Jeremiah 19:11

11 Then say to them, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair. They will bury the bodies here in Topheth, the garbage dump, until there is no more room for them.

Jeremiah 19:11 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 19:11

And shalt say unto them, thus saith the Lord of hosts
Of armies above and below; and so able to execute what he here threatens: even so will I break this people and this city:
the people, the inhabitants of this city, and that itself, by the sword, famine, burning, and captivity: as [one] breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again;
or "healed" ^F18; a potter's vessel, upon the wheel, such an one as the prophet had seen, and to which the Jews are compared, ( Jeremiah 18:3 Jeremiah 18:4 ) ; being marred, may be restored and put into another form and shape; but one that is dried and hardened, when broke, can never be put together again; so a vessel, of gold, silver, and brass, when broke, may be made whole again; but an earthen vessel never can; a fit emblem therefore this to represent utter and irrecoverable ruin; see ( Isaiah 30:14 ) . Jerom here again observes, that this is clearly spoken, not of the Babylonish, but of the Roman captivity; after the former the city was rebuilt, and the people returned to Judea, and restored to former plenty; but since the latter, under Vespasian, Titus, and Hadrian, the ruins of Jerusalem remain, and will till the conversion of the Jews: and they shall bury [them] in Tophet, till [there be] no place to
bury:
where there should be such great numbers slain; or whither such multitudes of the slain should be brought out of the city to be buried there, that at length there would not be room enough to receive the dead into it; or, as the Syriac version renders it, "and in Tophet they shall bury, for want of a place to bury" in; in such a filthy, abominable, and accursed place shall their carcasses lie, where they were guilty of idolatry, and sacrificed their innocent babes, there being no other place to inter them in: an emblem this of their souls suffering in hell the vengeance of eternal fire.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 (hprxl) "sanari", Montanus; "curari", Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius.

Jeremiah 19:11 In-Context

9 I will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is gone. Then those trapped inside will eat their own sons and daughters and friends. They will be driven to utter despair.’

10 “As these men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought.

11 Then say to them, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair. They will bury the bodies here in Topheth, the garbage dump, until there is no more room for them.

12 This is what I will do to this place and its people, says the LORD . I will cause this city to become defiled like Topheth.

13 Yes, all the houses in Jerusalem, including the palace of Judah’s kings, will become like Topheth—all the houses where you burned incense on the rooftops to your star gods, and where liquid offerings were poured out to your idols.’”