7:30–8:3 This message decreed death for the people of Judah. It was finally fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem (586 BC). 7:30-34 The valley of Ben-Hinnom began on the west side of Jerusalem and continued around the south side. This narrow, steep-sided valley opened into the Kidron Valley and was the city’s combined garbage dump and graveyard. The bodies of the poor who were murdered or died of disease were dumped there, and child sacrifice (a practice totally abhorrent to the Lord; see 2 Chr 28:3; 33:6) was performed there. The valley was also known as Topheth (2 Kgs 23:10; Isa 30:33), perhaps referring to the ritual drums (Hebrew top) or to the sacrificial fires (tap) that were used there. In the New Testament it is called Gehenna, and Jesus compared hell to the fire that burned continuously in that valley (see study note on Matt 5:29). Before long, it would be known as the Valley of Slaughter, because the siege and destruction of Jerusalem (588–586 BC) would fill the valley to overflowing with the bodies of the slain.