Why does the Lord tell Jeremiah to “Go, and buy a potter’s earthenware flask, and take some of the elders of the priests and go to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom”?

The following passage (Jeremiah 19:1–20:6), written in prose, clearly continues and develops the use of pottery from the passage of poetry in Jeremiah 18:1–23. There are other links with the previous passage as well such as the use of the Hebrew word hasab which is translated in various ways throughout both passages (I intended (Jeremiah 18:8); devising a plan (Jeremiah 18:11); plans (Jeremiah 18:12; Jeremiah 19:7); plots (Jeremiah 18:18;  Jeremiah 18:23)). Both passages also speak of the destruction of Jerusalem and it becoming a place of horror that will cause those who see it to be horrified. These connections between the two passages are used not simply to repeat the themes of Judah’s stubborn idolatry, her rejection of Jeremiah and the resulting judgment from the Lord, but these themes are developed further in Jeremiah 19:1–20:6. There is a clear and important difference between the clay vessel in Jeremiah 18:1–11 and the one in Jeremiah 19:1–13. The first clay vessel is still soft and can be reworked, but the second has been fashioned into a flask and has been baked hard and can only be shattered, not reworked. This marks an important change in Jeremiah’s preaching. Even though it was very unlikely that Judah would do so, the possibility of repentance and escaping judgment was still being offered in Jeremiah 18:1–23. But now in Jeremiah 19:1–15 it seems clear that the nation is completely set in its rebellion and there is no longer the possibility of repentance but only judgment.

The evidence seems to suggest that the events spoken of in this passage happened around 604/605 BC. In this story Jeremiah still has access to the temple in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 19:14), which he does not have in Jeremiah 36:5. He is also able to gather a number of influential leaders from Jerusalem (Jeremiah 19:1), which means the leadership of Judah is still not willing to openly reject him as the Lord’s prophet as they do later on. The king of Babylon is also mentioned in Jeremiah 20:4 which suggests a time after Nebuchadnezzar’s victory at Carchemish. It is also very unlikely that Josiah would have allowed Jeremiah to be treated the way he was in this passage. All of this therefore points to these events taking place after the reign of Josiah, in the middle of Jehoiakim’s reign, probably after the battle of Carchemish and before the reading of the scroll.¹

The passage begins in Jeremiah 19:1 with the word thus. This may suggest that events that follow happened directly after the events of Jeremiah 18:1–23, but more importantly, they indicate that the Lord’s instruction to go, buy a potters earthenware flask can be seen as his response to Jeremiah’s plea that he would intervene in judgment (Jeremiah 18:23).²

Jeremiah is to take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests with him to buy the jar. The elders of the people are undoubtedly the same group as the elders of the land in Jeremiah 26:17. The elders of the priests are also mentioned in 2 Kings 19:2 and Isaiah 37:2 and they were the most influential and senior of the priests. Not only do these two groups represent the nation as a whole, but they would have great influence with the king and were part of the controlling group in Jerusalem.³

Jeremiah is to go with the jar and the leaders to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. This valley lies to the south of the city, and it is where the refuse of the city was dumped and burned. It was also the site of pagan worship from time to time.⁴ The entry of the Potsherd Gate is also mentioned. The exact location of this gate is unknown, but its name here suggests that broken shards of clay jars would have been discarded here as well.⁵ This will be a significant point as the passage develops.

Throughout this passage (Jeremiah 19:1–13), the Lord often speaks to Jeremiah in the first person and to Judah in the third person, but the passage is dominated by the first-person usage. Jeremiah’s actions in this passage are symbolic and it is the Lord himself who is going to bring about the judgment symbolized by Jeremiah’s actions.⁶