Jeremiah 19

1 haec dicit Dominus vade et accipe lagunculam figuli testeam a senioribus populi et a senioribus sacerdotum

2 et egredere ad vallem filii Ennom quae est iuxta introitum portae Fictilis et praedicabis ibi verba quae ego loquar ad te

3 et dices audite verbum Domini reges Iuda et habitatores Hierusalem haec dicit Dominus exercituum Deus Israhel ecce ego inducam adflictionem super locum istum ita ut omnis qui audierit illam tinniant aures eius

4 eo quod dereliquerint me et alienum fecerint locum istum et libaverint in eo diis alienis quos nescierunt ipsi et patres eorum et reges Iuda et repleverunt locum istum sanguine innocentium

5 et aedificaverunt excelsa Baali ad conburendos filios suos igni in holocaustum Baali quae non praecepi nec locutus sum nec ascenderunt in cor meum

6 propterea ecce dies veniunt dicit Dominus et non vocabitur locus iste amplius Thofeth et vallis filii Ennom sed vallis Occisionis

7 et dissipabo consilium Iudae et Hierusalem in loco isto et subvertam eos gladio in conspectu inimicorum suorum et in manu quaerentium animas eorum et dabo cadavera eorum escam volatilibus caeli et bestiis terrae

8 et ponam civitatem hanc in stuporem et in sibilum omnis qui praeterierit per eam obstupescet et sibilabit super universa plaga eius

9 et cibabo eos carnibus filiorum suorum et carnibus filiarum suarum et unusquisque carnes amici sui comedet in obsidione et in angustia in qua concludent eos inimici eorum et qui quaerunt animas eorum

10 et conteres lagunculam in oculis virorum qui ibunt tecum

11 et dices ad eos haec dicit Dominus exercituum sic conteram populum istum et civitatem istam sicut conteritur vas figuli quod non potest ultra instaurari et in Thofeth sepelientur eo quod non sit alius locus ad sepeliendum

12 sic faciam loco huic ait Dominus et habitatoribus eius ut ponam civitatem istam sicut Thofeth

13 et erunt domus Hierusalem et domus regum Iuda sicut locus Thofeth inmundae omnes domus in quarum domatibus sacrificaverunt omni militiae caeli et libaverunt libamina diis alienis

14 venit autem Hieremias de Thofeth quo miserat eum Dominus ad prophetandum et stetit in atrio domus Domini et dixit ad omnem populum

15 haec dicit Dominus exercituum Deus Israhel ecce ego inducam super civitatem hanc et super omnes urbes eius universa mala quae locutus sum adversum eam quoniam induraverunt cervicem suam ut non audirent sermones meos

Jeremiah 19 Commentary

Chapter 19

By the type of breaking an earthen vessel, Jeremiah is to predict the destruction of Judah.

Verses 1-9 The prophet must give notice of ruin coming upon Judah and Jerusalem. Both rulers and ruled must attend to it. That place which holiness made the joy of the whole earth, sin made the reproach and shame of the whole earth. There is no fleeing from God's justice, but by fleeing to his mercy.

Verses 10-15 The potter's vessel, after it is hardened, can never be pieced again when it is broken. And as the bottle was broken, so shall Judah and Jerusalem be broken by the Chaldeans. No human hand can repair it; but if they return to the Lord he will heal. As they filled Tophet with the slain sacrificed to their idols, so will God fill the whole city with the slain that shall fall as sacrifices to his justice. Whatever men may think, God will appear as terrible against sin and sinners as the Scriptures state; nor shall the unbelief of men make his promise or his threatenings of no effect. The obstinacy of sinners in sinful ways, is their own fault; if they are deaf to the word of God, it is because they have stopped their ears. We have need to pray that God, by his grace, would deliver us from hardness of heart, and contempt of his word and commandments.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 19

In this chapter is foreshadowed, represented, and confirmed, the destruction of Jerusalem, by the breaking of a potter's vessel the prophet had in his hand; and by the place where he was bid to do this, and did it. The order for it, and the witnesses of it, and the place where it was done, are declared in Jer 19:1,2; the proclamation there of Jerusalem's ruin is made, Jer 19:3; the cause of it, their apostasy, idolatry, and shedding of innocent blood, Jer 19:4,5; the great slaughter of them by the sword and famine, Jer 19:6-9; and how easy, and irresistible, and irrecoverable, their destruction would be, are signified by the breaking of the bottle, Jer 19:10,11, when Jerusalem for its idolatry would become as defiled a place as Tophet, where the prophet was, Jer 19:12,13; from whence he came to the temple, and there repeated the proclamation of the evil that should come upon that city, and all the towns around it, Jer 19:14,15.