Editing Tophet (section)

== Etymology ==
There is no consensus on the etymology of ''tophet'', a word which only occurs eight times in the [[Masoretic Text]].{{sfn|Stavrakopoulou|2013|p=139}} The word may be derived from the Aramaic word {{transliteration|arc|taphyā}} meaning "hearth", "fireplace", or "roaster",{{sfn|King|1993|p=136}} a proposal first made by [[William Robertson Smith]] in 1887.{{sfn|Kerr|2020|p=42}} Some have suggested that the word has been altered via using the vocalization of {{transliteration|hbo|bōsheth}} "shame".{{sfn|Stavrakopoulou|2013|p=139}} Others derive the word from the Hebrew root {{transliteration|he|špt}} "to set (on fire)", cognate with [[Ugaritic]] {{transliteration|uga|ṯpd}} "to set".{{sfn|Stavrakopoulou|2013|p=140}} A new proposal has been made to interpret the term as "place of vow" by Robert M. Kerr.{{sfn|Kerr|2020|pp=44-49}}

The [[Talmud]] ([[Eruvin (Talmud)|Eruvin]] 19a) and [[Jerome]] derive the name from a Hebrew verb meaning "to seduce".{{sfn|Kerr|2020|p=39}} The historically most significant etymology, followed by both Jewish and Christian exegetes until the modern period, was made by the 11th-century CE rabbi [[Rashi]], who derived the term from Hebrew {{transliteration|he|toph}} "drum", claiming that the drums were beaten during the sacrifice to Moloch, deriving his ideas from [[Plutarch]]'s description of Carthaginian sacrifice. This derivation is, however, morphologically impossible.{{sfn|Kerr|2020|pp=39-40}}