Valley of Hinnom

Biblical Text

The Valley of Hinnom is a valley beside Jerusalem. The Old Testament also calls it "the valley of the son of Hinnom." It first appears in Joshua 15:8 and 18:16 as the boundary between the territories of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

Later texts record the valley as a place of idolatrous worship. According to 2 Chronicles 28:3, Ahaz, king of Judah, made his children pass through the fire there, and 2 Chronicles 33:6 records the same of Manasseh. During his reforms, Josiah defiled Topheth, which was in the valley, so that no one might offer a child to Molech (2 Kings 23:10). Jeremiah 7:31-32 and 19:6 prophesy that the days will come when it will be called "the valley of slaughter." In Nehemiah 11:30 it is mentioned as a boundary of the land inhabited by the people of Judah who returned from exile.

Background

The Hebrew Ge Hinnom means "valley of Hinnom." Hinnom appears to be a personal name, but nothing is known about who he was. The valley is commonly identified as the one that curves around the west and south sides of the Old City of Jerusalem before joining the Kidron Valley. Topheth refers to a cultic site within the valley, but the precise meaning of the word and its exact location are uncertain.

From the Old Testament to the New Testament

The New Testament Greek geenna (Gehenna) transliterates the Aramaic form of Ge Hinnom. Jeremiah's prophecies of judgment and expressions such as that of Isaiah 66:24, "their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched," became associated with the name of this valley. As a result, in Jewish literature of the intertestamental period the name is understood to have come to denote the place where the wicked are judged.

In the New Testament, geenna appears in Matthew 5:22 and 10:28, among other passages, as well as in Mark 9:43-48, Luke 12:5, and James 3:6. Apart from the occurrence in James, all are found in the words of Jesus. Mark 9:48 quotes Isaiah 66:24. The New Korean Revised Version renders geenna as jiok ("hell"), distinguishing it from eumbu, its rendering of Hades, the place where the dead abide.

Interpretation and Issues

• Nature of the punishment: Major Korean denominations, including Presbyterian, Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, and Full Gospel churches, generally understand Gehenna as the place of eternal punishment that the wicked receive after the Last Judgment. The Seventh-day Adventist Church holds that the wicked do not suffer endlessly but are consumed by fire. Jehovah's Witnesses interpret Gehenna as a symbol of eternal destruction. Interpreters also differ over whether the descriptions of fire and worms should be read literally or symbolically.
• The garbage-dump explanation: A widespread explanation holds that in Jesus' time the valley was a garbage dump where fires burned continually. This explanation is thought to originate in the commentary of Rabbi David Kimhi around 1200. Some point out that it is not confirmed by first-century literature or archaeological evidence, and the biblical text itself does not mention a garbage dump.
• Akeldama: According to tradition, the "field of blood" associated with Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:18-19) lay on the southern slope of this valley. The text, however, does not specify its location.

In the Korean Church

Because the New Korean Revised Version renders geenna as jiok ("hell"), preaching and church life usually address this concept using the word "hell." The place name Valley of Hinnom is introduced mainly when explaining the background of the word "hell."