^19:1The Lord told Jeremiah,¹ “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.² Take with you³ some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders⁴ of the priests. ^19:2Go out to the part of the Hinnom Valley which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate.⁵ Announce there what I tell you.⁶^19:3Say, ‘Listen to what the Lord says, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem!⁷ The Lord God of Israel who rules over all⁸ says, “I will bring a disaster on this place⁹ that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it ring!¹⁰^19:4I will do so because these people¹¹ have rejected me and have defiled¹² this place. They have offered sacrifices in it to other gods which neither they nor their ancestors¹³ nor the kings of Judah knew anything about. They have filled it with the blood of innocent children.¹⁴^19:5They have built places here¹⁵ for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices¹⁶ are something I never commanded them to make! They are something I never told them to do! Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind! ^19:6So I, the Lord, say:¹⁷ “The time will soon come that people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Hinnom Valley. But they will call this valley¹⁸ the Valley of Slaughter! ^19:7In this place I will thwart¹⁹ the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. I will deliver them over to the power of their enemies who are seeking to kill them. They will die by the sword²⁰ at the hands of their enemies.²¹ I will make their dead bodies food for the birds and wild beasts to eat. ^19:8I will make this city an object of horror, a thing to be hissed at. All who pass by it will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn²² because of all the disasters that have happened to it.²³^19:9I will reduce the people of this city to desperate straits during the siege imposed on it by their enemies who are seeking to kill them. I will make them so desperate that they will eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters and the flesh of one another.” ’ ”²⁴

^19:10The Lord continued,²⁵ “Now break the jar in front of those who have come here with you. ^19:11Tell them the Lord who rules over all says,²⁶ ‘I will do just as Jeremiah has done.²⁷ I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter’s vessel which is broken beyond repair.²⁸ The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.’²⁹^19:12I, the Lord, say:³⁰ ‘That is how I will deal with this city and its citizens. I will make it like Topheth. ^19:13The houses in Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled by dead bodies³¹ just like this place, Topheth. For they offered sacrifice to the stars³² and poured out drink offerings to other gods on the roofs of those houses.’ ”

^19:14Then Jeremiah left Topheth where the Lord had sent him to give that prophecy. He went to the Lord’s temple and stood³³ in its courtyard and called out to all the people. ^19:15“The Lord God of Israel who rules over all³⁴ says, ‘I will soon bring on this city and all the towns surrounding it³⁵ all the disaster I threatened to do to it. I will do so because they have stubbornly refused³⁶ to pay any attention to what I have said!’ ”

Jeremiah is Flogged and Put in A Cell

^20:1Now Pashhur son of Immer heard Jeremiah prophesy these things. He was the priest who was chief of security¹ in the Lord’s temple. ^20:2When he heard Jeremiah’s prophecy, he had the prophet flogged.² Then he put him in the stocks³ which were at the Upper Gate of Benjamin in the Lord’s temple.⁴^20:3But the next day Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks. When he did, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name for you is not ‘Pashhur’ but ‘Terror is Everywhere.’⁵^20:4For the Lord says, ‘I will make both you and your friends terrified of what will happen to you.⁶ You will see all of them die by the swords of their enemies.⁷ I will hand all the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will carry some of them away into exile in Babylon and he will kill others of them with the sword. ^20:5I will hand over all the wealth of this city to their enemies. I will hand over to them all the fruits of the labor of the people of this city and all their prized possessions, as well as all the treasures of the kings of Judah. Their enemies will seize it all as plunder⁸ and carry it off to Babylon. ^20:6You, Pashhur, and all your household⁹ will go into exile in Babylon. You will die there and you will be buried there. The same thing will happen to all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’ ”¹⁰

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Footnotes

1 The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text. Some Hebrew and some of the versions have “to me.” This section, 19:1–20:6 appears to be one of the biographical sections of the book of Jeremiah where incidents in his life are reported in third person. See clearly 9:14 and 20:1–3. The and versions do not represent a more original text but are translational or interpretive attempts to fill in a text which had no referent. They are like the translational addition that has been supplied on the basis of contextual indicators.
2 Heb “an earthenware jar of the potter.” The word translated “clay” here refers to a clay which has been baked or fired in a kiln. In Jer 18 the clay was still soft and pliable, capable of being formed into different kinds of vessels. Here the clay is set, just as Israel is set in its ways. The word for jar refers probably to a water jug or decanter and is onomatopoeic, baqbuq, referring to the gurgling sound made by pouring out the water.
3 The words “Take with you” follow the reading of the version and to a certain extent the reading of the Greek version (the latter does not have “with you”). The Hebrew text does not have these words but they are undoubtedly implicit.
4 Heb “elders” both here and before “of the people.” The civil and religious leaders are referred to here. They were to be witnesses of the symbolic act and of the message that Jeremiah proclaimed to the leaders of Jerusalem and its citizens (see v. 3).
5 The exact location of the Potsherd Gate is unknown since it is nowhere else mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. It is sometimes identified with the Dung Gate mentioned in Neh 2:13; 3:13–14; 12:31 on the basis of the Jerusalem . It is probably called “Potsherd Gate” because that is where the potter threw out the broken pieces of pottery which were no longer of use to him. The Valley of Ben Hinnom has already been mentioned in 7:31–32 in connection with the illicit religious practices, including child sacrifice, which took place there. The Valley of Ben Hinnom (or sometimes Valley of Hinnom) runs along the west and south sides of Jerusalem.
6 Heb “the words that I will speak to you.”
7 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
8 Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study notes on and for explanation of this title.
9 Careful comparison of the use of this term throughout this passage and comparison with 7:31–33 which is parallel to several verses in this passage will show that the reference is to the Valley of Ben Hinnom which will become a Valley of Slaughter (see v. 6 and 7:32).
10 Heb “which everyone who hears it [or about it] his ears will ring.” This is proverbial for a tremendous disaster. See 1 Sam 3:11; 2 Kgs 21:12 for similar prophecies.
11 The text merely has “they.” But since a reference is made later to “they” and “their ancestors,” the referent must be to the people that the leaders of the people and leaders of the priests represent.
12 Heb “have made this city foreign.” The verb here is one that is built off of the noun and adjective which relate to foreign nations. Comparison may be made to Jer 2:21 where the adjective refers to the strange, wild vine as opposed to the choice vine the Lord planted and to 5:19 and 8:19 where the noun is used of worshiping foreign gods. Israel through its false worship has “denationalized” itself in its relation to God.
13 Heb “fathers.”
14 Heb “the blood of innocent ones.” This must be a reference to child sacrifice as explained in the next verse. Some have seen a reference to the sins of social injustice alluded to in 2 Kgs 21:16 and 24:4 but those are connected with the city itself. Hence the word children is supplied in the translation to make the referent explicit.
15 The word “here” is not in the text. However, it is implicit from the rest of the context. It is supplied in the translation for clarity.
16 The words “such sacrifices” are not in the text. The text merely says “to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal which I did not command.” The command obviously refers not to the qualification “to Baal” but to burning the children in the fire as burnt offerings. The words are supplied in the translation to avoid a possible confusion that the reference is to sacrifices to Baal. Likewise the words should not be translated so literally that they leave the impression that God never said anything about sacrificing their children to other gods. The fact is he did. See Lev 18:21; Deut 12:30; 18:10.
17 This phrase (Heb “Oracle of the Lord”) has been handled this way on several occasions when it occurs within first person addresses where the Lord is the speaker. See, e.g., 16:16; 17:24; 18:6.
18 Heb “it will no longer be called to this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom but the Valley of Slaughter.” See Jer 7:31–32 for an almost word for word repetition of vv. 5–6.
19 There is perhaps a two-fold wordplay in the use of this word. One involves the sound play with the word for “jar,” which has been explained as a water decanter. The word here is בַקֹּתִי (vaqqoti). The word for jar in v. 1 is בַקְבֻּק (vaqbuq). There may also be a play on the literal use of this word to refer to the laying waste or destruction of a land (see Isa 24:3; Nah 2:3). Many modern commentaries think that at this point Jeremiah emptied out the contents of the jar, symbolizing the “emptying” out of their plans.
20 This refers to the fact that they will die in battle. The sword would be only one of the weapons that strikes them down. It is one of the trio of “sword,” “starvation,” and “disease” which were the concomitants of war referred to so often in the book of Jeremiah. Starvation is referred to in v. 9.
21 Heb “I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and in the hand of those who seek their soul [= life].” In this context the two are meant as obvious qualifications of one entity, not two. Some rearrangement of the qualifiers had to be made in the English translation to convey this.
22 See 18:16 and the study note there.
23 Heb “all its smitings.” This word has been used several times for the metaphorical “wounds” that Israel has suffered as a result of the blows from its enemies. See, e.g., 14:17. It is used in the Hebrew Bible of scourging, both literally and metaphorically (cf. Deut 25:3; Isa 10:26), and of slaughter and defeat (1 Sam 4:10; Josh 10:20). Here it refers to the results of the crushing blows at the hands of her enemies which has made her the object of scorn.
24 This verse has been restructured to try to bring out the proper thought and subordinations reflected in the verse without making the sentence too long and complex in English: Heb “I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters. And they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the straits which their enemies who are seeking their lives reduce them to.” This also shows the agency through which God’s causation was effected, i.e., the siege. Cannibalism is one of the penalties for disobedience to their covenant with the Lord effected through the Mosaic covenant. See Deut 28:53, 55, 57. For examples of this being carried out see 2 Kgs 6:28–29; Lam 4:10.
25 The words “And the Lord continued” are not in the text. However, they are necessary to take us clearly back to the flow of the narrative begun in vv. 1–2 and interrupted by the long speech in vv. 3–9.
26 Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies.” For this title see the study note on . The translation attempts to avoid the confusion of embedding quotes within quotes by reducing this one to an indirect quote.
27 The adverb “Thus” or “Like this” normally points back to something previously mentioned. See, e.g., Exod 29:35; Num 11:15; 15:11; Deut 25:9.
28 Heb “Like this I will break this people and this city, just as one breaks the vessel of a potter which is not able to be repaired.”
29 See Jer 7:22–23 for parallels.
30 This phrase (Heb “Oracle of the Lord”) has been handled this way on several occasions when it occurs within first person addresses where the Lord is the speaker. See, e.g., 16:16; 17:24; 18:6.
31 The words “by dead bodies” is not in the text but is implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
32 Heb “the host of heaven.”
33 Heb “And Jeremiah entered from Topheth where the Lord had sent him to prophesy and he stood in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.”
34 Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study notes on and for explanation of this title.
35 Heb “all its towns.”
36 Heb “They hardened [or made stiff] their neck so as not to.”
1 Heb “chief overseer/officer.” The translation follows the suggestion of P. C. Craigie, P. H. Kelley, J. F. Drinkard, Jeremiah 1–25 (), , based on the parallel passage in 29:26–27 where this official appears to have been in charge of maintaining order in the temple. Judging from a comparison of this passage with Jer 29:26–27 and that passage in turn with 2 Kgs 25:18, Pashhur held an office second in rank only to the high priest. He was in charge of keeping order in the temple and took offense at what he heard Jeremiah saying.
2 Heb “And Pashhur son of Immer, the priest and he [= who] was chief overseer [or officer] in the house of the Lord heard Jeremiah prophesying these words/things 20:2 and Pashhur had the prophet Jeremiah flogged.” This verse and the previous one has been restructured in the translation to better conform with contemporary English style.
3 The meaning of this word is uncertain. It occurs only here, in 29:26 where it is followed by a parallel word that occurs only there and is generally translated “collar,” and in 2 Chr 16:10 where it is preceded by the word “house of.” It is most often translated “stocks” and explained as an instrument of confinement for keeping prisoners in a crooked position (from its relation to a root meaning “to turn.” See 246 מַהְפֶּכֶת and 500 מַהְפֶּכֶת for definition and discussion.) For a full discussion including the interpretation of the ancient versions see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:.
4 A comparison of Ezek 8:3 and 9:2 in their contexts will show that this probably refers to the northern gate to the inner court of the temple. It is called Upper because it was on higher ground above the gate in the outer court. It is qualified by “in the Lord’s temple” to distinguish it from the Benjamin Gate in the city wall (cf. 37:13; 38:7). Like the Benjamin Gate in the city wall it faced north toward the territory of the tribe of Benjamin.
5 This name is translated rather than transliterated to aid the reader in understanding this name and connect it clearly with the explanation that follows in the next verse. For a rather complete discussion on the significance of this name and an attempt to explain it as a pun on the name “Pashhur” see J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah (), , n. 35. The name Pashhur is essentially a curse pronounced by Jeremiah invoking the Lord’s authority. The same phrase occurs in Jer 6:25; 46:5; 49:29 which are all in the context of war. In ancient Israelite culture the change in name denoted a change in status or destiny. See, for example, the shift from Jacob (“He grabs the heel” and “Cheater” or “Deceiver,” Gen 25:26; 27:36) to Israel (“He perseveres with God,” Gen 32:28).
6 Heb “I will make you an object of terror to both you and your friends.”
7 Heb “And they will fall by the sword of their enemies and [with] your eyes seeing [it].”
8 Heb “Take them [the goods, etc.] as plunder and seize them.”
9 Heb “all who live in your house.” This included his family and his servants.
10 As a member of the priesthood and the protector of order in the temple, Pashhur was undoubtedly one of those who promulgated the deceptive belief that the Lord’s presence in the temple was a guarantee of Judah’s safety (cf. 7:4, 8). Judging from the fact that two other men held the same office after the leading men in the city were carried into exile in 597 b.c. (see Jer 29:25–26 and compare 29:1–2 for the date and 2 Kgs 24:12–16 for the facts), this prophecy was probably fulfilled in 597. For a similar kind of oracle of judgment see Amos 7:10–17.