Yeremia 19:10-12

19:10 The Lord continued, ¹  “Now break the jar in front of those who have come here with you. 19:11 Tell them the Lord who rules over all says, ²  ‘I will do just as Jeremiah has done. ³  I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter’s vessel which is broken beyond repair. ⁴  The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.’ ⁵  19:12 I, the Lord, say: ⁶  ‘That is how I will deal with this city and its citizens. I will make it like Topheth.

Yeremia 22:28

22:28 This man, Jeconiah, will be like a broken pot someone threw away.

He will be like a clay vessel ⁷  that no one wants. ⁸ 

Why will he and his children be forced into exile?

Why will they be thrown out into a country they know nothing about? ⁹ 

Mazmur 2:9

2:9 You will break them ¹⁰  with an iron scepter; ¹¹ 

you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” ¹² 

Yesaya 30:14

30:14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar,

so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. ¹³ 

Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough ¹⁴ 

to scoop a hot coal from a fire ¹⁵ 

or to skim off water from a cistern.” ¹⁶ 

[19:10]  ¹ tn The words “And the Lord continued” are not in the text. However, they are necessary to take us clearly back to the flow of the narrative begun in vv. 1-2 and interrupted by the long speech in vv. 3-9.

[19:11]  ² tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies.” For this title see the study note on 2:19. The translation attempts to avoid the confusion of embedding quotes within quotes by reducing this one to an indirect quote.

[19:11]  ³ tn The adverb “Thus” or “Like this” normally points back to something previously mentioned. See, e.g., Exod 29:35; Num 11:15; 15:11; Deut 25:9.

[19:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “Like this I will break this people and this city, just as one breaks the vessel of a potter which is not able to be repaired.”

[19:11]  ⁵ sn See Jer 7:22-23 for parallels.

[19:12]  ⁶ tn This phrase (Heb “Oracle of the Lord”) has been handled this way on several occasions when it occurs within first person addresses where the Lord is the speaker. See, e.g., 16:16; 17:24; 18:6.

[22:28]  ⁷ tn The word translated “clay vessel” occurs only here. Its meaning, however, is assured on the basis of the parallelism and on the basis of the verb root which is used for shaping or fashioning in Job 10:8. The KJV renders it as “idol,” but that word, while having the same consonants, never appears in the singular. The word is missing in the Greek version but is translated “vessel” in the Latin version. The word “clay” is supplied in the translation to clarify what sort of vessel is meant; its inclusion is justified based on the context and the use of the same verb root in Job 10:8 to refer to shaping or fashioning, which would imply clay pots or vessels.

[22:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “Is this man, Coniah, a despised, broken vessel or a vessel that no one wants?” The question is rhetorical expecting a positive answer in agreement with the preceding oracle.

[22:28]  sn For the image of the rejected, broken vessel see Jer 19:1-13 (where, however, the vessel is rejected first and then broken) and compare also the image of the linen shorts which are good for nothing in Jer 13 (see especially vv. 10-11).

[22:28]  ⁹ sn The question “Why?” is a common rhetorical feature in the book of Jeremiah. See Jer 2:14, 31; 8:5, 19, 22; 12:1; 13:22; 14:19. In several cases like this one no answer is given, leaving a sense of exasperation and hopelessness with the sinfulness of the nation that calls forth such punishment from God.

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tc The LXX reads “you will shepherd them.” This reading, quoted in the Greek text of the NT in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, assumes a different vocalization of the consonantal Hebrew text and understands the verb as רָעָה (ra’ah, “to shepherd”) rather than רָעָע (ra’a’, “to break”). But the presence of נָפַץ (nafats, “to smash”) in the next line strongly favors the MT vocalization.

[2:9]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a “staff” or “rod,” but here it probably refers to the Davidic king’s royal scepter, symbolizing his sovereignty.

[2:9]  ¹² sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.

[30:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “Its shattering is like the shattering of a jug of [i.e., “made by”] potters, [so] shattered one cannot save [any of it].”

[30:14]  ¹⁴ tn The words “large enough” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[30:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to remove fire from the place of kindling.”

[30:14]  ¹⁶ tn On the meaning of גֶבֶא (geveh, “cistern”) see HALOT 170 s.v.