“Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.”
My Notes
What Does 2 Chronicles 28:3 Mean?
King Ahaz of Judah burns incense in the Valley of Hinnom (Ben-Hinnom, Gehenna) and burns his own children in the fire. The same practices God destroyed the Canaanites for are now being performed by a king on David's throne. The valley that will become Jesus' metaphor for hell is already functioning as one.
The phrase "after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out" is the narrator's indictment: the exact practices that caused the Canaanites' eviction are being repeated by their replacements. The new tenants are doing what the old tenants were expelled for. The irony is the judgment.
"Burnt his children in the fire" — the plural suggests multiple children sacrificed. Not a single desperate act but a repeated practice. Ahaz made child sacrifice a feature of his reign, not an aberration. The Valley of Hinnom became a killing field for royal children.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Does knowing Gehenna (hell) was named after a real valley of child sacrifice make Jesus' warnings more concrete?
- 2.How did a king on David's throne end up repeating the exact practices that caused the Canaanites' expulsion?
- 3.What does the proximity (temple above, valley of sacrifice below) teach about how close worship and abomination can coexist?
- 4.Does Ahaz's story challenge the assumption that position (David's throne) prevents corruption?
Devotional
He burned his children. In the Valley of Hinnom. The valley that became the Bible's word for hell.
Ahaz — sitting on David's throne, ruling from Jerusalem, occupying the position of God's chosen king — burned his own children in a pagan ritual in the valley just south of the temple. The valley where child sacrifice happened in the name of Molech would later give its name to Gehenna — the word Jesus used for hell.
The geography is theological: the temple on the hill, the Valley of Hinnom below. Worship of the living God above, sacrifice of children to dead gods below. The proximity is the horror. The king could see the temple from the valley. The smoke of his children's burning rose toward the same sky that covered God's house.
"After the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out" — the narrator draws the explicit connection. The Canaanites were driven from this land for these exact practices. And now the king of Judah — the inheritor of the promise, the occupant of David's throne — is repeating them. The people of God have become the people God judged.
Children. Plural. Not a single horrific moment of desperation. A pattern. A practice. A repeated offering of the most innocent to the most demonic. The valley absorbed the screams and the smoke and eventually became the permanent name for eternal destruction.
When Jesus spoke of Gehenna — the place of unquenchable fire — His listeners knew the valley. They knew what happened there. The word for hell was named after a real place where real children were really burned by a king who really sat on David's throne.
The valley that held the worst human evil became the word for the worst divine judgment. The name fits.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Burnt his children in the fire - There is a most remarkable addition here in the Chaldee which I shall give at length:…
Never surely had a man greater opportunity of doing well than Ahaz had, finding things in a good posture, the kingdom…
the valley of the son of Hinnom This name was of harmless signification at first (Jer 7:31-32), but its Heb. form…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture