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Jeremiah 19:1

in Jeremiah 19

This is what the LORD says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take some of the elders of the people and leaders of the priests,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Thus said Jehovah, Go, and buy a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;

KJV

Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;

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This verse in Jeremiah 19

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah · Written before 420.

(Chapter 19, Verse 1) Thus says the Lord: Go, and take the potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests. For the potter's bottle, which is called 'Bocboc' in Hebrew, the Septuagint translated it as 'doliolum'. But divine Scripture wants to instruct the people not only with their ears, but also with their eyes. For what is seen is more retained in the mind than what is heard: 'Take,' he says, 'your little bottle or earthenware jar as a witness.'

This site's exposition

Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle

on Jeremiah 19:1-3

The Lord sends Jeremiah to buy a potter's earthen bottle and to bring along elders of the people and elders of the priests, so the coming sign has official witnesses rather than a private word only Jeremiah heard. He is sent out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, by the entry of the east gate, and told to proclaim the message there to the kings of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem themselves. The warning that the hearer's ears shall tingle repeats the exact formula used of Eli's house at 1 Samuel 3:11 and of Manasseh's Jerusalem at 2 Kings 21:12, language the bench reads as marking news too severe to be softened.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

He must confirm this, and endeavour to affect his hearers with it, by a sign, which was the breaking of an earthen bottle, signifying that they should be dashed to pieces like a potter's vessel,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Get (i. e., purchase) a potter’s earthen bottle - The “bottle” was a flask with a long neck, and took its name from the noise made by liquids in running out. The ancients - These “elders” were the regularly constituted representatives of the people (see Jer 29:1; Num 11:16), and the organization lasted down to our Saviour’s time Mat 26:47. Similarly the priests had also their representatives 2Ki 19:2. Accompanied thus by the representatives of Church and State, the prophet was to carry the earthen bottle, the symbol of their mean origin and frail existence, outside the walls of Jerusalem.

The words behind it

12 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כֹּ֚הthus

    kohH3541 →577 times

  • אָמַ֣רhe said

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • הָל֛וֹךְgo

    halokhH1980 →1546 times

  • וְקָנִ֥יתָand you will buy

    vekanitaH7069 →84 times

  • בַקְבֻּ֖קa bottle of

    vakbukH1228 →

  • יוֹצֵ֣רa potter of

    yotzerH3335 →62 times

  • חָ֑רֶשׂearthenware

    charesH2789 →

  • וּמִזִּקְנֵ֣יand some of [the] elders of

    umizikneiH2205 →178 times

  • הָעָ֔םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • וּמִזִּקְנֵ֖יand some of [the] elders of

    umizikneiH2205 →178 times

  • הַכֹּהֲנִֽים׃the priests

    hakohanimH3548 →750 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Ezekiel 8:11–12Before them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.4 worksJeremiah 18:2–4“Go down at once to the potter’s house, and there I will reveal My message to you.”3 worksIsaiah 30:14It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern.”3 worksLamentations 4:2How the precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in pure gold, are now esteemed as jars of clay, the work of a potter’s hands!3 worksNumbers 11:16Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you.3 worksHosea 12:10I spoke through the prophets and multiplied their visions; I gave parables through the prophets.3 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 7:11“Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”3 worksJeremiah 19:10–11Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the men who accompany you,2 works1 Chronicles 24:4–6Since more leaders were found among Eleazar’s descendants than those of Ithamar, they were divided accordingly. There were sixteen heads of families from the descendants of Eleazar and eight from the descendants of Ithamar.2 works2 Kings 19:2And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz2 works2 Corinthians 4:7Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.2 worksJeremiah 13:1This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.”2 worksEzekiel 9:6Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.1 worksJeremiah 32:14“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Take these deeds—both the sealed copy and the open copy of the deed of purchase—and put them in a clay jar to preserve them for a long time.1 worksJeremiah 26:17Some of the elders of the land stood up and said to the whole assembly of the people,1 worksMatthew 27:1When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people conspired against Jesus to put Him to death.1 worksActs 4:5–6The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,1 worksMatthew 26:3At that time the chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Isaiah 30:14

    It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 2:9

      You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.”

    • Jeremiah 19:10–11

      Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the men who accompany you,

  • Through

    Lamentations 4:2

    How the precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in pure gold, are now esteemed as jars of clay, the work of a potter’s hands!

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 30:14

      It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a…

    • Jeremiah 19:11

      and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again…

    • Romans 9:21–23

      Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?

  • Through

    Numbers 11:16

    Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them…

    it leads to

    • Exodus 24:1

      Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.

    • Exodus 24:9

      Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,

    • Genesis 46:27

      And with the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt were seventy in all.

Where this verse is studied

About Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Prophet Jeremiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Jeremiah: the study guide →Read Jeremiah 19 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Jeremiah 19 →