Jeremiah 19:10

10 "Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,

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 And I will make this city desolate and a hissing. Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss, because of all the plagues thereof.

9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straits with which their enemies and they that seek their lives shall straiten them.'

10 "Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,

11 and shalt say unto them, `Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury them in Tophet till there be no place to bury.

12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet.