Albert Barnes Commentary Jeremiah 19
Albert Barnes Commentary
Jeremiah 19
Albert Barnes Commentary
Jeremiah 19
"Thus said Jehovah, Go, and buy a potter`s earthen bottle, and [take] of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;" — Jeremiah 19:1 (ASV)
Get (that is, purchase) a potter’s earthen bottle. The “bottle” was a flask with a long neck and took its name from the noise made by liquids in running out.
The ancients. These “elders” were the regularly constituted representatives of the people (Numbers 11:16), and the organization lasted down to our Savior’s time (Matthew 26:47). Similarly, the priests also had their representatives (2 Kings 19:2). Thus accompanied by the representatives of Church and State, the prophet was to carry the earthen bottle, the symbol of their humble origin and frail existence, outside the walls of Jerusalem.
"and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee;" — Jeremiah 19:2 (ASV)
The valley ... - See Jeremiah 7:31 note.
The east gate - Others render it “the pottery gate.” Two gates led into the valley of Hinnom: the Fountain-gate at the southeast corner, and the Dung-gate on the southwest side of Zion.
Some think that “the east gate” was neither of these, but a small or postern gate used for throwing out rubbish. The valley had been put to this degrading use since the time Josiah defiled it (2 Kings 23:10).
And thus the base symbol of a proud nation was carried out through a back door to be broken upon the heaps of refuse already cast there.
"and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle." — Jeremiah 19:3 (ASV)
Kings - Plural because the message (Jeremiah 19:3–9), related not especially to the reigning king, but to the whole royal house.
"Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, that they knew not, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents," — Jeremiah 19:4 (ASV)
Have estranged this place - They have not recognized the sanctity of this place, but have treated it as a strange place, by worshipping in it strange gods.
Innocents - that is, guiltless persons.
"And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth." — Jeremiah 19:7 (ASV)
Make void - The verb used here is that from which “bottle” (Jeremiah 19:1) is derived, and as it represents the sound made by the water running out, it would be better translated, “pour out.” Jeremiah perhaps carried the bottle to Tophet full of water, the symbol in the East of life (Isaiah 35:6; Isaiah 41:18), and at these words emptied it before the assembled elders.
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