Hinnom (Greek: Gehenna) is a proper name referring to the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, a ravine south and west of Jerusalem. The name's etymology is uncertain but may derive from a personal name meaning 'lamentation' or 'groaning.'
The Valley of Hinnom is one of the most theologically charged geographic locations in Scripture. Under wicked Israelite kings, it became the site of Tophet, where child sacrifices were burned to Molech — acts explicitly condemned by God (Jeremiah 7:31). Josiah defiled the site to end these abominations. The valley subsequently became Jerusalem's garbage dump, where fires burned continually. Jesus used the Greek form Gehenna twelve times to describe the place of final judgment (Matthew 5:22, 29; 10:28), making Hinnom the Old Testament's most vivid type of eternal condemnation. The sight of perpetual burning in the literal valley became the ultimate warning image for the spiritual reality of hell.