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Text -- Jeremiah 18:1-16 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
An Object Lesson from the Making of Pottery
18:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah :
18:2 “Go down at once to the potter’s house . I will speak to you further there .”
18:3 So I went down to the potter’s house and found him working at his wheel .
18:4 Now and then there would be something wrong with the pot he was molding from the clay with his hands . So he would rework the clay into another kind of pot as he saw fit .
18:5 Then the Lord said to me,
18:6 “I, the Lord , say : ‘O nation of Israel , can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay ? In my hands , you , O nation of Israel , are just like the clay in this potter’s hand .’
18:7 There are times , Jeremiah, when I threaten to uproot , tear down , and destroy a nation or kingdom .
18:8 But if that nation I threatened stops doing wrong , I will cancel the destruction I intended to do to it.
18:9 And there are times when I promise to build up and establish a nation or kingdom .
18:10 But if that nation does what displeases me and does not obey me, then I will cancel the good I promised to do to it.
18:11 So now , tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem this : The Lord says , ‘I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you. So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing . Correct the way you have been living and do what is right.’
18:12 But they just keep saying , ‘We do not care what you say ! We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly !’”
18:13 Therefore , the Lord says , “Ask the people of other nations whether they have heard of anything like this . Israel should have been like a virgin . But she has done something utterly revolting !
18:14 Does the snow ever completely vanish from the rocky slopes of Lebanon ? Do the cool waters from those distant mountains ever cease to flow ?
18:15 Yet my people have forgotten me and offered sacrifices to worthless idols! This makes them stumble along in the way they live and leave the old reliable path of their fathers. They have left them to walk in bypaths , in roads that are not smooth and level .
18:16 So their land will become an object of horror . People will forever hiss out their scorn over it. All who pass that way will be filled with horror and will shake their heads in derision.
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
God |
PROVIDENCE, 2 |
Clay |
Church |
POTTER; POTTERY |
HANDICRAFT |
Government |
Nation |
Lebanon |
Contingencies |
Backsliders |
Snow |
Idolatry |
Repentance |
ATHEISM |
Wheel |
Pottery |
Israel |
PROPHECY; PROPHETS, 1 |
GOOD |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Jer 18:1; Jer 18:2; Jer 18:2; Jer 18:3; Jer 18:3; Jer 18:4; Jer 18:4; Jer 18:4; Jer 18:4; Jer 18:4; Jer 18:5; Jer 18:6; Jer 18:6; Jer 18:7; Jer 18:7; Jer 18:8; Jer 18:8; Jer 18:8; Jer 18:9; Jer 18:11; Jer 18:11; Jer 18:11; Jer 18:11; Jer 18:12; Jer 18:12; Jer 18:12; Jer 18:14; Jer 18:14; Jer 18:15; Jer 18:15; Jer 18:16; Jer 18:16; Jer 18:16
NET Notes: Jer 18:1 Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:” This same formula occurs ten other times in Jeremiah. It has already occurred...
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NET Notes: Jer 18:3 At his wheel (Heb “at the two stones”). The Hebrew expression is very descriptive of the construction of a potter’s wheel which cons...
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NET Notes: Jer 18:4 Heb “as it was right in his eyes to do [or work it].” For this idiom see Judg 14:3, 7; 1 Sam 18:20, 26; 2 Sam 17:4.
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NET Notes: Jer 18:6 The words “deals with the clay” are not in the text. They are part of an elliptical comparison and are supplied in the translation here fo...
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NET Notes: Jer 18:7 Heb “One moment I may speak about a nation or kingdom to…” So also in v. 9. The translation is structured this way to avoid an awkwa...
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NET Notes: Jer 18:8 There is a wordplay here involving the word “evil” (רָעָה, ra’ah) which refers to both the crime and t...
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NET Notes: Jer 18:9 Heb “plant.” The terms “uproot,” “tear down,” “destroy,” “build,” and “plant” ...
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NET Notes: Jer 18:12 This has been the consistent pattern of their behavior. See 7:24; 9:13; 13:10; 16:12.
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NET Notes: Jer 18:14 Israel’s actions are contrary to nature. See the same kind of argumentation in Jer 2:11; 8:7.
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NET Notes: Jer 18:15 Heb “ways that are not built up.” This refers to the built-up highways. See Isa 40:4 for the figure. The terms “way,” “b...
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