Jeremiah's symbolic breaking of the potter's flask mirrors God's irreversible judgment, using the Hebrew word "naphats" (shatter) that appears only here and in descriptions of divine wrath against nations.
Jeremiah 19
The Broken Flask
1Thus said the LORD, “Go, and buy a potter’s earthen container, and take some of the elders of the people and of the elders of the priests;
2and go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I will tell you.
3Say, ‘Hear the LORD’s word, kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says, “Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which whoever hears, his ears will tingle.
4Because they have forsaken me, and have defiled this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods that they didn’t know—they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah—and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
5and have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I didn’t command, nor speak, which didn’t even enter into my mind.
6Therefore, behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that this place will no more be called ‘Topheth’, nor ‘The Valley of the son of Hinnom’, but ‘The valley of Slaughter’.
7“‘“I will make the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem void in this place. I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.
8I will make this city an astonishment and a hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.
9I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters. They will each eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, will distress them.”’
10“Then you shall break the container in the sight of the men who go with you,
11and shall tell them, ‘The LORD of Armies says: “Even so I will break this people and this city as one breaks a potter’s vessel, that can’t be made whole again. They will bury in Topheth until there is no place to bury.
12This is what I will do to this place,” says the LORD, “and to its inhabitants, even making this city as Topheth.
13The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, will be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.”’”
14Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the LORD’s house, and said to all the people:
15“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says, ‘Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.’”
Font Size 17pt
Line Spacing
Theme
God commands Jeremiah to perform a dramatic prophetic act using a potter's flask to symbolize Jerusalem's coming destruction. The prophet takes elders to the Valley of Hinnom, where he condemns Judah's idolatry and child sacrifice to Baal, then shatters the vessel to illustrate how God will irreparably break the nation. This powerful visual prophecy emphasizes that Jerusalem's judgment is final and complete, like a broken pot that cannot be repaired.
Context
This symbolic act follows Jeremiah's temple sermon and potter's house vision, intensifying the theme of inevitable judgment that will culminate in his arrest in chapter 20.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-2 The Prophetic Setup God instructs Jeremiah to buy a potter's flask and gather elders at the Valley of Hinnom.
- 3-5 Charges Against Judah God condemns the people for forsaking Him, practicing idolatry, and sacrificing children to Baal.
- 6-9 Judgment Pronounced The valley will become a place of slaughter with devastating siege conditions and cannibalism.
- 10-13 The Broken Flask Jeremiah breaks the vessel to symbolize how God will irreparably shatter Jerusalem and its people.
- 14-15 Temple Court Declaration Jeremiah returns to proclaim the same judgment in the temple court to all the people.
The Broken Flask
19:1–19:15 prophecy instruction warning
God commands Jeremiah to perform a symbolic act with a potter's flask, breaking it to demonstrate how He will break Jerusalem and Judah for their idolatry and child sacrifice. The valley of Hinnom will become a place of slaughter.
person_contrast
Jeremiah's symbolic breaking of the potter's flask mirrors God's irreversible judgment, using the Hebrew word "naphats" (shatter) that appears only here and in descriptions of divine wrath against nations.
Insights
Cross-References
Connected passages across Scripture
Jeremiah 19:3 1 reference
Jeremiah 19:4 5 references
Lexicals 5
Jeremiah 7:6 Lexical
if you don’t oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and don’t shed innocent blood in this place, and don’…
2 Kings 22:17 Lexical
Because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the wo…
2 Kings 21:16 Lexical
Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; in addition to h…
2 Kings 24:4 Lexical
and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon…
Jeremiah 1:16 Lexical
I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned i…
Jeremiah 19:5 5 references
Lexicals 5
Jeremiah 7:31 Lexical
They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their da…
Jeremiah 32:35 Lexical
They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughter…
2 Kings 21:3 Lexical
For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he raised up altars for Baal, and made a…
2 Chronicles 33:3 Lexical
For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he raised up altars for the Baals, mad…
Jeremiah 32:29 Lexical
The Chaldeans, who fight against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and burn it with the houses on whose ro…
Jeremiah 19:6 3 references
Lexicals 3
Jeremiah 7:32 Lexical
Therefore behold, the days come”, says the LORD, “that it will no more be called ‘Topheth’ or ‘The valley of the son of…
Jeremiah 7:31 Lexical
They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their da…
2 Kings 23:10 Lexical
He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to…
Jeremiah 19:7 5 references
Lexicals 5
Jeremiah 34:20 Lexical
I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies w…
Jeremiah 16:4 Lexical
“They will die grievous deaths. They will not be lamented, neither will they be buried. They will be as dung on the surf…
Jeremiah 7:33 Lexical
The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth. No one will frig…
Deuteronomy 28:26 Lexical
Your dead bodies will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one to frig…
Psalms 79:2 Lexical
They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the an…
Jeremiah 19:8 2 references
Jeremiah 19:9 3 references
Lexicals 3
Deuteronomy 28:53 Lexical
You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom the LORD your God has given…
Deuteronomy 28:55 Lexical
so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to hi…
Deuteronomy 28:57 Lexical
toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them…
Jeremiah 19:11 1 reference
Jeremiah 19:12 1 reference
Jeremiah 19:13 5 references
Lexicals 5
Jeremiah 32:29 Lexical
The Chaldeans, who fight against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and burn it with the houses on whose ro…
Jeremiah 44:18 Lexical
But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all…
Jeremiah 44:25 Lexical
The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands…
Jeremiah 44:17 Lexical
But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky and to…
Jeremiah 44:19 Lexical
The women said, “When we burned incense to the queen of the sky and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her c…
Jeremiah 19:15 1 reference
Interlinear
Word-by-word original language
v. 1
v. 2
v. 3
v. 4
v. 5
v. 6
v. 7
v. 8
v. 9
v. 10
v. 11
v. 12
v. 13
v. 14
v. 15
Lemma
Morphology
Semantic Range
Theological Significance
Translation Notes
Key Passages
Historical Context
Places and events in this chapter
Loading map...