“House of Israel, can’t I do with you as this potter?” says Yahweh. “Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel. At the instant I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it; if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them. At the instant I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good with which I said I would benefit them.
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Jeremiah 18:6-10 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Then Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “House of Israel, can’t I do with you as this potter?” says Yahweh. “Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel. At the instant I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it; if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them. At the instant I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good with which I said I would benefit them.
Parallel Translations
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“House of Israel, can’t I do with you as this potter?” says Yahweh. “Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.
At the instant I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;
if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them.
At the instant I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good with which I said I would benefit them.
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O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
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'O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are ye in My hand, O house of Israel.
At one instant I may speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;
but if that nation turn from their evil, because of which I have spoken against it, I repent of the evil that I thought to do unto it.
And at one instant I may speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
but if it do evil in My sight, that it hearken not to My voice, then I repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit it.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (61)
- Isaiah 64:8 (v6) But now, Yahweh, you are our Father. We are the clay and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.
- Romans 9:20-21 (v6) But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed ask him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” Or…
- Isaiah 45:9 (v6) Woe to him who strives with his Maker— a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, ‘What are you…
- Jeremiah 18:4 (v6) When the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the…
- Matthew 20:15 (v6) Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’
Show all 60 cross-references
- Daniel 4:23 (v6) “Whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from the sky, and saying, ‘Cut down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave…
- Ezekiel 18:21 (v8) “But if the wicked turns from all his sins that he has committed, and keeps all my statutes, and does that which is lawful and right, he…
- Jeremiah 26:13 (v8) Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey Yahweh your God’s voice; then Yahweh will relent from the evil that he has…
- Romans 11:34 (v6) “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
- Hosea 11:8 (v8) “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart…
- Jonah 3:9-10 (v8) Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?” God saw their works,…
- Jeremiah 1:10 (vv7, 9) Behold, I have today set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and…
- 1 Samuel 2:30 (v10) “Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father should walk before me forever.’ But…
- Jeremiah 26:3 (v8) It may be they will listen, and every man turn from his evil way; that I may relent from the evil which I intend to do to them because of…
- Jeremiah 31:28 (v9) It will happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so I…
- Ezekiel 33:18 (v10) When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he will even die therein.
- Judges 2:18 (v8) When Yahweh raised up judges for them, then Yahweh was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the…
- 1 Samuel 13:13 (v10) Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you; for now Yahweh…
- Ezekiel 18:24 (v10) “But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked…
- Joel 2:13-14 (v8) Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in…
- Amos 7:3-6 (v8) Yahweh relented concerning this. “It shall not be,” says Yahweh. Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me and behold, the Lord Yahweh called for…
- Amos 9:11-15 (v9) In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it…
- 1 Samuel 15:11 (v10) “It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments.” Samuel…
- Psalms 106:45 (v8) He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
- Psalms 125:5 (v10) But as for those who turn away to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be on Israel.
- Jeremiah 7:3-7 (v8) Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says, “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Don’t trust in…
- Jeremiah 11:17 (v9) For Yahweh of Armies, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of…
- Exodus 32:12 (v8) Why should the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface…
- Numbers 14:22 (v10) because all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten…
- Deuteronomy 32:36 (v8) For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone; that there is no one…
- Judges 10:15-16 (v8) The children of Israel said to Yahweh, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, today.” They put away…
- 1 Samuel 15:35 (v10) Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Yahweh grieved that he had made Saul king over…
- 1 Kings 8:33-34 (v8) “When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; if they turn again to you, and confess…
- 2 Chronicles 12:6 (v8) Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, “Yahweh is righteous.”
- Psalms 90:13 (v8) Relent, Yahweh! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
- Psalms 135:14 (v8) For Yahweh will judge his people and have compassion on his servants.
- Ecclesiastes 3:2 (v9) a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
- Isaiah 1:16-19 (v8) Wash yourselves. Make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well. Seek…
- Jeremiah 7:23-28 (v10) but this thing I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. Walk in all the way that…
- Jeremiah 12:14-17 (v7) Yahweh says, “Concerning all my evil neighbors, who touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will…
- Jeremiah 30:18 (v9) Yahweh says: “Behold, I will reverse the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places. The city will be built on…
- Jeremiah 31:4 (v9) I will build you again, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel. You will again be adorned with your tambourines, and will go out in the…
- Jeremiah 31:38 (v9) “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the city will be built to Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner.
- Jeremiah 32:41 (v9) Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.”
- Jeremiah 45:4 (v7) “You shall tell him, Yahweh says: ‘Behold, that which I have built, I will break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and…
- Zephaniah 1:6 (v10) those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven’t sought Yahweh nor inquired after him.
- Luke 13:3-5 (v8) I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way. Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed…
- Numbers 14:34 (v10) After the number of the days in which you spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, you will bear your iniquities, even…
- Jeremiah 15:6 (v8) You have rejected me,” says Yahweh. “You have gone backward. Therefore I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you. I am…
- Jeremiah 25:9-14 (v7) behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,” says Yahweh, “and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my…
- Jeremiah 26:19 (v8) Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Didn’t he fear Yahweh, and entreat the favor of Yahweh, and Yahweh relented of…
- Jeremiah 36:3 (v8) It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I intend to do to them; that they may each return from his evil way; that I…
- Jeremiah 42:10 (v8) ‘If you will still live in this land, then I will build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I…
- Ezekiel 33:11 (v8) Tell them, ‘ “As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and…
- Ezekiel 33:13 (v8) When I tell the righteous that he will surely live; if he trusts in his righteousness, and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds…
- Ezekiel 45:20 (v10) So you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who errs, and for him who is simple. So you shall make atonement for the house.
- Amos 9:8 (v7) Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will…
- Jonah 2:5-10 (v8) The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The deep was around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the bottoms of…
- Jonah 3:4 (v7) Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried out, and said, “In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!”
- Jonah 4:2 (v8) He prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Please, Yahweh, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to…
60 distinct cross-references across this passage (61 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv6–10 Now, in the application, we must notice how things…
Now, in the application, we must notice how things correspond: As the clay is at the will and under the power of the potter, so men are at the will of God: God then is compared to the potter. There is indeed no comparison between things which are equal, but the Prophet argues from the less to the greater. Then God, with respect to men, is said to be the potter, for we are the clay before him. We must also notice the variety in what was formed: from the same clay one vessel is made, then another different from the first. These three things that are compared ought to be specially observed. It is then said, cannot I, as the potter, do with you, O house of Israel? God includes here two of these comparisons, he compares himself to the potter, and he compares the people to clay. We know that God has much greater power over men than a mortal man over the clay; for however he may form it into vessels he is yet not the creator of the clay. Then much greater authority has God over men than the potter over the clay. But the comparison, as I have said, is of the greater with the less, as though he had said, “The potter can form the clay at his will; am I inferior to him? or, is not my power at least, equal to the power of the artificer, who is a mortal and of an abject condition?” Then he adds, with you, or to you, O house of Israel? as though he had said, “Trust ye in your own excellency as you please, yet ye are not better than the clay, when ye consider what I am and what I can do to you.”
We have now seen two of the comparisons; the third follows--that God can turn us here and there, and change us at his will. Then how foolishly do men trust in their present good fortune; for in a single moment their condition can be altered, as there is nothing certain on the earth.
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But we must bear in mind what I have already stated — that vain was the confidence by which the Jews deluded themselves; for they thought that God was bound to them, and so they promised themselves a state of perpetuity, and, as though they could with impunity despise the whole law, they ever boasted that the covenant, by which God had adopted the seed of Abraham, was hereditary. Now the Prophet shews that the covenant was in such a way hereditary, that yet the Jews ought to have regarded it as it were an adventitious benefit, as though he had said, “What God gave you he can take away at any time; there is then nothing certain to you, except so far as God will be propitious to you.” In short, he reminds them that the whole of their safety depended on God’s gratuitous layout, as though he had said, “Ye have nothing as your own, but what God has conferred on you is at his will and pleasure; he can to-day take away even what he had yesterday given you. What meaneth then this foolish boasting, when ye say that ye are exempted from the common lot of men?”
The Jews might indeed have rightly disregarded all the dangers of the world, for God had gathered them under his own protection; they would indeed have been safe under his guardianship, had they observed mutual faithfulness, so as to be really his people as he had promised to be their God; but as they esteemed as nothing his whole law, and made void the covenant in which they foolishly gloried, the Prophet, as we see, did not without reason shake off that confidence by which they deceived themselves.
We may hence gather a useful doctrine: With regard to the whole race of man there is nothing certain or permanent in this life; for God can change our condition at any time, so as to cast down the rich and the eminent from their elevation, and also to raise up the most despised of men, according to what is said in Psalm 113:7. And we know this to be true, not only as to individuals, but also as to nations and kingdoms. Many kings have so increased their power as to think themselves beyond the reach of harm; and yet we have seen that God laid them prostrate as by a sudden whirlwind: so also it has happened to powerful nations. With regard then to the condition of mankind, God shews here as in a mirror, or by a vivid spectacle, that sudden changes are often in the world: which ought to awaken us from our torpor, so that no one of us may dare to promise himself another day, or even another hour, or another moment. This is one thing; but this doctrine has a peculiar application to us; for as God has by a peculiar favor separated us from the rest of the world, so he would have us to depend wholly on his mere good will. Faith indeed ought to be tranquil, nay, it ought to disregard whatever may bring on us any terror or anxiety; but faith, where has it its seat? In heaven. Then courage is required in all the children of God, so that they may with a quiet mind disregard all the changes of the world. But we must see that the tranquillity of faith be well founded, that is, in humility. For as we cast our anchor in heaven, so also, with regard to ourselves, we ought always to he low and be humble. Whosoever then flies in vain confidence boasts in vain of faith, and falsely pretends that he trusts in God. Let it then ever come to our minds, and constantly recur to us, that our condition is not through ourselves safe and secure, but through the gratuitous goodness of God. We now see the application of this doctrine. The Prophet proceeds, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v8 When the Scripture attributeth repentance unto God, it is…
When the Scripture attributeth repentance unto God, it is not that he doeth contrary to that which he hath ordained in his secret counsel: but when he threateneth, it is a calling to repentance, and when he giveth man grace to repent, the threatening (which ever containeth a condition in it) taketh no place: and this the scripture calleth repentance in God, because it so appeareth to man’s judgment.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv6–10 Jer 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do…
Jer 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay [is] in the potter’s hand, so [are] ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Ver. 6. O house of Israel, cannot I do with you.] Make you or mar you at my pleasure: have I not an absolute sovereignty over you, that ye lift up the heel against me, and awake my power by your provocations?
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As the clay is in the potter’s hand.] What, then, hath vain man to vaunt of? or why should any proud Arminian {a} say, Quod potui, miserentis est Dei; quod volui, id meae est potestatis? That I can do good, is of God’s mercy; that I will do it, is merely in mine own power? This man was sure his own potter, and not willing to owe overmuch of himself to God.
{a} Grevinchovius.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 10 God now expoundeth to the prophet his design in…
God now expoundeth to the prophet his design in bidding him go to the potter’s house, it was to instruct or confirm him in the power that he had over his creatures. For, saith he, as is the clay to the potter, so is the house of Israel (and indeed so are all the sons and daughters of men) unto God; God hath the same power over them that a potter hath over the clay, and a greater right to do what he pleaseth with them, than any potter hath relating to the clay; the clay is but the potter’s purchase, not his creature, but man is God’s creature. God, by his prophet Isaiah, made use of the same similitude, Isa 45:9. So doth the apostle, Rom 9:20. That God hath an absolute sovereign power to do what he pleaseth with the work of his hands, can be denied by no men of sense, whether God useth this his sovereignty in the eternal punishment of sinners, that is another thing; he hath a sovereign power, but he acteth as a just judge, rendering to every man according to his works.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv6–10 If that nation against whom I have pronounced,.... Such…
If that nation against whom I have pronounced,.... Such a sentence as this, should immediately, upon the above declaration, do as Nineveh did:
turn from their evil; their evil of sin, their evil ways and works, as an evidence of the truth of their repentance for former sins:
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I will repent of the evil that one thought to do unto them; as they change their course of life, God will change the dispensations of his providence towards them, and not bring upon them the evil of punishment he threatened them with; in which sense repentance can only be understood of God, he doing that which is similar to what men do when they repent of anything; they stop their proceedings, and change their outward conduct; so God proceeds not to do what he threatened to do, and changes his outward behaviour to men; he wills a change, and makes one in his methods of acting, but never changes his will.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v6 Cannot I do - That God hath an absolute…
Cannot I do - That God hath an absolute sovereign power to do what he pleases with the work of his hands: but he acts as a just judge, rendering to every man according to his works.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv6–10 Verse 6. Cannot I do with you as this…
Verse 6. Cannot I do with you as this potter?] Have I not a right to do with a people whom I have created as reason and justice may require? If they do not answer my intentions, may I not reject and destroy them; and act as this potter, make a new vessel out of that which at first did not succeed in his hands?
It is generally supposed that St. Paul has made a very different use of this similitude from that mentioned above. See Ro 9:20, c. His words are, "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?" To this every sensible and pious man will answer, Undoubtedly he has. But would any potter make an exceedingly fair and good vessel on purpose to dash it to pieces when he had done? Surely no! And would or could, the God of infinite perfection and love make millions of immortal souls on purpose for eternal perdition, as the horrible decree of reprobation states? No! This is a lie against all the attributes of God. But does not the text state that he can, out of the same lump, the same mass of human nature, make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour? Yes. But the text does not say, what the horrible decree says, that he makes one part, and indeed the greater, for eternal perdition. But what then is the meaning of the text? Why evidently this: As out of the same mass of clay a potter may make a flagon for the table and a certain utensil for the chamber, the one for a more honourable, the other for a less honourable use, though both equally necessary to the owner so God, out of the same flesh and blood, may make the tiller of the field and the prophet of the Most High; the one in a more honourable, the other in a less honourable employ; yet both equally necessary in the world, and equally capable of bringing glory to God in their respective places. But if the vessel be marred in his hand, under his providential and gracious dealings, he may reject it as he did the Jews, and make another vessel, such as he is pleased with, of the Gentiles; yet even these marred vessels, the reprobate Jews, are not finally rejected; for all Israel shall be saved in (through) the Lord, i.e., Jesus Christ. And should the Gentiles act as the Jews have done, then they also shall be cut off, and God will call his Church by another name. See Clarke on Ro 9:22 and below.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 9 Jer 18:6. Cannot I do with you as this…
Jer 18:6. Cannot I do with you as this potter? — Have I not as absolute an authority and power over you? Nay, God has an infinitely clearer title to dominion over us than the potter has over the clay, for the potter only gives the clay its form; whereas we have both matter and form from God. As the work of his hands, made and preserved by him, and yet more as sinners redeemed by him, we are entirely in his hands, and at his disposal, and he has an undoubted right to do with us what he pleases. But as a being infinitely holy, just, and gracious, in all his conduct toward his intelligent, free, and immortal offspring, he acts by fixed rules of perfect equity and infinite goodness. He frequently dispenses favours, indeed, to individuals, families, and nations, in a way of sovereignty, but never punishes by arbitrary power. Strong is his hand, and high is his right hand, (Psa 89:13,) but, as it there follows, justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne. He asserts his absolute power, and tells us what he might do; but at the same time assures us that he will act as a merciful and righteous judge.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv6–8 So are ye in mine hand - When a…
So are ye in mine hand - When a vessel was ruined, the potter did not throw it away, but crushed it together, dashed it back upon the wheel, and began his work afresh, until the clay had taken the predetermined shape. It was God’s purpose that Judaea should become the proper scene for the manifestation of the Messiah, and her sons be fit to receive the Saviour’s teaching and carry the good tidings to all lands. If therefore at any stage of the preparation the Jewish nation took such a course as would have frustrated this purpose of Providence, it was crushed by affliction into an unresisting mass, in which the formative process began again immediately.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v8 Shall repent, having free-will, though prevented by grace. (St.…
Shall repent, having free-will, though prevented by grace. (St. Jerome)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv6–8 Refuting the Jews' reliance on their external privileges as…
Refuting the Jews' reliance on their external privileges as God's elect people, as if God could never cast them off. But if the potter, a mere creature, has power to throw away a marred vessel and raise up other clay from the ground, a fortiori God, the Creator, can east away the people who prove unfaithful to His election and can raise others in their stead (compare Isa 45:9; Isa 64:8; Rom 9:20-21). It is curious that the potter's field should have been the purchase made with the price of Judas' treachery (Mat 27:9-10 : a potter's vessel dashed to pieces, compare Psa 2:8-9; Rev 2:27), because of its failing to answer the maker's design, being the very image to depict God's sovereign power to give reprobates to destruction, not by caprice, but in the exercise of His righteous judgment. Matthew quotes Zechariah's words (Zac 11:12-13) as Jeremiah's because the latter (Jer. 18:1-19:15) was the source from which the former derived his summary in Zac 11:12-13 [HENGSTENBERG].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 10 7, 9. At what instant… at what instant —…
7, 9. At what instant… at what instant — These phrases are correlative, like the now… now, of Jer_18:11.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv6–8 6. “First of the prophets, Jeremiah proclaims distinctly what…
6. “First of the prophets, Jeremiah proclaims distinctly what had been more or less implied throughout, that predictions were subject to no overruling necessity, but depended for their fulfilment on the moral state of those to whom they were addressed; that the most confident assurance of blessing could be frustrated by sin; that the most awful warnings of calamity could be averted by repentance.” Stanley’s J. Ch. II. 445. Cp. the story of Jonah, and in Ezekiel (Jer_18:21 ff., Jer_33:12 ff.) the application of the same thought to individuals.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv6–7 (6) Cannot I do with you as this potter?—The…
(6) Cannot I do with you as this potter?—The question implies a theory of the universe, which is neither (as some have thought) one of absolute fatalism, crushing man’s freedom, nor, on the other hand, one which merges God’s sovereignty in man’s power of choice. The clay can resist the potter, or can yield itself willingly to his hands to be shaped as he wills. Its being “marred” is through no fault of the potter, but—in the framework of the parable—through the defect of the material, and, in its application, through the resistance of the human agents whom God is fashioning. And when it is so marred one of two courses is open to the potter. He can again re-mould and fashion it to his purpose, to a new work which may be less honourable than that for which it was originally designed; or, if it be hopelessly marred, can break it and cast it away, and with fresh clay mould a fresh vessel. The history of nations and churches and individual men offers many examples of both processes. They frustrate God’s gracious purpose by their self-will, but His long-suffering leads them to repentance, and gives them, to speak after the manner of men, yet another chance of being moulded by His hands. Here the prophet invites the people, as the clay, to accept the former alternative. St. Paul, taking the same analogy, looks forward to the time when the marred vessel of Israel shall be restored to the Master’s house and be honoured in His service (Rom_9:21; Rom_11:26). The closing verses of Browning’s poem, “Rabbi Ben-Ezra,” in Men and Women, may be referred to as embodying the same thought :—
“But I need Thee, as then,
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Thee, God, who mouldest men;
And since, not even while the whirl was worst,
Did I—to the wheel of life,
With shapes and colours rife,
Bound dizzily—mistake my end, to slake Thy thirst,
“So take and use Thy work!
Amend what flaws may lurk,
What strain o’ the stuff, what warpings past the aim!
My times be in Thy hand;
Perfect the cup as planned!
Let age approve of youth, and death complete the same.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv6–8 HOMILIES BY J. WAITE Ver. 6. The potter and…
HOMILIES BY J. WAITE Ver. 6. The potter and the clay.
The analogy here instituted enshrines truths that are of universal application. They have their individual quite as much as their national beatings. Nowhere does the representative character of the house of Israel appear mere clearly than in this passage; nowhere do we get a more striking view of the general method of the Divine dealings with the human race. It suggests
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I GOD"S ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE BEING AND LIFE OF EVERY MAN. The figure of the potter and the clay is one of frequent occurrence in Holy Scripture. (vide Job_10:9 Isa_64:8 Rom_9:10) It vividly represents the subjection of our nature and our personal history to the Divine control. The fact of our moral freedom, the mysterious prerogative that belongs to us of choosing and following our own way, must needs make the comparison defective. There is some point at which all such physical analogies fail duly to set forth the realities of moral and spiritual life. But it is deeply true as suggestive of the power God has over us to mold us as he pleases. Free as our will may be, is not our whole nature as plastic material in the hands of him who made us? Free as we may be to pursue our own chosen course of life, can we ever escape the "Divinity that shapes our ends?" There is a hidden power, whether we acknowledge it or not, the mastery of which over thought, feeling, purpose, and action is the deepest reality of our existence.
II HIS FORMATIVE PURPOSE. Distinguish between a sovereign power and one that is arbitrary and capricious. Complete as the Divine mastery over us may be, it is not lawless or purposeless. It has always a definite end in view, and that end is wise and holy and good. As the potter seeks to fashion the clay into some beautiful or useful form that his own brain has first conceived, so God, by his providential and spiritual control, seeks to work out a Divine idea in our being and life, to body forth in us some archetype of moral beauty that exists in his own eternal mind. He would fain fashion us into a noble form and fit us for some noble use. In God"s "great house" there are many utilities. And even the vessel "unto dishonor" has its place and its purpose. Our faith in the infinitely wise and holy love that governs all leads us to rest in the thought"That nothing walks with aimless feet; That not one life shall be destroyed Or cast as rubbish to the void, When God hath made the pile complete.
But he who formed us for himself would not have any of us to be content with an inferior position and a lower aim. He would so mold and fashion us that we shall be "vessels unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master"s. (2Ti_2:21)
III HIS LONG-SUFFERING PATIENCE. When the potter"s work is marred, he presses the clay into a shapeless mass and casts it upon the wheel again. We are reminded of the various methods God employs in molding us to his will, and how if one fails he will often subject us to another. There are events that sometimes break up the whole form of a man"s life; old ties are severed, old associations pass away; he beans an altogether new career, with new responsibilities, new moral tests, new possibilities of good. There are afflictions that change the whole tenor of a man"s inward life; his spirit is crushed, wounded, softened, that it may the better receive Divine impressions. "God maketh my heart soft, etc. (Job_23:16) "My heart is like wax". (Psa_22:14) Thus does God "humble us to prove us, to know what is in our heart, whether we will keep his commandments or not". (Deu_8:2) There may come a time when all these Divine methods fail and the soul is found to be reprobate. In Jer_19:1-11 we have a figurative prophecy of the ultimate abandonment of the Jewish people to their fate. In this case the vessel has been baked in the fire; it is incapable of taking a new shape, and is broken so "that it cannot be made whole again." Such is the doom of the finally impenitent and intractable. But God"s patience is very wonderful. In this world at least the door of mercy is always open. There is always the possibility of a new and nobler life. He "is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance". W. (2Pe_3:9)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v7 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn…
Jer_18:7-8
If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent.
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Fast sermon
I. The being and condition of countries and communities, of nations and kingdoms, are under the control of the Most High. To suppose Him watchful of the operations in the universe, and yet not active in the management of them, would seem irreconcilable with the inefficacy of all laws without His might; with the appearance of design in most events; with the effects of a sublime power which many of them display; and with the existence, on peculiar occasions, of some occurrences which have been departures from the ordinary course of nature. To believe any affairs to be under the guidance of His providence, and yet to imagine that the fortunes of whole countries and people are free from His observation and care, would be inconsistent with the variety and magnitude of the interests which are in those fortunes always involved. But it may be objected, if it is thus certain that the events of time are under the superintendence of God, why are there so great evils both in the natural and political world? To this it would be sufficient to reply, that in us beings of yesterday, who see but a few links of the vast chain in which the Almighty hath connected all occurrences in the universe; who with the utmost effort of our faculties are unable, in this our low position, to perceive the final results of any of His operations; it is vainly presumptuous to attempt to fathom the counsels of His mind; and worse than presumptuous, with the evidences which He hath vouchsafed to give us in His word and works, of His wisdom, goodness, and rectitude, to doubt that all His arrangements will terminate to the honour of His government, and the greatest possible benefit of His creatures. As the objection, however, is plausible, it may be well to observe further, that our estimate of what appears to be evil may often be erroneous. Somewhere I have seen it with striking force and beauty asked, whether the insect whose habitation the ploughshare overturns knows that its motions conduce to that fertility of the earth which is to sustain many intelligent creatures? In like manner, from the convulsions and terrible occurrences in the moral world, there may be educed by the Being who bringeth good out of evil, such results as will advance His purposes, and the general welfare.
II. The great cause of perplexities and troubles, calamities and ruin, in any region, is the predominance of corrupt principles and manners. For the evils which the Divine Providence sends upon the world, there can be no other cause than the transgressions of the inhabitants thereof. The Scriptures again and again represent the calamities of a people as the punishment of their sins (Hos_14:1; Jer_5:9; Jer_5:25; Jer_18:9-10; Hab_3:12-13; Psa_75:9-10; 1Ki_9:7-9). Nor is reason less explicit upon this truth than revelation. Upon a little reflection she perceives that the Almighty, being perfectly holy, wise, and good, will approve and encourage virtue. This necessarily implies the condemnation and punishment of vice. In beings destined to exist hereafter, there is extensive opportunity for the fulfilment of the Divine intentions. Their immortality opens a wide field for the display of the justice of God. And hence it is, that in this present state vice does not always in the individual meet its retribution, nor virtue its reward. But nations and communities, as such, are not immortal. It should therefore seem reasonable that they should in their present existence enjoy the rewards due to their virtues, and endure the punishments which their vices deserve. To place the point beyond dispute, experience, weeping as she reviews her venerable annals, declares from them that the indignation of Heaven has frequently been brought upon whole communities by their sins: that debase inert, calamity, and ruin have resulted to them from the predominance of depraved principles and manners.
III. By a timely reformation of their principles and lives, communities may avert the displeasure of the Almighty. Contrition is estimable, and acceptable through the Redeemer, in an individual. It has turned away the wrath of Heaven from many an offender. But when a community, as one body, is roused by a sense of danger, or by the calls of the Most High, in alarming occurrences, in foreign examples, or in His holy Word, or by their own consciousness of a relaxed state of religion and morals, to consider their ways, and turn with sincerity to God, to humble themselves before Him, and to express their earnest desire to be made objects of His forgiveness and favour: if ever He may be said to be taken with holy violence, it is by such an act. (Bishop Dehon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v8 (See Scofield "Zec 8:14").
repent
(See Scofield "Zec 8:14").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v9 build it up or plant it
build it up or plant it
These two phrases mean basically the same thing. Yahweh speaks of strengthening kingdoms as if they were buildings that he would build, and as if they were plants that he would plant. (See: Doublet and Metaphor)
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if it does evil in my eyes
Here the word "it" refers to a nation or kingdom, which is a metonym for the people in that nation or kingdom. The word "eyes" represents seeing, and seeing represents thoughts or judgment. AT: "if the people of that nation do things that I consider to be evil" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
not listening to my voice
Here the word "voice" represents the words that Yahweh speaks. Here, "not listening" is an idiom that means that they do not obey. AT: "not obeying what I say" (See: Metonymy and Idiom)
translationWords
voice
good
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v7 18:7-10 If a nation or kingdom rejected the one…
18:7-10 If a nation or kingdom rejected the one true God, then God could decree that it be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed (cp. 1:10). If the nation changed its evil ways, the Lord’s anger would relent and he would not destroy it.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.