Jeremiah 19 1

Jeremiah 19:1 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;

Jeremiah 19:1 nkjv

Thus says the LORD: "Go and get a potter's earthen flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests.

Jeremiah 19:1 niv

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

Jeremiah 19:1 esv

Thus says the LORD, "Go, buy a potter's earthenware flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests,

Jeremiah 19:1 nlt

This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy a clay jar. Then ask some of the leaders of the people and of the priests to follow you.

Jeremiah 19 verses

Jeremiah 19 1 Meaning

Jeremiah 19:1 serves as a divine command to the prophet, initiating a potent symbolic act. God instructs Jeremiah to obtain a common earthenware flask made by a potter and to gather key representatives from both the civic and priestly leadership. This instruction prepares for a visual and prophetic demonstration of severe, irreversible judgment against Judah and Jerusalem. It highlights God's authority over the nation's fate, represented by the fragile clay vessel, and ensures that the message of impending doom is witnessed and understood by those holding responsibility within the society.

Jeremiah 19 1 Context

Jeremiah 19:1 is a critical transitional verse, immediately following the vivid lesson of the potter and the clay in chapter 18. While chapter 18 emphasized God's sovereign right to shape, unmake, and remake nations based on their repentance or unrepentance, chapter 19 demonstrates that for Judah, a point of no return has been reached; the vessel is beyond repair. This verse sets the stage for a dramatic public performance by Jeremiah in the Valley of Hinnom (v. 2), a notorious site of child sacrifice to Molech, emphasizing the severe nature of Judah's idolatry and the irrevocable judgment it brings. The historical backdrop is the late 7th to early 6th century BCE, a period of profound spiritual decline in Judah, under kings like Jehoiakim, leading directly to the Babylonian invasions and subsequent exile. The nation's civil and religious leaders, despite repeated warnings, led the people deeper into apostasy, making their presence as witnesses in this prophecy crucial for accountability and emphasis.

Jeremiah 19 1 Word analysis

• Thus says the LORD (כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה, koh amar Adonai):
  • Word Level: A foundational prophetic formula signifying that the words immediately following are a direct, authoritative message from Yahweh, the sovereign God of Israel. It denotes absolute truth and unchallengeable divine will.
  • Significance: Establishes the divine origin of the command, eliminating human speculation or mere opinion. It demands unwavering obedience from Jeremiah and solemn attention from the audience, confirming the absolute certainty and weight of the impending pronouncement.
• Go (הָלוֹךְ, halokh):
  • Word Level: Imperative verb, active and direct. Denotes immediate physical movement and initiation of an action.
  • Significance: Underscores Jeremiah's active role as God's instrument and the urgency of the divine command. It's not a suggestion but a directive for physical execution.
• and buy (וְקָנִיתָ, ve-qanita):
  • Word Level: Perfect verb with conversive "waw," acting as a past-tense action subsequent to "go." To acquire by purchase, procure.
  • Significance: Indicates a deliberate, tangible procurement. Jeremiah must obtain the flask as a personal possession for the subsequent prophetic act, grounding the symbolism in a real object that has value (even if small) before it is destroyed.
• a potter's earthen flask (בַּקְבֻּק יוֹצֵר חָרֶשׂ, baqbuk yotzer chares):
  • Words Group Analysis: This phrase combines an object, its maker, and its material, conveying crucial symbolic layers.
  • Potter's earthen flask (baqbuk yotzer chares):
    • baqbuk (בַּקְבֻּק): A bottle or jug, often narrow-necked, made of clay. The Hebrew word is often considered onomatopoeic, mimicking the gurgling sound of liquid pouring out or the shattering sound when broken.
    • yotzer (יוֹצֵר): "Potter," the one who forms or fashions clay. This word is strongly linked to God as the Creator, the divine Potter who shapes nations (Is. 64:8; Jer. 18:6).
    • chares (חָרֶשׂ): "Earthenware," pottery, signifying a common, fragile material, easily shattered and, once broken, difficult or impossible to repair for its original purpose.
    • Significance: This object represents the nation of Judah and Jerusalem. Made by a potter (God), it signifies commonness, frailty, and the potential for usefulness. Its very nature as brittle earthenware foreshadows its ultimate, irreparable destruction, linking directly to the previous chapter's imagery but now with a stark finality. Its shattering implies a loss of identity, function, and purpose for the nation.
• also take some of the elders of the people (וּמִזִּקְנֵי הָעָם, u'miziqnei ha'am):
  • Words Group Analysis: Refers to key societal representatives, signifying a collective audience and shared accountability.
  • ziqnei ha'am (זִקְנֵי הָעָם): "Elders of the people." These were the civil leaders, community heads, and influential men who represented the populace and held administrative authority. "Some of" indicates a representative sample, sufficient to act as credible witnesses and ensure the message reaches the wider community.
  • Significance: Their presence ensures that the prophecy is delivered before the authoritative civil body of the nation, making it a public act with official witnesses. It implies that the impending judgment is not merely against individuals but against the leadership and, by extension, the entire populace for whom they are responsible.
• and some of the elders of the priests (וּמִזִּקְנֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים, u'miziqnei ha-kohanim):
  • Words Group Analysis: Designates the religious leaders as equally vital witnesses and subjects of the divine judgment.
  • ziqnei ha-kohanim (זִקְנֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים): "Elders of the priests." These were the leading figures within the Levitical priesthood, responsible for religious rites, temple administration, and teaching the Law. Their inclusion acknowledges the pervasive corruption within the religious institutions.
  • Significance: Their inclusion underscores that the judgment applies to both sacred and secular leadership, both spiritual and civic aspects of Judah. It demonstrates God's condemnation of religious apostasy and priestly complicity in the nation's spiritual decline. All strata of society, represented by their leaders, are to witness and bear the consequences of their actions.

Jeremiah 19 1 Bonus section

• The instruction to "buy" the flask suggests an exchange, linking it to the transaction of judgment; it's an object obtained, possessed, and then irrevocably discarded.
• This symbolic act, along with the location revealed in the following verses (Valley of Hinnom, Tophet), functions as a reverse covenant ritual. Instead of ratification or renewal, it enacts a ceremony of complete covenant breakage and repudiation, dramatically foreshadowing Jerusalem's fate.
• The inclusion of both civil and priestly elders (representatives of qahal Yahweh - "the assembly of the LORD") indicates that the divine condemnation spares no one in authority, underscoring the universal nature of the impending catastrophe on account of the widespread idolatry and injustice.
• Scholarly interpretation often connects the "flask" (בַּקְבֻּק) not just to the common pottery, but to its eventual dramatic shattering, providing a multisensory prophecy where sound (the crash), sight (the broken pieces), and spiritual impact merge.

Jeremiah 19 1 Commentary

Jeremiah 19:1 is the divine preface to one of Jeremiah’s most chilling and direct prophetic acts. God, as the supreme authority, commands Jeremiah to move beyond mere verbal prophecy and engage in a tangible, performative act using a fragile, common clay flask. The act is specifically staged by gathering leading figures from both Judah's political and religious sectors. This assembly ensures the message's gravitas and accountability; it is not a private revelation but a public demonstration for those responsible for guiding the nation. The fragility of the earthen flask directly recalls the "potter and clay" imagery from the preceding chapter, but with a crucial difference: here, the vessel is not being offered for potential remolding, but rather for a preordained shattering. This verse thus lays the foundation for an uncompromising declaration of irrevocable judgment, where Judah's spiritual brokenness is to culminate in its literal, irreparable destruction, symbolized by the smashing of the flask. It emphasizes the profound extent of the nation's sin and the divine resolve to bring forth punishment.