Ben Hinnom

Valley of Hinnom (Ben Hinnom, Gehenna).

Valley of Ben Hinnom seen from Mount Scandal. To its right Mount Zion, to its left Mount of Bad Counsel (photo: 2023)

The lepers' valley near Jerusalem.

Inhabitants or natives

The cured lepers: John the Priest, Uriah, Gioab, Adina.

Description

Valley bordering the south-southwest of Jerusalem. It is one of the valleys where lepers take refuge in the caves. This valley is also known as the city's dumping ground.        

At its outlet lies Haceldama (potter's field), purchased by Judas and where he hanged himself. The spring of En-Rogel is also found there, and not far from it, the country house of Caiaphas.      

Valley of Hinnom - James Tissot (Brooklyn Museum).

"They cross the Kidron, pass along the south side of Mount Topheth and enter the small valley, all filled with tombs and refuse, without a tree, nothing, on this southern side, to shield from the sun. It shoots its rays and sets ablaze the rubble of these new terraces of hell, at the base of which smoke pestilential fires that increase the heat. Inside these tombs, like crematory ovens, there are poor bodies burning away..."

Notable facts

Place of Judas's hanging, not far from Caiaphas's country house where the plots against Jesus were hatched.

Its name

The Guei Hinnom (Valley of Hinnom), or Guei ben Hinnom, Valley of the Sons of Hinnom, rendered in Greek as Gehenna, is a narrow and deep valley located to the south and southwest of Jerusalem, corresponding to the Wadi er-Rababi.      

Where is it mentioned in the work?

Ancient tombs of the Valley of Hinnom - James Tissot (Brooklyn Museum).

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Learn more about this place

Gehenna (ge-hinnom or Valley of Hinnom). Children were burned there in honor of Moloch. Because of the crimes committed there, its desecration by King Josiah, and perhaps also because of the garbage that was burned there, the Valley of Hinnom became a symbol of sin and eternal punishment.

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