Jeremiah19
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1Thus said Jehovah, Go, and buy a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;
2and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee;
3and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
4Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, that they knew not, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
5and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
6therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter.
7And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.
8And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
9And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall distress them.
10Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
11and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury.
12Thus will I do unto this place, saith Jehovah, and to the inhabitants thereof, even making this city as Topheth:
13and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods.
14Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, whither Jehovah had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Jehovah’s house, and said to all the people:
15Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Jeremiah 19.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: By the type of breaking an earthen vessel, Jeremiah is to predict the destruction of Judah. (1-15).
vv1-9
The prophet must give notice of ruin coming upon Judah and Jerusalem. Both rulers and ruled must attend to it. That place which holiness made the joy of the whole earth, sin made the reproach and shame of the whole earth. There is no fleeing from God's justice, but by fleeing to his mercy.
vv10-15
The potter's vessel, after it is hardened, can never be pieced again when it is broken. And as the bottle was broken, so shall Judah and Jerusalem be broken by the Chaldeans. No human hand can repair it; but if they return to the Lord he will heal. As they filled Tophet with the slain sacrificed to their idols, so will God fill the whole city with the slain that shall fall as sacrifices to his justice. Whatever men may think, God will appear as terrible against sin and sinners as the Scriptures state; nor shall the unbelief of men make his promise or his threatenings of no effect. The obstinacy of sinners in sinful ways, is their own fault; if they are deaf to the word of God, it is because they have stopped their ears. We have need to pray that God, by his grace, would deliver us from hardness of heart, and contempt of his word and commandments.
Key Words
כֹּה: properly, like this, i.e. by implication, (of manner) thus (or so); also (of place) here (or hither); or (of time) now
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
הָלַךְ: to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)
קָנָה: to erect, i.e. create; by extension, to procure, especially by purchase (causatively, sell); by implication to own
יָצַר: to mould into a form; especially as apotter; figuratively, to determine (i.e. form a resolution)
חֶרֶשׂ: a piece of pottery
בַּקְבֻּק: a bottle (from the gurgling in emptying)
מִן: properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses
זָקֵן: old
עַם: a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock
Cross References
Jeremiah 19Textual idiom where catastrophic judgment causes the ears of everyone who hears it to tingle.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Identical phrasing used of Jerusalem's destruction under Manasseh, whose sins are judged here.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel indictment of burning children to Baal/Molech in Topheth, which God commanded not.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Fulfillment of the covenant curse where parents eat the flesh of their own children.
Supported by JFB
Echoes the Messianic and divine authority to shatter rebellious nations like a potter's vessel.
Supported by JFB
Calvin contrasts this completed vessel's irreversible breaking with the malleable clay of chapter 18.
Supported by John Calvin
Provides the geographical origin of the valley of Hinnom as a boundary in Joshua.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Repeats the condemnation of building high places of Baal to sacrifice children in Hinnom.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Historical account of King Josiah defiling Topheth in Hinnom to end child sacrifice.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallels the breaking of a potter's vessel so completely that no useful shred remains.
Supported by JFB
Identical threat of unburied carcasses becoming food for birds and wild beasts.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Another symbolic action of throwing a book/stone to represent irreversible civic destruction.
Supported by JFB
Condemns the specific practice of worshipping the host of heaven on house roofs.
Supported by JFB
Identifies the court of the Lord's house as the primary public gathering place.
Supported by JFB