Gehennom

GEHENNOM, or Valley of Hinnom, c 2 Kings viii. 4, 5, 6.or Gehenna, or Valley of the son of Hinnom¹. This was a Valley adjacent to Jerusalem, through which the southern limits of the Tribe of Benjamin passed.

Euse- Eusebius says, it lay eastward of Jerusalem, at the foot of its walls. But it is certain, that it extended itself likewise towards the south, along the brook Kidron. It is thought, that in this Valley was the common-sewer belonging to Jerusalem, and that a fire was always kept there to burn the filth and carrion; for which reason Hell is called aGehenna, by reason of the eternal Vide Kimchi in Psal. xxvii. & Cosar. Serm. I. a Matth. v. 10. xviii. 23. Mark ix. 44. Luke xxii. 5. Vide Jerem. vii. 30, & seq. 2 Kings xxiii. 10.fire, wherein the wicked will be there for ever burning. Others believe with more probability, that the word Gehenna, whereby Hell is called, is derived rather from the fire kept up in the Valley of Hinnom, in honour of Moloch, the false God, whom the Hebrews too often adored, and to whom they offered frequently human sacrifices, and even their own children. King Josiah, in order to pollute this place, and render it odious, and contemptible to the Jews, commanded all manner of ordure and dead men’s bones to be thrown into it, that they might no more worship Moloch, and offer human sacrifices there. Ge-hennom in Hebrew signifies the Valley of Hinnom, or Hennom.

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