Jeremiah 19:10

10 Then the Lord told me to break the jar in front of those who had gone with me

Jeremiah 19:10 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 19:10

Then shall thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that
go with thee.
] The earthen bottle he was bid to get of the potter, ( Jeremiah 19:1 ) ; this he is ordered to break in pieces before the eyes of the ancients of and of the priests that went with him out Jerusalem to Tophet, as an emblem of the easy, sure, and utter destruction of Jerusalem; for nothing is more easily broken than an earthen vessel; and so easily was Jerusalem destroyed by the Chaldean army; nor can an earthen pot resist any force that is used against it; nor could the inhabitants of Jerusalem withstand the force of Nebuchadnezzar's army; and an earthen vessel once broken cannot be put together again; a new one must be made; which was the case both of the city and temple; and which, upon the return from the captivity, were not repaired, but rebuilt.

Jeremiah 19:10 In-Context

8 I will bring such terrible destruction on this city that everyone who passes by will be shocked and amazed.

9 The enemy will surround the city and try to kill its people. The siege will be so terrible that the people inside the city will eat one another and even their own children."

10 Then the Lord told me to break the jar in front of those who had gone with me

11 and to tell them that the Lord Almighty had said, "I will break this people and this city, and it will be like this broken clay jar that cannot be put together again. People will bury their dead even in Topheth because there will be nowhere else to bury them.

12 I promise that I will make this city and its inhabitants like Topheth.