THEOSISEphraem the Syrian
Rise and descend to the dwelling of the stingy, for there you will hear my message. The illustration of the potter is presented, calling the Jews to turn back to God.
Jeremiah 18:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers
Arise, and go down into the potter's house, and there thou shalt hear my words.
ק֥וּם וְיָרַדְתָּ֖ בֵּ֣ית הַיּוֹצֵ֑ר וְשָׁ֖מָּה אַשְׁמִֽיעֲךָ֥ אֶת־דְּבָרָֽי׃
The Church Fathers on this verse
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Jerome of Stridon
While various things are conveyed to the spirit through all the senses—sound, fragrance, flavor, and tactile experience—what is perceived visually tends to be more firmly etched in the mind. Thus, the prophet is instructed to visit the potter's workshop to receive the commands of the Lord there.
Theodoret of Cyrus
At the conclusion of this message, the Prophet receives an instruction to enter the dwelling of the potter. He complies and observes the potter shaping a vessel. When the vessel shatters, the potter begins the process anew. As it is written, “And the vessel fell, and was broken, and he made it out of clay with his hands, and again he made another vessel out of it, as it pleased you to see him make it.” This illustrates that the potter holds authority over the clay and can mold it into any form he chooses. God then directs the Prophet to declare to them:
Cross references
Passages read together with this verse.
- Heb 1:1God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all,
- Jer 19:1Thus saith the Lord: Go, and take a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests:
- Jer 19:2And go forth into the valley of the son of Ennom, which is by the entry of the earthen gate: and there thou shalt proclaim the words that I shall tell thee.
- Jer 23:22If they had stood in my counsel, and had made my words known to my people, I should have turned them from their evil way, and from their wicked doings.
- Amos 7:7These things the Lord shewed to me: and behold the Lord was standing upon a plastered wall, and in his hand a mason's trowel.
- Ezek 4:1And thou, O son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee: and draw upon it the plan of the city of Jerusalem.
- Ezek 4:5And I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days three hundred and ninety days: and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
- Isa 20:2At that same time the Lord spoke by the hand of Isaiah the son of Amos, saying Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and take off thy shoes from thy feet. And he did so, and went naked, and barefoot.