Yeremia 7:31

7:31 They have also built places of worship ¹  in a place called Topheth ²  in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing! ³ 

Yeremia 19:4

19:4 I will do so because these people ⁴  have rejected me and have defiled ⁵  this place. They have offered sacrifices in it to other gods which neither they nor their ancestors ⁶  nor the kings of Judah knew anything about. They have filled it with the blood of innocent children. ⁷ 

Yeremia 19:2

19:2 Go out to the part of the Hinnom Valley which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. ⁸  Announce there what I tell you. ⁹ 

Kisah Para Rasul 21:16

21:16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea ¹⁰  came along with us too, and brought us to the house ¹¹  of Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple from the earliest times, ¹²  with whom we were to stay.

Kisah Para Rasul 24:4

24:4 But so that I may not delay ¹³  you any further, I beg ¹⁴  you to hear us briefly ¹⁵  with your customary graciousness. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 106:37-38

106:37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. ¹⁷ 

106:38 They shed innocent blood –

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.

The land was polluted by bloodshed. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 57:5

57:5 you who practice ritual sex ¹⁹  under the oaks and every green tree,

who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. ²⁰ 

Yesaya 59:7

59:7 They are eager to do evil, ²¹ 

quick to shed innocent blood. ²² 

Their thoughts are sinful;

they crush and destroy. ²³ 

Yehezkiel 16:20-21

16:20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them ²⁴  as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough, 16:21 you slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. ²⁵ 

Yehezkiel 20:31

20:31 When you present your sacrifices ²⁶  – when you make your sons pass through the fire – you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Will I allow you to seek me, ²⁷  O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me! ²⁸ 

[7:31]  ¹ tn Heb “high places.”

[7:31]  sn These places of worship were essentially open air shrines often located on hills or wooded heights. They were generally connected with pagan worship and equipped with altars of sacrifice and of incense and cult objects such as wooden poles and stone pillars which were symbols of the god and/or goddess worshiped at the sight. The Israelites were commanded to tear down these Canaanite places of worship (Num 33:52) but they did not do so, often taking over the site for the worship of Yahweh but even then incorporating some of the pagan cult objects and ritual into their worship of Yahweh (1 Kgs 12:31, 32; 14:23). The prophets were especially opposed to these places and to this kind of syncretism (Hos 10:8; Amos 7:9) and to the pagan worship that was often practiced at them (Jer 7:31; 19:5; 32:35).

[7:31]  ² tn Heb “the high places of [or in] Topheth.”

[7:31]  sn The noun Topheth is generally explained as an artificial formation of a word related to the Aramaic word for “cooking stove” combined with the vowels for the word for “shame.” Hence, Jewish piety viewed it as a very shameful act, one that was contrary to the law (see Lev 18:21; 20:2-6). Child sacrifice was practiced during the reigns of the wicked kings Ahaz and Manasseh and apparently during Jeremiah’s day (cf. 2 Kgs 16:3; 21:6; Jer 32:35).

[7:31]  ³ tn Heb “It never entered my heart.” The words “to command such a thing” do not appear in the Hebrew but are added for the sake of clarity.

[19:4]  ⁴ tn The text merely has “they.” But since a reference is made later to “they” and “their ancestors,” the referent must be to the people that the leaders of the people and leaders of the priests represent.

[19:4]  ⁵ sn Heb “have made this city foreign.” The verb here is one that is built off of the noun and adjective which relate to foreign nations. Comparison may be made to Jer 2:21 where the adjective refers to the strange, wild vine as opposed to the choice vine the Lord planted and to 5:19 and 8:19 where the noun is used of worshiping foreign gods. Israel through its false worship has “denationalized” itself in its relation to God.

[19:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “fathers.”

[19:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “the blood of innocent ones.” This must be a reference to child sacrifice as explained in the next verse. Some have seen a reference to the sins of social injustice alluded to in 2 Kgs 21:16 and 24:4 but those are connected with the city itself. Hence the word children is supplied in the translation to make the referent explicit.

[19:2]  ⁸ sn The exact location of the Potsherd Gate is unknown since it is nowhere else mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. It is sometimes identified with the Dung Gate mentioned in Neh 2:13; 3:13-14; 12:31 on the basis of the Jerusalem Targum. It is probably called “Potsherd Gate” because that is where the potter threw out the broken pieces of pottery which were no longer of use to him. The Valley of Ben Hinnom has already been mentioned in 7:31-32 in connection with the illicit religious practices, including child sacrifice, which took place there. The Valley of Ben Hinnom (or sometimes Valley of Hinnom) runs along the west and south sides of Jerusalem.

[19:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “the words that I will speak to you.”

[21:16]  ¹⁰ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1.

[21:16]  map For location see Map2 C1; Map4 B3; Map5 F2; Map7 A1; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[21:16]  ¹¹ tn Grk “to Mnason…”; the words “the house of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the verb ξενισθῶμεν (xenisqwmen).

[21:16]  ¹² tn Or perhaps, “Mnason of Cyprus, one of the original disciples.” BDAG 137 s.v. ἀρχαῖος 1 has “ἀ. μαθητής a disciple of long standing (perh. original disc.) Ac 21:16.”

[24:4]  ¹³ tn Or “may not weary.” BDAG 274 s.v. ἐγκόπτω states, “ἵνα μὴ ἐπὶ πλεῖόν σε ἐγκόπτω Ac 24:4 is understood by Syr. and Armen. versions to mean in order not to weary you any further; cp. ἔγκοπος weary Diog. L. 4, 50; LXX; and ἔγκοπον ποιεῖν to weary Job 19:2; Is 43:23. But impose on is also prob.; detain NRSV.”

[24:4]  ¹⁴ tn Or “request.”

[24:4]  ¹⁵ tn This term is another NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 976 s.v. συντόμως 2). Tertullus was asking for a brief hearing, and implying to the governor that he would speak briefly and to the point.

[24:4]  ¹⁶ tn BDAG 371 s.v. ἐπιείκεια has “τῇ σῇ ἐ. with your (customary) indulgence Ac 24:4.”

[106:37]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew term שֵׁדִים (shedim, “demons”) occurs only here and in Deut 32:17. Some type of lesser deity is probably in view.

[106:38]  ¹⁸ sn Num 35:33-34 explains that bloodshed defiles a land.

[57:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “inflame yourselves”; NRSV “burn with lust.” This verse alludes to the practice of ritual sex that accompanied pagan fertility rites.

[57:5]  ²⁰ sn This apparently alludes to the practice of child sacrifice (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

[59:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “their feet run to evil.”

[59:7]  ²² tn Heb “they quickly pour out innocent blood.”

[59:7]  ²³ tn Heb “their thoughts are thoughts of sin, destruction and crushing [are] in their roadways.”

[16:20]  ²⁴ sn The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.

[16:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and you gave them, by passing them through to them.” Some believe this alludes to the pagan practice of making children pass through the fire.

[20:31]  ²⁶ tn Or “gifts.”

[20:31]  ²⁷ tn Or “Will I reveal myself to you?”

[20:31]  ²⁸ tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”