Albert Barnes Commentary Jeremiah 7:29-33

"Cut off thy hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Jehovah hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight, saith Jehovah: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it. And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded not, neither came it into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place [to bury]. And the dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten them away." — Jeremiah 7:29-33 (ASV)

Jeremiah summons the people to lament over the miserable consequences of their rejection of God. In the valley of Hinnom, where lately they offered their innocents, they themselves will fall before the enemy in such multitudes that burial will be impossible, and the beasts of the field will prey unmolested upon their remains (Jeremiah 7:29).

The daughter of Zion, defiled by the presence of enemies in her sanctuary and rejected by God, must shear off the diadem of her hair—the symbol of her consecration to God—just as the Nazirite, when defiled by contact with a corpse, was to shave his crowned head.

Take up a lamentation ... — Or, lift up a lamentation on the bare hill-sides (Jeremiah 3:2).

They have set their abominations ... (Jeremiah 7:30) — This is probably a reference to the reign of the fanatic Manasseh, during whose time the worship of Astarte and of the heavenly bodies was the established religion of the land (2 Kings 21:3–5), and even the temple was used for idolatrous services. The people had never heartily accepted Josiah’s reformation.

The high places (Jeremiah 7:31) — Here, these are probably not natural hills, but artificial mounts on which the altars were erected.

Tophet (as noted in the margin) is not a proper name here. As applied to Baal-worship, the term is not an ordinary one but is almost unique to Jeremiah. Comparing this verse (Jeremiah 7:31) with Jeremiah 19:5 and Jeremiah 32:35, it will be found that Baal is substituted for Tophet in those passages. Just as it is the practice of the prophets to substitute Bosheth (that is, shame) for Baal , so here Jeremiah uses Tophet (an object of abhorrence) in just the same way (compare Job 17:6, see note).

Valley of the son of Hinnom — See the note on Joshua 15:8.

To burn ... — The children were not burned alive but were slain first (Ezekiel 16:21).

The valley of slaughter (Jeremiah 7:32) — Where they killed their helpless children, there they will be slaughtered helplessly by their enemies.

Till there be no place — This means, rather, for lack of room elsewhere.