. To this idol children were offered in sacrifice (2 Kings 23:10 Ezek. Here, in ancient times, and under some of the idolatrous kings, the worship of Moloch, the horrid idol-god of the Ammonites, was practised. The valley of Hinnom is a part of the pleasant wadi or valley which bound Jerusalem on the south (Josh. Says Campbell: “The word Gehenna is derived, as all agree, from the Hebrew words ge hinnom which in diverse forms e.g., Chaldee Gehennom, Arabic Gahannam, Greek Gehenna. Its origin and the first references to it in the Old Testament, are correctly stated by eminent critics and exegetes. An examination of the Bible use of the term will show us that the popular view is obtained by injecting the word with current pagan superstition. It is the malakoff of orthodoxy.īut no such force resides in this word, nor is there a scintilla of evidence that it ever was imagined to carry such an idea until many years after Christ. This place is the last ditch of those who are struggling to establish the fact of the endless supremacy of sin and sorrow. While nearly all “orthodox” authorities of eminence concede that sheol and Hades do not denote a place of torment in the future world, most of those who accept the doctrine of endless torment claim that Gehenna does convey that meaning. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into Hell (Gehenna).” (Matt. “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into Hell (Gehenna). “But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: Fear him which, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into Hell (Gehenna) yea, I say unto you, fear him.” (Luke 12:5) “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell (Gehenna).” (Matt.

Gehenna where death lives explained