Jeremiah 22:28

22:28 This man, Jeconiah, will be like a broken pot someone threw away.

He will be like a clay vessel ¹  that no one wants. ² 

Why will he and his children be forced into exile?

Why will they be thrown out into a country they know nothing about? ³ 

Jeremiah 25:34

25:34 Wail and cry out in anguish, you rulers!

Roll in the dust, you who shepherd flocks of people! ⁴ 

The time for you to be slaughtered has come.

You will lie scattered and fallen like broken pieces of fine pottery. ⁵ 

Psalms 2:9

2:9 You will break them ⁶  with an iron scepter; ⁷ 

you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” ⁸ 

Isaiah 30:14

30:14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar,

so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. ⁹ 

Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough ¹⁰ 

to scoop a hot coal from a fire ¹¹ 

or to skim off water from a cistern.” ¹² 

Hosea 8:8

8:8 Israel will be swallowed up among the nations;

they will be like a worthless piece of pottery.

Romans 9:21-22

9:21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay ¹³  one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? ¹⁴  9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ¹⁵  of wrath ¹⁶  prepared for destruction? ¹⁷ 

Romans 9:2

9:2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ¹⁸ 

Romans 2:20-21

2:20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth – 2:21 therefore ¹⁹  you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

Revelation 2:27

2:27 he ²⁰  will rule ²¹  them with an iron rod ²² 

and like clay jars he will break them to pieces, ²³ 

[22:28]  ¹ tn The word translated “clay vessel” occurs only here. Its meaning, however, is assured on the basis of the parallelism and on the basis of the verb root which is used for shaping or fashioning in Job 10:8. The KJV renders it as “idol,” but that word, while having the same consonants, never appears in the singular. The word is missing in the Greek version but is translated “vessel” in the Latin version. The word “clay” is supplied in the translation to clarify what sort of vessel is meant; its inclusion is justified based on the context and the use of the same verb root in Job 10:8 to refer to shaping or fashioning, which would imply clay pots or vessels.

[22:28]  ² tn Heb “Is this man, Coniah, a despised, broken vessel or a vessel that no one wants?” The question is rhetorical expecting a positive answer in agreement with the preceding oracle.

[22:28]  ³ sn The question “Why?” is a common rhetorical feature in the book of Jeremiah. See Jer 2:14, 31; 8:5, 19, 22; 12:1; 13:22; 14:19. In several cases like this one no answer is given, leaving a sense of exasperation and hopelessness with the sinfulness of the nation that calls forth such punishment from God.

[25:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “Wail and cry out, you shepherds. Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.” The terms have been reversed to explain the figure.

[25:34]  ⁵ tn The meaning of this line is debated. The Greek version does not have the words “lie scattered” and it reads the words “like broken pieces of fine pottery” (Heb “like choice vessels”; כִּכְלִי חֶמְדָּה, kikhli khemdah) as “like choice rams” (כְּאֵילֵי חֶמְדָּה, kÿ’ele khemdah); i.e., “the days have been completed for you to be slaughtered and you will fall like choice rams.” The reading of the Greek version fits the context better, but is probably secondary for that very reason. The word translated “lie scattered” (תְּפוֹצָה, tÿfotsah) occurs nowhere else and the switch to the simile of “choice vessels” is rather abrupt. However, this section has been characterized by switching metaphors. The key to the interpretation and translation here is the consequential nature of the verbal actions involved. “Fall” does not merely refer to the action but the effect, i.e., “lie fallen” (cf. BDB 657 s.v. נָפַל 7 and compare Judg 3:25; 1 Sam 31:8). Though the noun translated “lie scattered” does not occur elsewhere, the verb does. It is quite commonly used of dispersing people and that has led many to see that as the reference here. The word, however, can be used of scattering other things like seed (Isa 28:25), arrows (2 Sam 22:15; metaphorical for lightning), etc. Here it follows “slaughtered” and refers to their dead bodies. The simile (Heb “ fallen like choice vessels”) is elliptical, referring to “broken pieces” of choice vessels. In this sense the simile fits in perfectly with v. 33.

[2:9]  ⁶ tc The LXX reads “you will shepherd them.” This reading, quoted in the Greek text of the NT in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, assumes a different vocalization of the consonantal Hebrew text and understands the verb as רָעָה (ra’ah, “to shepherd”) rather than רָעָע (ra’a’, “to break”). But the presence of נָפַץ (nafats, “to smash”) in the next line strongly favors the MT vocalization.

[2:9]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a “staff” or “rod,” but here it probably refers to the Davidic king’s royal scepter, symbolizing his sovereignty.

[2:9]  ⁸ sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.

[30:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “Its shattering is like the shattering of a jug of [i.e., “made by”] potters, [so] shattered one cannot save [any of it].”

[30:14]  ¹⁰ tn The words “large enough” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[30:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to remove fire from the place of kindling.”

[30:14]  ¹² tn On the meaning of גֶבֶא (geveh, “cistern”) see HALOT 170 s.v.

[9:21]  ¹³ tn Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”

[9:21]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”

[9:22]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:22]  ¹⁶ tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

[9:22]  ¹⁷ tn Or possibly “objects of wrath that have fit themselves for destruction.” The form of the participle could be taken either as a passive or middle (reflexive). ExSyn 417-18 argues strongly for the passive sense (which is followed in the translation), stating that “the middle view has little to commend it.” First, καταρτίζω (katartizw) is nowhere else used in the NT as a direct or reflexive middle (a usage which, in any event, is quite rare in the NT). Second, the lexical force of this verb, coupled with the perfect tense, suggests something of a “done deal” (against some commentaries that see these vessels as ready for destruction yet still able to avert disaster). Third, the potter-clay motif seems to have one point: The potter prepares the clay.

[9:2]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”

[2:21]  ¹⁹ tn The structure of vv. 21-24 is difficult. Some take these verses as the apodosis of the conditional clauses (protases) in vv. 17-20; others see vv. 17-20 as an instance of anacoluthon (a broken off or incomplete construction).

[2:27]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:27]  ²¹ tn Grk “will shepherd.”

[2:27]  ²² tn Or “scepter.” The Greek term ῥάβδος (rJabdo") can mean either “rod” or “scepter.”

[2:27]  ²³ sn A quotation from Ps 2:9 (with the line introducing the quotation containing a partial allusion to Ps 2:8). See also Rev 12:5, 19:15.