Jeremiah 18:3

3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.

Jeremiah 18:3 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
English Standard Version (ESV)
3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel.
New Living Translation (NLT)
3 So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel.
The Message Bible (MSG)
3 So I went to the potter's house, and sure enough, the potter was there, working away at his wheel.
American Standard Version (ASV)
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
3 I went to the potter's house, and he was working there at his wheel.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
3 So I went down to the potter's house. I saw him working at his wheel.

Jeremiah 18:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 18:3

Then I went down to the potter's house
He did as the Lord commanded him; he was obedient to the divine will; he went to hear what the Lord had to say to him there, and to observe such things, from whence he might learn instruction for himself and others: and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels;
the Targum renders it "upon a seat"; or "his seats", as Junius and Tremellius; but it signifies not the instrument on which the potter sat while he worked, but that on which he did his work. The Septuagint version renders it, "on stones" F14; and R. Jonah F15 says, that in some countries the potter's instrument is in the likeness of two millstones, the lowermost is the greatest, and the uppermost is the least. Or rather the word may signify "frames", or "moulds" F16, made of stone, in which the potter put his clay, and fashioned it: though I see no reason to depart from the signification of "wheels", which are used in the potter's work, even two of them; and so the word here is of the dual number; though one is more properly called the "wheel", and the other the "lathe", and are described as follows:

``The "potter's wheel" consists principally in its nut, which is a beam or axis, whose foot or pivot plays perpendicularly on a free stone sole, or bottom; from the four corners atop of this beam, which does not exceed two feet in height, arise four iron bars, called the spokes of the wheel; which forming diagonal lines with the beam, descend, and are fastened at bottom to the edges of a strong wooden circle, four feet in diameter, perfectly like the felloes of a coach wheel; except that it hath neither axis nor radii; and is only joined to the beam, which serves it as an axis, by the iron bars. The top of the nut is flat, of a circular figure, and a foot in diameter. On this is laid a piece of the clay, or earth, to be turned and fashioned. The wheel thus disposed is encompassed with four sides of four different pieces of wood, sustained in a wooden frame: the hind piece, which is that whereon the workman sits, is made a little inclining towards the wheel: on the fore piece are placed the pieces of prepared earth: lastly, the side pieces serve the workman to rest his feet against; and are made inclining, to give him more or less room, according to the size of the vessels to be turned; by his side is a trough of water, wherewith from time to time he wets his hands, to prevent the earth sticking to them.----The potter having prepared his clay or earth, and laid a piece of it suitable to the work he intends on the top of the beam, sits down; his thighs and legs much expanded, and his feet rested on the side pieces, as is most convenient. In this situation he turns the wheel round, till it has got the proper velocity; when, wetting his hands in the water, he bores the cavity of the vessel, continuing to widen it from the middle; and thus turns it into form, turning the wheel afresh, and wetting his hands from time to time.----The potter's "lathe" is also a kind of "wheel", but simpler and slighter than the former; its three chief members are an iron beam or axis, three feet and a half high, and two inches in diameter; a little wooden wheel, all of a piece, an inch thick, and seven or eight in diameter, placed horizontally atop of the beam, and serving to form the vessel on; and another larger wooden wheel, all of a piece, three inches thick, and two or three feet broad, fastened to the same beam at the bottom, parallel to the horizon. The beam, or axis, turns by a pivot at bottom, in an iron stand. The workman gives the motion to the lathe with his feet, by pushing the great wheel alternately with each foot; still giving it a lesser or greater degree of motion, as his work requires F17.''
Thus Jeremiah saw the potter work, or somewhat like this; for, no doubt, pottery, as other things, has been improved since his time.
FOOTNOTES:

F14 (Mynbah le) (epi twn liywn) , Sept. "super lapide, [vel] typo", Calvin.
F15 Apud Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc.
F16 "Lapideos typos", Calvin; "super formas", Montanus.
F17 Chambers's Cyclopaedia, in the word "Pottery".

Jeremiah 18:3 In-Context

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.”
3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.
4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me.
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