John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 19:1-3

"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; 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; 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 19:1-3 (ASV)

We see that the Prophet was sent by God to show the people that there was no firmness in that state of which hypocrites boasted. For God, who had favored the people of Israel with singular benefits, retained them in His own possession no less than the potter does his clay.

The Prophet had previously shown the Jews that the potter formed his vessels as he pleased, and also, that when he had taken the clay and the vessel did not please him, he formed another. This prophecy has a similar meaning, yet it is different, as we will soon see.

The Prophet is here commanded to buy an earthen vessel from the potter and, at the gathering of the people, to break it. This was so that all might understand that they were like earthen vessels and, being thus warned of their fragility, they might no longer be proud, as if they possessed a firm and perpetual state of happiness.

The main object of the two visions is, however, the same: for the Jews thought that they were not subject to the common lot of humanity because they had been chosen as a special people. Nor would they have gloried in vain regarding that inestimable privilege, if there had been a mutual agreement between God and them.

But as they were covenant-breakers, their boasting was vain and foolish in thinking that God was bound to them. For what right did they have to claim this privilege? God indeed had adopted the whole race of Abraham, but there was a condition introduced,

Walk before me and be perfect (Genesis 17:2).

When they all had become apostates, the covenant, as far as they were concerned, was abolished. Then God could not have been called to account, as it were, as if He had violated His covenant with them, for He owed them nothing. They had become aliens, for through their wickedness and treachery they had departed from Him. God then designed to show how vain and how false their confidence was when they said, “We are a holy race, we are God’s heritage,” because they had completely departed from the covenant which God had made with their fathers.

But in the form adopted, as I have said, there is some difference. The Prophet had previously introduced the potter to show that God had no less power than a mortal man, because we are like clay before Him, so that He can form and destroy His vessels as He pleases. But here the Prophet shows that even though the Jews had been formed for a time, and formed in such a way as to be like an excellent and beautiful vessel, this was not a perpetual condition.

And it is probable that when they had heard that God could, like the potter, form and re-form them, they had devised an evasion, as people usually do who deal sophistically with God: “Oh, so be it, the potter can from the same clay form both a precious and a worthless vessel; but we are the precious vessel, and God has given us that form. For when He made a covenant with Abraham, He adorned him with this unique distinction. He afterwards brought our fathers out of Egypt, and then there was a better form added. And since He eventually raised a kingdom among us with this promise, that the throne of David would be perpetual, it cannot be otherwise than that we are to continue in our state.”

Therefore, the Prophet expresses here more than in the former prophecy: not only did God have the power of a potter in forming His vessels, but also that when the vessel is already formed and possesses great splendor, it can again be broken. He stated this so that the Jews would not object by saying that the state in which they were under David and his posterity would be perpetual.

He says, “This is of no account: for the earthen vessel, though splendid and elegant in its form, can yet be broken in the third or fourth year just as easily as at the time when it is formed, and can be broken forever,” according to what is afterwards implied by the analogy.

We will now proceed to the words: He says, Go and get for yourself an earthen vessel. The Rabbis think the name given to the vessel is onomatopoeic, as the grammarians say, that is, made from its sound. For it appears to have been a flagon or a bottle; and as the bottle has a narrow mouth, it makes this sound, bakbuk (בקבק), when we drink from it, and hence they think the name is derived.

There is, however, no ambiguity as to the thing itself: the word means a bottle, made not only of earth but also of glass or wood. By adding the word cheresh (חרש), he specifies the material, while bekbek (בקבק) is a general word. He then adds what is literally, From the elders, and interpreters think that the words “bring with you” are to be understood. As to the sense, I agree with them, for we will see later that he broke the vessel in the presence of those who went with him. It then follows that the elders spoken of here were taken by Jeremiah as his companions.

But as mem (מ) sometimes means “with,” as in the fifty-seventh chapter of Isaiah (Isaiah 57:8),

and made you a covenant with them, מהם,

I take it to have the same meaning here; and this is undoubtedly suitable, for he was to go with the elders of the people and with the elders of the priests.

And he adds, Enter into the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is at the entrance of the east gate, rendered by some as “the earthen gate,” for which I see no reason; but I leave this to be examined by those who are more skilled in the language.

It is indeed thought that shin (ש) is changed here into samech (ס); but if we take the word as it is, it means “solar,” for cheras (חרס), from which cherasit (חרסית) is derived, signifies the sun. It seems to have been called the solar gate as a mark of excellence, because it looked toward the rising sun. I do not yet oppose the idea of those who think that the Prophet alludes to cheresh (חרש), of which he had spoken, and that he calls it the east gate, though it was, as it were, an earthen gate; for the two letters shin (ש) and samech (ס), as is well known, are closely allied. Cry there, he says, the words which I shall speak to you.

I come now to the subject: God commands His Prophet to get an earthen vessel from the potter, and to do so in the presence of the elders. For it was necessary to have witnesses in such an important matter. And as the public safety of the people was concerned, it was God’s purpose, so that the prophecy would not be despised, that the most respected witnesses should be present—suitable and, as they say, authorized or approved.

He calls them the elders of the people and of the priests; and no doubt they were chosen from a great number, even from among the priests who were chief.

There were also Levites of the sons of Aaron; but there were then a large number of chief priests—though, as they say, it was a turbulent rabble. They were chosen from those first orders who ruled the Church, and Jeremiah calls them the elders of the priests. There were also others chosen from the people who presided over the Church.

And we know that there were two types of public officials, or, as they say, a twofold government: the priests were the rulers of the Church with regard to the law, so that their government was spiritual; there were also the elders of the people who managed civil affairs, but there were some things in which they ruled in common.

We now then see what the Prophet meant by saying that he was commanded to call witnesses to see what is stated later, and that they were taken partly from the priests and partly from the people.

He says: Enter into the valley of the son of Hinnom. This valley was in the suburbs and was called Tophet (תפת), as we will see later. It is thought that this name is derived from drums, because they beat drums when infants were killed, so that their cry would not excite any feeling of humanity.

But we will again say something about the etymology of this word. In this valley, they were accustomed to sacrifice and offer their children by casting them into the fire. Many, indeed, performed this in a different way, by purifying their children and carrying them around the fire, so that they felt only the flame and escaped unhurt.

But there were those who wished to show their zeal above others, whose ambition drove them further, and they killed their children and then burned them. But of this matter I have spoken elsewhere, and I will now only briefly notice it. This opinion is not what is commonly received; but it seems to me that it can be gathered from many parts of Scripture that many killed their children, and that some only purified them.

However this may have been, God justly abominated the sacrifice, for His will was that sacrifices should be offered only in one place. When anyone offered a calf or a lamb in any other place than at Jerusalem, it was a spurious sacrifice. The Jews should have followed what God had prescribed and not have done anything presumptuously, for obedience is always better than any sacrifices.

But here there was a double crime: they left the Temple and sought to impose on God sacrifices against His expressed will; and then there was another crime still more atrocious, for they devoted their children to Baalim or to Baal, and not to the only true God. (I pass by now their slaughter and burning.) This, then, was the reason why the Prophet was commanded to go to this place.

How detestable that service was to God is clear from this: that the prophets give the name of hell to the valley of Hinnom, gia-enom (גיא הנם). And we know that at the time of Christ it was the common name for hell; and whenever Christ speaks of Gehenna, He uses the word according to its common understanding at that time.

The word has indeed been corrupted by the Greeks, for it is properly gia-enom (גיא הנם). But what does the word mean in the gospel? Hell itself. And from where did its origin come? We indeed know how great and how incurable was the madness of those who abandoned themselves to their own superstitions; for though the prophets strongly condemned the place, yet the people proceeded in their usual idolatry. It was, therefore, necessary to give the place a disgraceful name in order to render it more abominable.

It is now added that the place was by the entrance of the east gate. As it was an especially celebrated gate, and as the sun, rising there, reminded them to behold the light which God had kindled for them in His law, it was a monstrous stupidity proudly to tread under foot, as it were, the law of God in so renowned a place, and to profane His worship, as if they openly wished to show that they considered as nothing what God had commanded. If any still think that there is an allusion to the word cheresh (חרש), previously used, I offer no opposition; that is, though this gate was indeed eastern, it was yet, as it were, an earthen gate.

He says, Cry there, or, proclaim with a clear voice, the words which I shall speak to you. The Prophet no doubt said this expressly in order to add more weight to his prophecy. He indeed did nothing but by God’s command; but as his authority was not acknowledged by the Jews, he here testifies for their sakes that he would say nothing but what God Himself would command.

This preface then confirmed the authority of his prophecy, so that the Jews might not reject what he might say, as if it came from Jeremiah himself.

But a general doctrine may be gathered from this: that ministers are to bring forward nothing but what they have learned from God Himself. For though Jeremiah was a great man and endowed with excellent gifts, yet he was not to bring one word or a syllable from himself. How great then must be the presumption of those who seek to be superior to him by bringing their own inventions, and at the same time demand to be considered oracles? This passage confirms the doctrine of Peter, who says,

He who speaks, let him speak the words of God.
(1 Peter 4:11)

He now adds, Hear you the word of Jehovah. This is a confirmation of the previous sentence. We therefore see why it was said, Cry (or, proclaim with a clear voice) what I shall say to you; it was so that they might know that he spoke not according to his own ideas as a man, but that he was a celestial herald to proclaim what God commanded.

Hear, he says, you kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. We see how the Prophet did not spare even kings, according to what God had previously commanded him, that he should act boldly and show no partiality (Jeremiah 1:8). He then faithfully performed his office, as he did not flatter kings and was not terrified by their dignity and power.

But he addressed them first, and then the people, because those who had sinned most grievously were rightly made to bear the first reproof. We therefore see what the next passage means,

Reprove mountains and chide hills (Micah 6:1),

and also this passage,
I have set you over nations and kingdoms (Jeremiah 1:10),

for heavenly truth should bring under subjection, as Paul says, everything high in the world, so that all the pride of man may be subdued (2 Corinthians 10:5). Kings indeed tolerate very poorly being treated so boldly, for they wish to be exempt from every law and to be free from every yoke.

But if they do not now acknowledge their subjection to God’s word, they must at last come before His tribunal; and then they will find how perversely they have abused their power.

As for teachers, they, small and great, ought to teach after the example of Jeremiah; they ought to reprove and to rebuke, when necessary, without showing any partiality.

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, and the God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing an evil on this place, of which whosoever shall hear, tingle shall his ears. The prophetic word had more power when the Jews were brought to the very place where the event was exhibited. He might have said the same thing in the Temple or in the gate or in the palace of the king, but his prophecy would not have been so effectual.

We indeed know how much slowness there is in people in general; but so great was then the obstinacy of the Jews that, however forcibly the truth might have been presented, it was received with such indifference that it was neglected. God then intended to show them the event itself, as it were.

He says, Jehovah of hosts and the God of Israel; and he used these words so that they might know, as we have stated elsewhere, that they had to do with God, whose power is dreaded even by angels. And in order to shake off their foolish boasting that they were the children of Abraham, “God,” he says, “has sufficient power to chastise you, and He is the same God of Israel, whose name you falsely and absurdly pretend to profess.” I handle these subjects only briefly here, because I have explained them more fully elsewhere.

He says that such a calamity was near that place as would make the ears to tingle: when there is a violent noise, our ears are stunned, and there is at the same time a certain tingling or ringing. When a man is killed, or when ten or twelve men are slain, there is a dreadful cry; but in a great tumult occasioned by people perishing, such is the noise that it in a manner stuns the ears, like that which proceeds from cataracts—for the violent noise of the Nile, they say, causes some degree of deafness.

So also the Prophet says here, I am bringing, says God, a calamity on this place, which shall not only terrify those who will hear of it, but also render them quite astonished, so that their ears shall tingle, as is the case when there is a violent and dreadful noise.