This chapter expresses the sovereign power of God ever his creatures, and his usual methods of dealing with them; it threatens destruction to the Jews for their idolatry; and is closed with the prophet’s complaint of his persecutors, and with imprecations upon them.

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying. ] The word of prophecy, as the Targum: this is a distinct prophecy from the former, though it may be connected with it; it referring to the destruction threatened in the latter part of the preceding chapter.

Arise, and go down to the potter’s house Which, no doubt, was well known to the prophet; but where it was is not certain. Some think Jeremiah was in the temple, and this house was beneath it, and therefore he is bid to go down to it; but of this there is no certainty, nor even probability: it is…

Then I went down to the potter’s house He did as the Lord commanded him; he was obedient to the divine will; he went to hear what the Lord had to say to him there, and to observe such things, from whence he might learn instruction for himself and others: and, behold, he wrought a work on the…

And the vessel that he made of clay Which is the matter the vessel is made of: was marred in the hand of the potter; while he was working it; either it fell, as the Septuagint version renders it, out of his hands, or from the beam on which it was laid; or was spoiled by some means or other, so that…

Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. ] While he was in the potter’s house, and after he had observed his manner of working, and the change he had made in his work, the Lord spoke to him, and applied it in the following manner.

O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord Make, and mar, and remake at pleasure? certainly he could. God is a sovereign Being, and has a sovereign and uncontrollable power over his creatures; he has an indisputable right unto them, and can dispose of them as he pleases;…

At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom By way of threatening: or, “the moment I shall speak” [[17]], &c; as soon as ever I have declared concerning any people whatever, Jews or Gentiles; that if they go on in their sins, and remain impenitent, and do not turn…

If that nation against whom I have pronounced Such a sentence as this, should immediately, upon the above declaration, do as Nineveh did: turn from their evil; their evil of sin, their evil ways and works, as an evidence of the truth of their repentance for former sins: I will repent of the evil…

And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom By way of promise on the other hand: or, “and the moment I shall speak” as in ; in favour to a people; signifying, that if they do that which is right and good, and continue therein, it may be expected that I will…

If it do evil in my sight What is sinful, contrary to the law and will of God, openly and publicly, in a bold and daring manner: that it obey not my voice: in my word, and by my prophets, but turn a deaf ear to them, and slight and despise all instructions, admonitions, and reproofs: then I will…

Now therefore go to This is the application of the above general rules of procedure to the people of the Jews, and particularly that which relates to the destruction of a nation or kingdom, and the declaration of it in order to reclaim them: speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of…

And they said, there is no hope Or, “but they said” [[21]]; not that there was no hope of the grace and mercy of God, upon their repentance and reformation, for that is before declared; but that they were so hardened in their sins, so fixed in their wicked courses, and so determined to go on in…

Therefore thus saith the Lord This being the case of the people of the Jews, and they so resolutely bent on their own ways: ask ye among the Heathen; inquire among the nations of the world, the Gentiles that know not the true God, and have not the external revelation of his will, only the dim light…

Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon, which cometh from the rock of the field? &c.] Lebanon was a mountain on the borders of Judea, the top of which was covered in the summertime with snow, from the whiteness of which it had its name, Lebanon; as the Alps, for the same reason, which lie between…

Because my people hath forgotten me Or, “that they have forgotten me” [[24]]; this is the horrible thing they have done, which was unheard of among the Gentiles, who were always tenacious of their gods, and the worship of them; and that foolish and unwise thing, which was like leaving pure flowing…

To make their land desolate Not that this was the intention either of those that led them out of the right way into those wrong paths, or of them that went into them; but so it was eventually; this was the issue of things; their idolatry and other sins were the cause of their land being desolate;…

I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy, &c.] As the east wind, which is generally strong and boisterous, drives the chaff and stubble, and anything that is light, before it, and scatters it here and there; so the Lord threatens to scatter the people of the Jews over the face of…

Then said they, come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah Being enraged at the judgments threatened them, they propose to enter into a confederacy and consultation together, to think of ways and means to stop the mouth of the prophet, and even to take away his life; since he had told them…

Give heed to me, O Lord To his prayer, since his enemies would not give heed to his prophecies; and God does give heed to the cries and complaints of his ministers, when men will not give heed to their words and doctrines; they have a God to go to, who will hear them, when men despise them: and…

Shall evil be recompensed for good? &c.] For all the good that I have done them, shall this be all the recompence I shall have, to be evilly treated by them, to have my good name, and even life, taken away by them? shall this be suffered to be done? and, if it is, shall it go unpunished? the…

Therefore deliver up their children to the famine To be starved, and perish by it, as they were in the siege of Jerusalem, both by the Chaldeans, and the Romans: and pour out their blood by the force of the sword: or, “upon the hands of the sword” [[5]]; by means of it; that is, the blood of the…

Let a cry be heard from their houses A shrieking of women and children, not only for the loss of husbands and parents, but because of the entrance of the enemy into the city, and into their houses, to take away their lives and their substance; as follows: when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon…

Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me However deep they had laid them; and however unknown they were to him; or however private and secret they might be thought to be by them; God is an omniscient God, and knows and sees all things; the thoughts of men’s hearts, and all…