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Hinnom, Valley ofAid to Bible Understanding
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detestable practice in Topheth by defiling the place, desecrating it, thereby making it unfit for worship, possibly by scattering bones or refuse therein.—2 Ki. 23:10.
Jeremiah, who prophesied in the days of Kings Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, expressed Jehovah’s judgment for the sins of the nation, one of the foremost being the abominable sacrifice of their children to Molech. He was commanded to take some of the older men of the people and the priests out the Gate of the Potsherds (or, Gate of the Ash-heaps), located at the SE corner of Jerusalem, to the Valley of Hinnom in the area of Topheth. There he declared Jehovah’s pronouncement: “Look! there are days coming . . . when this place will be called no more Topheth and the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the killing.” Then, smashing an earthenware flask before their eyes, he continued with Jehovah’s judgment: “In the same way I shall break this people and this city . . . and in Topheth they will bury until there is no more place to bury.” (Jer. 19:1, 2, 6, 10, 11) In other words, the slaughter, not of sacrificial victims to Molech, but by the sword of God’s judgment, would be so great that some bodies would lie unburied in the valley. This would pollute it to an even greater degree than Josiah had done.
Evidently Jeremiah’s prophetic words do not mean that such sacrifices to Molech were still going on in Jeremiah’s time, so soon after Josiah’s reformation, but that Jehovah would punish the nation for their practices, past as well as present, and for the innocent blood shed by them, particularly the human sacrifices during Manasseh’s reign. The prophet, in another pronouncement, told the nation that they would be punished for what Manasseh had done. (Jer. 15:4; compare 2 Kings 23:26; Jeremiah 32:30-35.) Also, Jeremiah’s declaration at chapter 19, verse 3, is parallel to the statement at 2 Kings 21:12. In Jeremiah’s day the people certainly were carrying on with idolatries, which gave evidence that they had not repented in the least for the gross sins they shared in during Manasseh’s reign.
The gates in Jerusalem’s wall that were situated on the Valley of Hinnom were, probably, the Corner Gate at the city’s NW corner, the Valley Gate at its SW corner, and the Gate of the Potsherds (Gate of the Ash-heaps) near the point where the Valley of Hinnom joined the Tyropean and Kidron valleys. (2 Ki. 14:13; Neh. 2:13; 12:31; Jer. 19:2) Along the Valley of Hinnom between the Corner Gate and the Valley Gate the sides are so steep as to make impractical the location of other gates along this portion of Jerusalem’s wall. King Uzziah built towers by the Corner Gate and the Valley Gate, inasmuch as these would be the more vulnerable places along this part of the valley.—2 Chron. 26:9.
It was in this valley to the S of Jerusalem that Nehemiah made his night inspection tour, examining the city wall eastward from the Valley Gate to the Gate of the Ash-heaps, turning up the Kidron for a distance and then back to reenter the city by the Valley Gate. (Neh. 2:13-15) In Nehemiah’s time the Valley of Hinnom apparently marked the northern limits of the settlements of the sons of Judah (aside from those dwelling in Jerusalem). (Neh. 11:25, 30) At Jeremiah 2:23, it may be Hinnom that Jeremiah refers to in calling Judah’s attention to their idolatrous sins.
In the Christian Greek Scriptures, the Valley of Hinnom is referred to by the equivalent Greek term Geʹen·na.—Matt. 5:22; Mark 9:47; see GEHENNA.
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HippopotamusAid to Bible Understanding
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HIPPOPOTAMUS
See BEHEMOTH.
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HipsAid to Bible Understanding
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HIPS
[Heb., math·noʹyim, the (exterior) lumbar region and small of the back].
The word is generally translated “hips” or “loins,” although there is another Hebrew word that more specifically means “loins.”—See LOINS.
A belt was often worn at the hips, especially by the soldier, who slipped a sheathed sword or dagger under the belt or fastened the sword sheath to it. (2 Sam. 20:8; Neh. 4:18) The recorder wore his inkhorn at the hips, placed under his belt or sash. (Ezek. 9:2) Sackcloth was worn around the hips as a sign of mourning.—Gen. 37:34; Amos 8:10.
Before engaging in any form of vigorous physical activity a person would ‘gird up his hips,’ often by pulling the ends of his loose, flowing garment between his legs and tucking those ends under his sash. The Israelites in Egypt ate the passover with their hips girded, ready to march out of the land. Elijah was similarly prepared when he ran before Ahab’s chariot.—Ex. 12:11; 1 Ki. 18:46.
FIGURATIVE USAGE
The muscles in the area of the hips play a major part in picking up and carrying heavy loads; hence the appropriateness of the statement at Psalm 66:11, “you have put pressure on our hips.” Strengthening the hips would denote getting ready to exert power, as for a fight. (Nah. 2:1) The good wife girds her hips with strength and invigorates her arms to carry out her multitudinous activities for the well-being of the household. (Prov. 31:17) Conversely, those who have been reduced to a weakened condition by fear, distress, or defeat are said to have wobbling or shaking hips. (Ps. 69:23; Ezek. 21:6; 29:7) To ungird the hips of kings means to take away their strength.—Isa. 45:1.
Jehovah spoke of the houses of Israel and Judah as having been like a belt on his hips, so closely had he held them to himself, in order that they might become to him a praise and something beautiful. (Jer. 13:11) Jesus Christ is prophetically pictured as reigning with righteousness as the belt of his hips and faithfulness as the belt of his loins. This may refer to the fact that all the active powers of Jesus Christ adhere unchangeably to righteousness and faithfulness.—Isa. 11:1, 5.
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HirahAid to Bible Understanding
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HIRAH
(Hiʹrah) [nobility].
Judah’s Adullamite companion.—Gen. 38:1, 12.
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HiramAid to Bible Understanding
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HIRAM
(Hiʹram) [possibly meaning the same as Ahiram (Num. 26:38), brother of height; high].
In the Masoretic text alternate spellings are found in
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