TOPHET

To"phet, n. Etym: [Heb. tophet, literally, a place to be spit upon, an abominable place, fr. tph to spit out.]

Definition: A place lying east or southeast of Jerusalem, in the valley of Hinnom. [Written also Topheth.] And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom. 2 Kings xxiii. 10.

Note: It seems to have been at first part of the royal garden, but it was afterwards defiled and polluted by the sacrifices of Baal and the fires of Moloch, and resounded with the cries of burning infants. At a later period, its altars and high places were thrown down, and all the filth of the city poured into it, until it became the abhorrence of Jerusalem, and, in symbol, the place where are wailing and gnashing of teeth. The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence And black Gehenna called, the type of hell. Milton.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

21 June 2025

SUFFOCATION

(noun) the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped); “asphyxiation is sometimes used as a form of torture”


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Coffee Trivia

The first coffee-house in Mecca dates back to the 1510s. The beverage was in Turkey by the 1530s. It appeared in Europe circa 1515-1519 and was introduced to England by 1650. By 1675 the country had more than 3,000 coffee houses, and coffee had replaced beer as a breakfast drink.

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