Jeremiah 18:4

And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. AND THE VESSEL THAT HE MADE OF CLAY WAS MARRED - spoiled "Of clay" is the true reading, which was corrupted into 'as clay' (margin) through the similarity of the two Hebrew letters [beth (b) and kaph (k)], and from () "AS the clay....

He then relates what had been enjoined him, that he descended into the potter’s house; and then he relates what he saw there — that when the potter formed a vessel _it was marred_, and that he then made another vessel from the same clay, and, as it seems, one of a different form; for there is a peculiar emphasis in these words,_as it seemed right in his eyes_. The application is afterwards added — _cannot I, as the potter, change you, O house of Israel? Doubtless, ye are in my hand as the clay in the hand of the potter; _that is, I have no less power over you than the potter over his work and his earthen vessels. (192) We now see what this doctrine contains — that men are very foolish when they are proud of their present prosperous condition, and think that they are as it were fixed in a state of safety; for in a single moment God can cast down those whom he has raised up, and also raise...

1-10 While Jeremiah looks upon the potter's work, God darts into his mind two great truths. God has authority, and power, to form and fashion kingdoms and nations as he pleases. He may dispose of us as he thinks fit; and it would be as absurd for us to dispute this, as for the clay to quarrel with the potter. But he always goes by fixed rules of justice and goodness. When God is coming against us in judgments, we may be sure it is for our sins; but sincere conversion from the evil of sin will prevent the evil of punishment, as to persons, and to families, and nations....

Verse Jeremiah 18:4. _THE VESSEL - WAS MARRED IN THE HANDS OF THE POTTER_] It did not stand in the working; it got out of shape; or some _gravel_ or _small stone_ having been incorporated with the mass of clay, made a breach in that part where it was found, so that the potter was obliged to knead up the clay afresh, place it on the wheel, and form it anew; and then it was _such a vessel as seemed good to_ _the potter_ to make it....

EXPOSITION This chapter is the introduction of a group of prophecies (extending to Jeremiah 25:1.) of various dates; their sequence has evidently not been determined by chronological considerations. The prophet's first object is, perhaps, to refute the scoffing inquiry (Jeremiah 17:15), "What has become of the [threatening] word of Jehovah?" and to justify the glorious premise given at the conclusion of the last chapter. The fulfillment of threatenings and promises alike is conditioned by the moral attitude of the people (comp. Ezekiel 33:11). God, as it were, holds them in either hand, and there is still time (contrast...

AND THE VESSEL THAT HE MADE OF CLAY,.... Which is the matter the vessel is made of: WAS MARRED IN THE HAND OF THE POTTER; while he was working it; either it fell, as the Septuagint version renders it, out of his hands, or from the beam on which it was laid; or was spoiled by some means or other, so that it was not fit for the purpose he first intended it: or the words should be read, according to some copies, "and the vessel was marred which he made, as clay in the hand of the potter" r; while it was clay; or moist, as Jarchi interprets it; and while it was in his hands, forming and fashioning it: SO HE MADE IT AGAIN ANOTHER VESSEL; put it into another form and shape it would better serve: AS SEEMED GOOD TO THE POTTER TO MAKE [IT]; just as he pleased, and as his judgment in his art directed him; he having power over the clay to mould it as he would, and as it best answered so to do....

CHAPTER 18 The Potter and the Clay _ 1. In the potter's house and the message (Jeremiah 18:1) _ 2. The plot against the prophet and his prayer (Jeremiah 18:18) Jeremiah 18:1. He was commanded to go to the house of a potter and watch his work. The vessel Jeremiah sees fashioned out of clay is marred; it did not turn out well. Then the clay was taken up again and made in another vessel as it seemed good to the potter to make it. Then came the message: “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel.” If the creature of the dust can do as he pleases with the clay, how much

THE POTTER AND THE CLAY. The potter (Jeremiah 18:1) moulding his clay on the upper stone, which he makes revolve by his feet resting on the connected lower stone, is compared with Yahweh in His control of Israel (Jeremiah 18:5). The point of the comparison, as worked out in Jeremiah 18:7 ff_.,_ is not predestination (contrast Romans 9-11), but the conditionality of Yahweh's treatment of a nation, according as it turns to good or to evil (_cf._ the story of Jonah and Nineveh, also Ezekiel's individualism, Jeremiah 18:20 ff.). Judah, however, will not repent (with...

_in the hand of the potter_ rather, as LXX, _in his hands_, thus avoiding harshness. "The potter" has doubtless crept into MT. from being a marginal gloss. Its admission to the MT. drew with it, through the influence of the wording of Jeremiah 18:6, the addition of the Hebrew for "of the clay," which accordingly is also absent from LXX. For illustrations drawn from the potter's art cp. Isaiah 29:16; Isaiah 45:9; Isaiah 64:8; Wis 15:7; Sir 33:13. Pe. also compares Browning's _Rabbi Ben-Ezra_(25 to end). St Paul's employment of the figure (Romans 9-11) is quite different from Jeremiah's, as the former uses it in application to God's abso

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 18:18-2