Jeremiah 18:1-4

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE POTTER AND HIS VESSELS

Jeremiah 18:1 to Jeremiah 20:18

Chapter s 18-20 are composed of various types of literature centering around the common theme of the potter's vessels. The first seventeen verses might be captioned the marred vessel. In the prose section Jeremiah 18:1-12 God's sovereignty over His creatures is compared to a potter's sovereignty over his clay. The passage Jeremiah 18:13-17 is a poetic expression of the unnaturalness of Israel's sin. The passage Jeremiah 18:18-23 might be entitled the human vessel for it records Jeremiah's prayer for vengeance upon those who were plotting against him. The breaking of a potter's vessel as a symbol of divine judgment and the consequences of this action for Jeremiah personally are recorded in Jeremiah 19:1 to Jeremiah 20:6. In the final paragraph of this section (Jeremiah 20:7-18) the spotlight is back on the human vessel again as Jeremiah records the saddest and most bitter of his confessions.

It is impossible to date with precision the events of this section. These Chapter s are probably to be assigned to the early years of Jehoiakim for it is hard to imagine that Jeremiah would have been arrested and mistreated (Jeremiah 20:1-2) during the reign of good king Josiah.

I. THE MARRED VESSEL Jeremiah 18:1-17

In Jeremiah 18:1-17 Jeremiah learns an important theological truth through visiting the workshop of a potter. The first twelve verses are prose narrative and relate (1) the observation of the prophet (Jeremiah 18:1-4), (2) the interpretation of the Lord (Jeremiah 18:5-10); and (3) the proclamation to the people (Jeremiah 18:11-12). To this narrative is appended a poetic oracle in which the prophet makes an accusation against the people (Jeremiah 18:13-15) and then announces that the nation will be destroyed (Jeremiah 18:16-17).

A. The Observation of the Prophet Jeremiah 18:1-4

TRANSLATION

(1) The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD saying, (2) Arise and go down to the house of the potter and there I will cause you to hear My word. (3) And I went down to the house of the potter and behold, he was busy at work upon the wheels. (4) And the vessel which he was making with the clay was marred in the hand of the potter. And again he made it into another vessel as it was fitting in the eyes of the potter to make it.

COMMENTS

Jeremiah received instructions from the Lord to go down to the house of the potter where God would reveal to him something of vital significance for His people (Jeremiah 18:1-2). The verb go down suggests that the potter's workshop was located in the lower part of the city. When Jeremiah arrived the potter was at work on his wheeltwo circular stones connected by a vertical axis. The lower disk was worked by the foot. This in turn set in motion the upper disk upon which the potter worked the clay. Thompson has given the classic description of the operation:

Taking a lump in his hand he placed it on the top of the wheel and smoothed it into a low cone; then thrusting his thumb into the top of it, he opened a hole down through the center, and this he constantly widened by pressing the edges of the revolving cone between his hands. As it enlarged and became thinner, he gave it whatever shape he pleased with the utmost ease and expedition.[210]

[210] Thompson, op cit., p. 520.

As Jeremiah observed the potter at work he noticed that the emerging vessel developed some imperfection which displeased the eye of that artisan. The potter rolled the clay into a lump again and reshaped it into an object that met with his approval (Jeremiah 18:4). The narrative does not reveal the cause of the ruination of the original vessel. This is not the point. The major lesson here is that the potter can do with the clay as he pleases. When the wet clay becomes marred he can finish that vessel in its imperfection, cast it aside or create a new vessel out of the clay. The new vessel might be similar to the original vessel or it might be something entirely new. It is all in the potter's hands to do as he sees fit. If he so desires he can crush that emerging jar or vase into a shapeless mass of mud and then begin the whole process all over again.