18:1–17. The prophet visits the potter’s house

This passage shows how Jeremiah, as a result of watching the potter throwing his clay, perceived how the divine Potter shaped his human clay. Pottery-making was a familiar activity throughout the Near East, and the lessons taught here would be appreciated readily enough in Judah. The material probably dates from the earlier days of Jehoiakim.

3–6. The Hebrew form of the wheel is dual, ‘the pair of stones’. On a vertical axis two circular stones were fitted, the lower one being spun by the potter’s feet. This caused the upper disc to rotate also, and the clay which was placed in the middle was shaped by hand as the wheel revolved (cf. Ecclus. 38:29f.). In verse 4 some MSS read kaḥōmer (‘like the clay’) instead of MT baḥōmer (‘in (with) the clay’). The former would then read, Whenever a vessel which he was fashioning became misshapen, as clay occasionally does in the potter’s hands … However, the MT reading seems preferable: Whenever the vessel which he was fashioning from the worked clay was disfigured by the potter’s hands … Quite frequently in the process of throwing the clay, some defect in design, size or structure would arise. The potter then squeezed the developing pot into an amorphous mass and recommenced his task of shaping the raw material into some other suitable container. Jeremiah was impressed by the control which the potter exercised over the clay. Whatever the reasons for dissatisfaction, he took the material and worked on it until it met his specifications. In the same way God has absolute control over his people, and will dispose their destiny according to his purposes (cf. Rom. 9:19ff.).