Jeremiah 18:9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 18:1-10

The prophet is here sent to the potter's house (he knew where to find it), not to preach a sermon as before to the gates of Jerusalem, but to prepare a sermon, or rather to receive it ready prepared. Those needed not to study their sermons that had them, as he had this, by immediate inspiration. ?Go to the potter's house, and observe how he manages his work, and there I will cause thee, by silent whispers, to hear my words. There thou shalt receive a message, to be delivered to the people.?... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 18:9

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", &c.; as in Jeremiah 18:7 ; 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 appear for and among such a nation and kingdom: to build and to plant it ; to build up its fences that have been broken down, and to plant it with pleasant... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 18:7-10

At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, etc. - If that nation, against whom, etc. - And at what instant, etc. - If it do evil, etc. - These verses contain what may be called God's decree by which the whole of his conduct towards man is regulated. If he purpose destruction against an offending person, if that person repent and turn to God, he shall live and not die. If he purpose peace and salvation to him that walketh uprightly, if he turn from God to the world and sin, he shall... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 18:9

Verse 9 On the other hand, he affirms, that the lost are restored, when the Lord speaks suddenly, of a nation and of a kingdom, to build and to plant; as though it was said, — “I will not only forgive, but I am ready to bestow blessings on those whom I had previously rejected as mine enemies.” Then God amplifies his goodness when he says, that he will not only forgive the sins of men, so as freely to pardon them, but that he is ready to bestow on them all kinds of blessings, if they seek to be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 18:1-10

The potter and the clay. The revelations of God are often given in unlikely places, and common circumstances and scenes may symbolize the divinest mysteries. The profoundest things in God's universe are side by side with the simplest. If the mind be open and the spirit susceptible we shall see God in everything. Is there not a fitness in this ancient handicraft of the potter becoming the symbol of the eternal action of God? The potter's clay suggests— I. THE INFLUENCE OF GOD ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 18:1-10

The blessed parable of the potter and the clay. Few passages of Scripture have been more misread or with sadder results than this one. From St. Paul s reference to it in Romans 9:1-33 it has been thought that it taught the absolute sovereignty of God, his right to dispose of men as he pleases; that, in the exercise of that sovereignty, he makes some vessels unto destruction, and that the vessels so made have no ground of complaint whatsoever. Now, we affirm that, whilst there is much... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 18:1-10

The clay in the potter's hand. I. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION . It is a practical illustration in the most suggestive sense of the word "practical." Jeremiah had not to go out of his way to produce a sufficiently impressive figure of what God was about to do. He had to go through a very peculiar and protracted experience to bring out the lesson of the marred girdle. But here he has only to go down to the potter at his wheel, a thing he could do at any time; and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 18:1-23

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 18:7-10

God's action determined by man's conduct. These verses may be read as balancing those that precede. The illustration of the potter at his work shows us simply the Divine side of life. The following verses take us round to the human side, and the human conditions in accordance with which God exercises the rights and power of his absolute sovereignty. I. GOD DETERMINES HIS ACTION ACCORDING TO THE CONDUCT OF MAN . He does not act blindly, inconsiderately, on. general... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 18:8-12

A never-to-be-forgotten principle of interpretation. These verses plainly teach that all God's threatenings, even the most terrible, and all God's promises, even the most blessed, are conditional on the continuance of the moral character to which they were addressed . Now, this is— I. A CORDIAL AGAINST DESPAIR . When the convicted sinner—as the men of Nineveh—hear the awful denunciations of God's judgment, all hope seems to be forbidden. The Ninevites, to encourage themselves... read more

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