Jeremiah 1:13
in Jeremiah 1Again the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “What do you see?” “I see a boiling pot,” I replied, “and it is tilting toward us from the north.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a boiling caldron; and the face thereof is from the north.
KJV
And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
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This verse in Jeremiah 1
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The first vision was for the support of the prophet’s own faith during his long struggle with his countrymen: the second explains to him the general nature of his mission. He was to be the bearer of tidings of a great national calamity about to break forth item the north. He sees a caldron. It was a vessel of metal Eze 24:11, large enough to prepare the meal of a numerous community 2Ki 4:38, and broad at the top, as it was also used for washing purposes Psa 60:8. This caldron was boiling furiously.
This site's exposition
I see a seething pot
on Jeremiah 1:13-16
The second sign is a boiling pot tipped toward the observer, its face toward the north, and the Lord's own reading follows at once, out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. The threat is named with precision, the families of the kingdoms of the north setting their thrones at the gates of Jerusalem, the invasion Babylon will carry out described before Babylon is named in the book. The ground of the judgment is stated in the same breath, they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, so the pot answers the idolatry the book will spend fifty chapters exposing.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Place that candlestick in the south that it may look to the north. For when the light has been lit, that is, when the heart is watchful, it ought always to look to the north and watch for "him who is from the north," as also the prophet says he saw "a kettle or pot kindled and its face was from the face of the north," for "evils are kindled from the north for the whole earth." Be watchful, therefore, apprehensive and zealous. Always contemplate the slyness of the devil and always watch the place from which temptation may come, from which the foe may invade, from which the enemy may creep up. For the apostle Peter also says, "Your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour."
The blessed Jeremiah also saw a boiling pot tilted away from the north. So he means that Manasseh will recover its own land, Ephraim regain its former power and Judah be renamed king of all, whereas the Moabites will be subject to them, observing their …
(Vers. 13, 14.) And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying: What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot, and its face is from the north. And the Lord said to me: From the north evil will be opened (or kindled) upon all the inhabitants of the land. To some degrees, the torments are given to the sinners, so that they may gradually come to salvation.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 14 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
In the mystery of prophetical revelation, Christ is symbolized especially by means of sight: the prophet saw "a boiling cauldron" and other things also.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Some think that those scoffers referred to this who said ( Ezek. xi. 3 ), This city is the cauldron, and we are the flesh. Now the mouth or face of the furnace or hearth, over which this pot boiled, was towards the north, for thence the fire and the fuel were to come that must make the pot boil thus.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Seething-Pot - I see a pot coming, meaning the Babylonian army, who would besiege Jerusalem as a fire plays round the pot, when it is to be made boil; and reduce the inhabitants to miserable extremities. Face - Or front of the pot, or furnace, the place where the fire was put in, or blowed up to make it boil.
And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Another vision, signifying what is the "word" about to be "performed," and by what instrumentality. seething--literally, "blown under"; so boiling by reason of the flame under it kept brisk by blowing.
A seething pot - toward the north - We find, from Eze 24:3, etc., that a boiling pot was an emblem of war, and the desolations it produces. Some have thought that by the seething pot Judea is intended, agitated by the invasion of the Chaldeans, whose land lay north of Judea. But Dr. Blayney contends that מפני צפונה mippeney tsaphonah should be translated, From the face of the north, as it is in the margin; for, from the next verse, it appears that the evil was to come from the north; and therefore the steam, which was designed as an emblem of that evil, must have arisen from that quarter also. The pot denotes the empire of the Babylonians and Chaldeans lying to the north of Judea, and pouring forth its multitudes like a thick vapor, to overspread the land. Either of these interpretations will suit the text.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
You have seen well This almond tree hastens to blossom before all other trees. I, too, hasten to perform My word. And the Midrash Aggadah (Ecc.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
From the north the misfortune will break forth Babylon is on the north of Eretz Israel.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֨י | vayhi | and it came | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| דְבַר־ | devar- | [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה׀ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֵלַי֙ | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| שֵׁנִ֣ית | shenit | a second [time] | H8145 → | 156 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מָ֥ה | mah | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| אַתָּ֖ה | ʾatah | [are] you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| רֹאֶ֑ה | roeh | seeing | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וָאֹמַ֗ר | vaomar | and I said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| סִ֤יר | sir | a pot | H5518 → | 34 times |
| נָפ֙וּחַ֙ | nafuach | blown upon | H5301 → | |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| רֹאֶ֔ה | roeh | [am] seeing | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וּפָנָ֖יו | ufanav | and face its | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֥י | mipenei | [is] away from [the] face of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| צָפֽוֹנָה׃ | tzafonah | north -ward | H6828 → | 153 times |
וַיְהִ֨יand it came
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
דְבַר־[the] word of
devar-H1697 →1440 times
יְהוָ֤ה׀Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֵלַי֙to me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
שֵׁנִ֣יתa second [time]
shenitH8145 →156 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
מָ֥הwhat?
mahH4100 →752 times
אַתָּ֖ה[are] you
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
רֹאֶ֑הseeing
roehH7200 →1300 times
וָאֹמַ֗רand I said
vaomarH559 →5305 times
סִ֤ירa pot
sirH5518 →34 times
נָפ֙וּחַ֙blown upon
nafuachH5301 →
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
רֹאֶ֔ה[am] seeing
roehH7200 →1300 times
וּפָנָ֖יוand face its
ufanavH6440 →2123 times
מִפְּנֵ֥י[is] away from [the] face of
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
צָפֽוֹנָה׃north -ward
tzafonahH6828 →153 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 41:32Moreover, because the dream was given to Pharaoh in two versions, the matter has been decreed by God, and He will carry it out shortly.
it leads to
- Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Isaiah 46:10–11
I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- Numbers 23:19
Through
Ezekiel 11:7Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: The slain you have laid within this city are the meat, and the city is the pot; but I will remove you from it.
it leads to
- Micah 3:2–3
You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones.
- Ezekiel 24:3–13
Now speak a parable to this rebellious house and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Put the pot on the fire; put it on and pour in the water.
- Jeremiah 52:24–27
The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
- 2 Kings 25:18–22
The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
- Micah 3:2–3
Through
Ezekiel 11:3They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.’
it leads to
- Ezekiel 12:22
“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by, and every vision fails’?
- Ezekiel 12:27
“Son of man, take note that the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many years from now; he prophesies about the distant future.’
- Ezekiel 12:22
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 14; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EXODUS 9:4 and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 60:6.