10 "Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching,
10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
10 "Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you,
10 "Say all this, and then smash the pot in front of the men who have come with you.
10 "Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you,
10 "As these men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought.
2 "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message."
2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
2 "Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words."
2 "Up on your feet! Go to the potter's house. When you get there, I'll tell you what I have to say."
2 "Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words."
2 "Go down to the potter's shop, and I will speak to you there."
(Read Jeremiah 18:1-10)
While Jeremiah looks upon the potter's work, God darts into his mind two great truths. God has authority, and power, to form and fashion kingdoms and nations as he pleases. He may dispose of us as he thinks fit; and it would be as absurd for us to dispute this, as for the clay to quarrel with the potter. But he always goes by fixed rules of justice and goodness. When God is coming against us in judgments, we may be sure it is for our sins; but sincere conversion from the evil of sin will prevent the evil of punishment, as to persons, and to families, and nations.
13 And the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter"-the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.
13 And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.
13 Then the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter"-- the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.
13 God told me, "Throw it in the poor box." This stingy wage was all they thought of me and my work! So I took the thirty silver coins and threw them into the poor box in God's Temple.
13 And the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter"--that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.
13 And the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter "-this magnificent sum at which they valued me! So I took the thirty coins and threw them to the potter in the Temple of the Lord .
(Read Zechariah 11:4-14)
Christ came into this world for judgment to the Jewish church and nation, which were wretchedly corrupt and degenerate. Those have their minds wofully blinded, who do ill, and justify themselves in it; but God will not hold those guiltless who hold themselves so. How can we go to God to beg a blessing on unlawful methods of getting wealth, or to return thanks for success in them? There was a general decay of religion among them, and they regarded it not. The Good Shepherd would feed his flock, but his attention would chiefly be directed to the poor. As an emblem, the prophet seems to have taken two staves; Beauty, denoted the privileges of the Jewish nation, in their national covenant; the other he called Bands, denoting the harmony which hitherto united them as the flock of God. But they chose to cleave to false teachers. The carnal mind and the friendship of the world are enmity to God; and God hates all the workers of iniquity: it is easy to foresee what this will end in. The prophet demanded wages, or a reward, and received thirty pieces of silver. By Divine direction he cast it to the potter, as in disdain for the smallness of the sum. This shadowed forth the bargain of Judas to betray Christ, and the final method of applying it. Nothing ruins a people so certainly, as weakening the brotherhood among them. This follows the dissolving of the covenant between God and them: when sin abounds, love waxes cold, and civil contests follow. No wonder if those fall out among themselves, who have provoked God to fall out with them. Wilful contempt of Christ is the great cause of men's ruin. And if professors rightly valued Christ, they would not contend about little matters.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 19:10
Commentary on Jeremiah 19:10-15
(Read Jeremiah 19:10-15)
The potter's vessel, after it is hardened, can never be pieced again when it is broken. And as the bottle was broken, so shall Judah and Jerusalem be broken by the Chaldeans. No human hand can repair it; but if they return to the Lord he will heal. As they filled Tophet with the slain sacrificed to their idols, so will God fill the whole city with the slain that shall fall as sacrifices to his justice. Whatever men may think, God will appear as terrible against sin and sinners as the Scriptures state; nor shall the unbelief of men make his promise or his threatenings of no effect. The obstinacy of sinners in sinful ways, is their own fault; if they are deaf to the word of God, it is because they have stopped their ears. We have need to pray that God, by his grace, would deliver us from hardness of heart, and contempt of his word and commandments.