and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury them in Tophet till there is no place to bury.
Parallel translations
- WEB and shall tell them, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, that can’t be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury.
- KJV And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
- BSB and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.
- NASB and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “To the same extent I will break this people and this city, just as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury their dead in Topheth, because there is no other place for burial.
- NLT Then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair. They will bury the bodies here in Topheth, the garbage dump, until there is no more room for them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
As the flask is shattered beyond repair, so God will break Judah and Jerusalem irreparably. The judgment cannot be undone.
Overview
God interprets the broken bottle: he will smash this people and city like a vessel that can never be mended, with so many dead they will bury in Topheth until there is no room. The image of irreparable ruin stresses the finality of judgment upon unrepentant sin. Yet even here, the larger book of Jeremiah holds out a future hope of restoration beyond the breaking.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 2:9You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
- Isa 30:14He will break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing, so that there won’t be found among the broken piece a piece good enough to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.”
- Lam 4:2The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
- Rev 2:27He will rule them with a rod of iron, shattering them like clay pots; as I also have received of my Father:
- Jer 13:14I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,” says Yahweh: “I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them.”’”
- Jer 7:31–32They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I didn’t command, nor did it come into my mind.
- Jer 19:6therefore, behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 19:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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