Lamentations 2:21

ש (Sin/Shin)

2:21 The young boys and old men

lie dead on the ground in the streets.

My young women ¹  and my young men

have fallen by the sword.

You killed them when you were angry; ² 

you slaughtered them without mercy. ³ 

Lamentations 5:12

5:12 Princes were hung by their hands;

elders were mistreated. ⁴ 

Isaiah 30:14

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

so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. ⁵ 

Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough ⁶ 

to scoop a hot coal from a fire ⁷ 

or to skim off water from a cistern.” ⁸ 

Jeremiah 19:11

19:11 Tell them the Lord who rules over all says, ⁹  ‘I will do just as Jeremiah has done. ¹⁰  I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter’s vessel which is broken beyond repair. ¹¹  The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.’ ¹² 

Jeremiah 22:28

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

He will be like a clay vessel ¹³  that no one wants. ¹⁴ 

Why will he and his children be forced into exile?

Why will they be thrown out into a country they know nothing about? ¹⁵ 

Romans 9:21-23

9:21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay ¹⁶  one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? ¹⁷  9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ¹⁸  of wrath ¹⁹  prepared for destruction? ²⁰  9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects ²¹  of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory –

Romans 9:2

9:2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ²² 

Colossians 4:7

Personal Greetings and Instructions

4:7 Tychicus, a dear brother, faithful minister, and fellow slave ²³  in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. ²⁴ 

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 2:20

2:20 If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits ²⁵  of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world?

[2:21]  ¹ tn Heb “virgins.” The term “virgin” probably functions as a metonymy of association for single young women.

[2:21]  ² tn Heb “in the day of your anger.” The construction בָּיוֹם (bayom, “in the day of…”) is a common Hebrew idiom, meaning “when…” (e.g., Gen 2:4; Lev 7:35; Num 3:1; Deut 4:15; 2 Sam 22:1; Pss 18:1; 138:3; Zech 8:9). This temporal idiom refers to a general time period, but uses the term “day” as a forceful rhetorical device to emphasize the vividness and drama of the event, depicting it as occurring within a single day. In the ancient Near East, military minded kings often referred to a successful campaign as “the day of X” in order to portray themselves as powerful conquerors who, as it were, could inaugurate and complete a victory military campaign within the span of one day.

[2:21]  ³ tc The MT reads לֹא חָמָלְתָּ (lo’ khamalta, “You showed no mercy”). However, many medieval Hebrew mss and most of the ancient versions (Aramaic Targum, Syriac Peshitta and Latin Vulgate) read וְלֹא חָמָלְתָּ (vÿlo’ khamalta, “and You showed no mercy”).

[5:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “elders were shown no respect.” The phrase “shown no respect” is an example of tapeinosis, a figurative expression of understatement: to show no respect to elders = to terribly mistreat elders.

[30:14]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The words “large enough” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[30:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “to remove fire from the place of kindling.”

[30:14]  ⁸ tn On the meaning of גֶבֶא (geveh, “cistern”) see HALOT 170 s.v.

[19:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies.” For this title see the study note on 2:19. The translation attempts to avoid the confusion of embedding quotes within quotes by reducing this one to an indirect quote.

[19:11]  ¹⁰ tn The adverb “Thus” or “Like this” normally points back to something previously mentioned. See, e.g., Exod 29:35; Num 11:15; 15:11; Deut 25:9.

[19:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Like this I will break this people and this city, just as one breaks the vessel of a potter which is not able to be repaired.”

[19:11]  ¹² sn See Jer 7:22-23 for parallels.

[22:28]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.

[9:21]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”

[9:21]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”

[9:22]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:22]  ¹⁹ tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

[9:22]  ²⁰ 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.

[9:23]  ²¹ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:2]  ²² tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”

[4:7]  ²³ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:7]  ²⁴ tn Grk “all things according to me.”

[2:20]  ²⁵ tn See the note on the phrase “elemental spirits” in 2:8.