John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 1:13

"And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a boiling caldron; and the face thereof is from the north." — Jeremiah 1:13 (ASV)

And the word of the Lord came to me the second time

In the same vision: saying, what do you see ?

besides the almond tree rod; which perhaps was now removed out of sight, and another object appears: and I said, I see a seething pot ;

a pot with fire under it, boiling and bubbling up: and the face of it was towards the north ;

either the mouth of the pot where it boiled up, which might be turned to the north in the vision; or that side of the pot, as Kimchi thinks, on which the liquor was poured out; it may be that side of it on which the fire was put to cause it to boil; and so denotes from what quarter the fire came, and was put under it, and the wind that blew it up.

The Targum paraphrases the words thus, ``and I said, I see a king boiling as a pot, and the banner of his army, which was brought and came from the north.'' The explanation follows: