The Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 30:33

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

For Tophet is ordained of old; rather, for a Tophet has been long since prepared. A "Tophet" is a place of burning, probably derived from the Aryan root tap or taph, found in Greek τάφος τέφρα, Latin tepidus, Sanskrit tap, Persian taphtan. The name was specially attached to a particular spot in the Valley of Hinnom, where sacrifices were offered to Moloch (2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 7:31; Jeremiah 19:6, Jeremiah 19:11, etc.); but Isaiah seems to use it generically, as if there were many Tophets. For the king it is prepared; literally, it also is prepared for the king—in the Hebrew "for the melech," which is the same word as "Moloch," who was looked upon by his worshippers as "the king" κατ ̓ ἐξοχήν. Isaiah means to say, "As the Tophet of the Vale of Hinnom is prepared for a king (Moloch), so this new Tophet is prepared for another king (the King of Assyria)." He hath made it deep and large—a vast burning-place for a vast multitude (2 Kings 19:35), with the fire and the wood ready, only awaiting the breath of Jehovah to kindle it. As the bodies of great malefactors were burnt (Joshua 7:25), and not buried, so the prophet consigns to a great burning the hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrian corpses, of which it would soon be necessary to dispose in some way.

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