Jeremiah 1:13

13 The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see 1a boiling pot, facing away 2from the north."

Jeremiah 1:13 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 1:13

And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time
In the same vision: saying, what seest thou?
besides the almond tree rod; which perhaps was now removed out of sight, and another object appears: and I said, I see a seething pot;
a pot with fire under it, boiling and bubbling up: and the face thereof was towards the north;
either the mouth of the pot where it boiled up, which might be turned to the north in the vision; or that side of the pot, as Kimchi thinks, on which the liquor was poured out; it may be that side of it on which the fire was put to cause it to boil; and so denotes from what quarter the fire came, and was put under it, and the wind that blew it up. The Targum paraphrases the words thus,

``and I said, I see a king boiling as a pot, and the banner of his army, which was brought and came from the north.''
The explanation follows:

Jeremiah 1:13 In-Context

11 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see an almond branch."
12 Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it."
13 The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north."
14 Then the LORD said to me, "Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land.
15 For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Ezekiel 24:3; [Ezekiel 22:21]
  • 2. Jeremiah 4:6; Jeremiah 6:1; Jeremiah 10:22
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.