Yeremia 18:3

18:3 So I went down to the potter’s house and found him working ¹  at his wheel. ² 

Yeremia 33:1

The Lord Promises a Second Time to Restore Israel and Judah

33:1 The Lord spoke ³  to Jeremiah a second time while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse. ⁴ 

Yeremia 39:7

39:7 Then he had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains ⁵  to be led off to Babylon.

Yeremia 39:15

Ebed Melech Is Promised Deliverance because of His Faith

39:15 ⁶ Now the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse, ⁷ 

Yeremia 48:40

48:40 For the Lord says,

“Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings

a nation will swoop down on Moab. ⁸ 

Yeremia 48:42

48:42 Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a nation, ⁹ 

because she has vaunted herself against the Lord.

[18:3]  ¹ tn Heb “And behold he was working.”

[18:3]  ² sn At his wheel (Heb “at the two stones”). The Hebrew expression is very descriptive of the construction of a potter’s wheel which consisted of two stones joined by a horizontal shaft. The potter rotated the wheel with his feet on the lower wheel and worked the clay with his hands on the upper. For a picture of a potter working at his wheel see I. Ben-Dor, “Potter’s Wheel,” IDB 3:846. See also the discussion regarding the making of pottery in J. L. Kelso, “Pottery,” IDB 3:846-53.

[33:1]  ³ sn The introductory statement here ties this incident in with the preceding chapter which was the first time that the Lord spoke to him about the matters discussed here. There is no indication of how much time passed between the two incidents though it appears that the situation has worsened somewhat (cf. v. 4).

[33:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time…, saying.”

[39:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers.

[39:15]  ⁶ sn Jer 39:15-18. This incident is out of chronological order (see Jer 38:7-13). It is placed here either due to a desire not to interrupt the sequential ordering of events centering on Jeremiah’s imprisonment and his release (38:14–39:14) or to contrast God’s care and concern for the faithful (Ebed-Melech who, though a foreigner, trusted in God) with his harsh treatment of the faithless (Zedekiah who, though informed of God’s will, was too weak-willed in the face of opposition by his courtiers to carry it out).

[39:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he…saying.” The form of this clause is disjunctive showing that it does not follow the preceding events in either chronological or logical sequence. For a discussion of the form and function of such disjunctive clauses see IBHS 650-52 §39.2.3. This example most closely fits the description and function of example 12, Ruth 4:18, 21-22 on p. 652.

[48:40]  ⁸ tn Heb “Behold! Like an eagle he will swoop and will spread his wings against Moab.” The sentence has been reordered in English to give a better logical flow and the unidentified “he” has been identified as “a nation.” The nation is, of course, Babylon, but it is nowhere identified so the referent has been left ambiguous.

[48:40]  sn Conquering nations are often identified with a swiftly flying eagle swooping down on its victims (cf. Deut 28:49). In this case the eagle is to be identified with the nation (or king) of Babylon (cf. Ezek 17:3, 12 where reference is to the removal of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) and his replacement with Zedekiah).

[48:42]  ⁹ tn Heb “Moab will be destroyed from [being] a people.”