John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 7:32

"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]." — Jeremiah 7:32 (ASV)

The Prophet denounces a punishment, even though the Jews thought they deserved a reward. The case is the same with the Papists today, who thoughtlessly boast when they heap together many abominations; for they think that God is bound, as it were, by a law not to overlook so much diligence. But the Prophet shows how grossly deceived those are who worship God superstitiously, without the authority of His word; for he threatens them here with the heaviest judgment—Called no more, he says, shall it be Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom; but The valley of slaughter shall it be called; for the whole land was to be filled with slaughters.

He adds, Bury shall they there, for elsewhere there will be no place. He intimates that the slaughters would be so great that Jerusalem would not contain the dead: hence, he says, graves will be made in Tophet; and many will also be slain there. A dead body, we know, was unclean by the Law, and it was not lawful to offer sacrifices to God near graves (Numbers 19:11, 16).

The Prophet then shows that when the Jews foolishly consecrated that place to God, they committed a dreadful profanation, for that place was to be wholly filled with dead bodies and also polluted by the slaughter of men.

Therefore, we see what the superstitious do when they follow their own devices—they provoke God’s wrath. For by the grievousness of the punishment we may form a judgment as to the degree to which God abominates all false modes of worship, which men devise without the warrant of His law. For we must always remember this principle: I commanded it not, nor hath it ever come to my mind.