Chap.r7. An Expedition upon the Book ofJ OB. Verf.6. 455 word I fay ) gives demonfiratiQn to a place very famous or infamous rather in the Scripture of the Old Tefiament : A part ofgoodyofiab his Reformation is thus defcribed, 2 Kings 23. 10. Andhe defiled( in the opinion of Idol. worshippers, though indeed the purefi worship ufed there, was more filthy then any filth which Jofrah threw into it. He, faith the Text defiled) Tophet which is the Valley of the Children ofHinnon, that no manmake his Sons and Daughters paf: through the fire to Molech. The Prophet Jeremiah complained of, and threat - ned that place, Chap. 7.3 t, 32. They have built the high places ofTophet which is in the Valley of the Sonof Hinnon, to burn theirSons and Daughters in thefire, &c. Now, the reafon why that place was called Tophet, from the word in the Text, arofe thus, becaufe when the Jews in thofe abominable Idolatries offered their own Children , the fruit of their bodies, in facrifice to Moloch , the reputed God of the Moabites and Ammonites, whowas fo called from Ma. lac, fignifying to Rule or Reign ( for as all Idols would Rule as Kings, fo this was a chief, a -King Idol ; hence Come con- ceive Moloch to be the fame with Baal, which is alío a name offupremacy, fignifying Lord, or Mailer) This Moloch was an hollow Immageof Brafs, into which they put much fire, having the face ofa Bullock, and hands fpread abroad like a Man : He had (even Chappels, and whofoever offered his Son to him, entered into the feventh ; which when any did, they °fed to beat upon Drums and Tabrets, that the Ihreeks and Bararhrum cries of the poor Child might not be heard by the Father : quodfuppticit Hence the place was called Tophet, from Toph, a Drum, which brut eras olud comes from a Radical word fignifying to beat, or firike with Athernenfes, the hand, becaufe Drums are artificially beaten, and we ordir pro inferno u narily fay, Beat the Drum, or At the beat o f a rum, D furparurg do Uri.Lin .. g And hence this place Tophet, where thole Children were Lat. Superfiitioufly tormented by fire and, burnt to Allies, grew to AnomineGe. a proverb ; fo that any place of extream-;Torment was cal- hìnnon,i led Tophet : As hell is called Barathrum , becaufe Barathrum rnfere Hinman, rnrnus diffu was a place fo called among the Athenians, into which they efl Gehenna. cart notorious malefaetors. Hence allohell is called Gehenna, Hicron.inao. from the Valley of the Son ofHinnon, where thofe ChildrenCapMat were facrifced, or fromGe, fignifying a Valley, and Nabam, K'1"14 (q roaring or crying ; So that it was called Gehicanon, from the rig,`' gélvliütr. cry
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=