Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 18:4

"And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it." — Jeremiah 18:4 (ASV)

Of clay. —The reading in the margin, which gives “as clay,” must be regarded as a clerical error, originating, probably, in the desire to bring the text into conformity with Jeremiah 18:6, while the reading in the text of the Authorised Version is confirmed by many manuscripts and Versions.

He made it again. —Literally, and more vividly, he returned and made. As we read, we have to remember that what is narrated in a few words implied a long train of thoughts. The prophet went by the impulse which he knew to be from God to the “field” in the valley of Hinnom; he stood and gazed, and then as he watched he was led to see in the potter’s work a parable of the world’s history: God as the great artificer, men and nations as the vessels which He makes for honourable or dishonourable uses (2 Timothy 2:20; Romans 9:21).