Jeremiah 19:1-9 meaning

In Jeremiah 19:1-9, Jeremiah receives his divine instruction to create a demonstration in the Hinnom Valley for the leaders of Jerusalem to portend the looming calamity that will fill the valley with dead bodies.

The message to Jeremiah from the LORD begins: Thus says the LORD, "Go and buy a potter's earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests" (v. 1).

The prophet Jeremiah, who ministered in Judah from about 626 BC until the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, is told by God to procure a simple earthenware jar—God will have Jeremiah break this jar to demonstrate that Judah is about to be broken. In the previous chapter, God demonstrated to Jeremiah that He can make and unmake nations just as the potter makes and unmakes a pot (Jeremiah 18:1-7).

The mention of elders of the people and some of the senior priests continues a biblical pattern of God recognizing and working through human leaders. He establishes human authority (Daniel 2:21, Romans 13:1). He uses leaders to accomplish His purposes (Proverbs 21:1). But leaders have the power to make their own choices, so they will be accountable for their actions (Hebrews 13:7). Leaders have a disproportionate influence on a community. God has Jeremiah speak his word to the leaders in order to give the community an opportunity to repent.

The emphasis on the potter’s earthenware jar resonates with Jeremiah’s earlier use of the potter analogy in Chapter 18, where God showed how He molds nations as a potter molds clay (Jeremiah 18:1-7). The fragile nature of the earthenware jar highlights how the people of Judah, though chosen and shaped by the LORD, can be shattered when they forsake their covenant/treaty with God, where they agreed to love others and protect the innocent, and are instead exploiting one another and abusing the innocent.

God’s covenant/treaty contained provisions that promised judgment upon them for disobeying their promise to keep their covenant/treaty with God (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). God has given ample warnings that would have allowed Judah to avoid this judgment, but will enforce the treaty’s terms when Judah refuses to heed His warning and turn from their wicked ways.

This shattering of the earthenware jar will represent the shattering of the kingdom of Judah by the Babylonian Empire, as Jeremiah will state specifically in the next chapter (Jeremiah 20:4). Next, God tells Jeremiah: "Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the potsherd gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you" (v. 2).

The LORD specifically directs Jeremiah to the valley of Ben-hinnom. Ben in Hebrew means “son of” making this the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. This valley, located to the southwest of Jerusalem’s walls, is still called the “Hinnom Valley” today. It first appears in scripture in Joshua 15:8, where it is also called the valley of Ben-hinnom. So it has retained this name for at least thirty-five hundred years.

In Joshua 15:8, it is cited as a boundary marker for the kingdom of Judah, so likely had already had that name for some time. The time of Joshua would have been around seven hundred years prior to the time of Jeremiah.

The Hinnom Valley was at times used for pagan rituals, including the horrific practice of child sacrifice. God had specifically commanded His people to forsake this practice in Leviticus:

"You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD."
(Leviticus 18:21)

It was also a valley that filled with dead bodies after the Babylonian invasion, prophesied in Jeremiah 19:6 and earlier in Jeremiah 7:32. In Jeremiah 7:3-33, Jeremiah painted a picture of the valley filled with dead bodies being consumed by vultures and scavengers. Today the valley is over a hundred feet below the city wall, which was likely similar in Jeremiah’s time as well as in the first century. Therefore it has the capacity to stack up an enormous amount of refuse.

Jesus spoke of the Hinnom Valley when He used it is a metaphor for the consequences of sin. The word “Gehenna” in the original New Testament manuscripts means Hinnom Valley (“Ge” being Hebrew for “valley”). The word is translated to English as “hell” which is arguably more of an interpretation than a translation. “Hell” is a translation of “Gehenna” in Matthew 5:22, 29, 30, 10:28, 18:9, 23:15, 23:33, Mark 9:43, 45, 47, Luke 12:5, James 3:6. For more on this, see our Tough Topics Explained article “What is Hell?”

Jeremiah was to stand at the potsherd gate in order to proclaim the words God is about to give him. A potsherd is a piece of broken pottery. Job used a potsherd to scrape himself (Job 2:8).  Jewish tradition holds that this gate was named for being a place where potsherds, and perhaps other refuse, were thrown down into the Hinnom Valley. Since God is about to have Jeremiah smash an earthen pot, it is apt that He has Jeremiah take the leaders to this location.

Continuing in Jeremiah 19:3, God instructs His prophet, "and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold I am about to bring a calamity upon this place, at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle"'" (v. 3).

God is instructing Jeremiah to give this dire message to Judah even though the prophet has already had his life threatened for prophesying against Judah (Jeremiah 11:21, 18:18). Immediately after this prophecy, Jeremiah will be beaten and put in stocks (Jeremiah 20:1-2).

God foretells a terrible judgment, and instructs Jeremiah to convey this dreadful warning to the leaders of Judah. Addressing the kings of Judah clarifies that the highest civil authority is being warned, demonstrating the extent of responsibility resting on their shoulders. The phrase about tingling in the ears of everyone that hears the judgment is a Hebrew expression denoting a judgment so severe that it causes shock to all who learn of it (1 Samuel 3:11, 2 Kings 21:12).

The idea seems to be that this judgment will be like standing next to a loud crash that causes your ears to ring. After such an incident you can’t say “I did not notice that” or “I did not hear it.” It is so loud it must be heard. So it is with this judgment. Like a massive crash, this pronouncement will be so weighty that it cannot be ignored. And it was not ignored, as Jeremiah will be arrested as a result (Jeremiah 20:1-2).

This verse acknowledges God’s sovereignty—He is the LORD of hosts, which is the Lord of armies. He has dominion over both heavenly forces and earthly kingdoms. This prophecy of massive slaughter will be fulfilled, but interestingly God will offer a means to avoid it. Through Jeremiah, God will tell King Zedekiah that if he will surrender to the Babylonians both he and the city will be spared (Jeremiah 38:17-18). However, Zedekiah will not heed Jeremiah, apparently out of fear of his advisors and those who had defected to Babylon. Therefore, the predicted calamity will transpire as forecasted here in Jeremiah 19.

Jeremiah 19:4 then begins to unveil the core reason for God’s judgment: "Because they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods, that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent..." (v. 4).

The phrase blood of the innocent refers to the pagan practice of child sacrifice. The exercise of child sacrifice is given as an illustration of the extent to which Israel had departed from His law, which requires the strong to care for and serve the weak. This concept is summed up in the command to love one’s neighbor as one’s self (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus said this command, together with the Deuteronomy 6:4-5 command to love God with all our being, summarized the entire Law (Matthew 22:37-40).

Pagan culture was for the strong to exploit the weak. Child sacrifice was practiced as a means to appease the gods and get one’s own way. King Solomon's wives, who were faulted for leading him astray, worshipped Molech, who required child sacrifice, and the king himself built a high place for the false god (1 Kings 11:4-7).

When Judah chooses foreign gods it chooses the culture supported by the morality of those gods. This is illustrated by Judah practicing the offering of sacrifices to these gods. If someone views slaying a child as morally good, then any sort of exploitation of others would be fair game. When worship involves violence, especially the bloodshed of the vulnerable, it demonstrates a society that has completely forsaken God by following practices of pagan exploitation, forsaking justice and mercy.

In forsaking God’s law, they have made Judah an alien place. Israel’s assigned task was to be a priestly nation, showing the pagan nations that a self-governing culture based on adherence to laws and love of neighbor is superior to the pagan culture of the strong exploiting the weak (Exodus 19:6). But now they have adopted the pagan culture. That means they will no longer enjoy the promised blessings that come with keeping their word to obey their covenant/treaty with God.

God’s covenant/treaty is founded on the rule of law, and the primary gist of Israel’s laws was to treat others as you want them to treat you (Leviticus 19:18). This is the opposite of exploitation and violence. The fact that Jeremiah’s life was threatened for telling the truth is further evidence of Judah’s moral decay.

Then, Jeremiah 19:5 continues to further shed light on the most horrifying practice of God's covenant people: child sacrifice. He declares, "...and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind" (v. 5).

High places were altars set up on elevated spots for false worship, and Baal was the prominent Canaanite deity that Israel had taken to worshipping. The very notion of sacrificing children in flames is unthinkable in the true worship of the LORD, reflecting how distorted Judah’s worship had become.

This verse underlines God’s utter repudiation of such acts. The LORD neither commanded nor imagined such atrocities. When He says nor did it ever enter My mind, it is similar to the modern expression “This is unimaginable.” God’s covenant/treaty with Israel shows them the means to preserve and gain the full blessing of life. As Moses says after he finishes restating the treaty, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity” (Deuteronomy 30:15). The basic choice for Israel (later Judah, the southern kingdom) is between following God, which leads to “life and prosperity” or to follow the pagan ways of their neighbors, which leads to “death and adversity.”

God is showing Judah that they have chosen death, particularly the death of the innocent: their own sons who they burnt with fire as burnt offerings to Baal. This is a direct violation of their covenant/treaty with God, and will therefore trigger the judgment provisions of that treaty.

In Jeremiah 19:6, the LORD announces that the valley’s name will be changed to reflect its coming devastation: "therefore, behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter" (v. 6).

We see here that Topheth is an alternate name for the valley of Ben-hinnom. Jewish tradition says the word Topheth has an origin linked with drums, because drums were beaten in the Hinnom Valley to drown out the cries of the children being burned in fire. God now gives it a new name: the valley of Slaughter.

This rebranding of the valley means that the same spot dedicated to idolatry and the greatest offenses against God will be converted into the location of Judah’s painful downfall. God’s judgment is often either to give people what they asked for or to do to people what they did to others. In this case, Judah is being slaughtered in the valley just as they slaughtered their own children. The valley will be filled with the dead from the Babylonian invasion (Jeremiah 7:32).

As the prophecy bestows further details, "I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth" (v. 7)

The phrase the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem refers to the discussions and decisions of Judah’s leaders. This prophecy is addressed to them, and counters their thoughts (Jeremiah 19:3). They will break their covenant with Babylon and trust in Egypt, against God’s counsel. And they will be put under siege and routed as God predicted (Jeremiah 37:7-8). The city will fall by the sword before their enemies, the Babylonians.

There will be so many dead that there will not be ample resources to give them a decent burial. Which is how the dead end up in the Hinnom Valley. There, the dead carcasses will become food for the vultures, both the birds of the sky as well as the beasts of the field.  This is a direct enforcement of the covenant/treaty provision for disobedience, specifically mirroring Deuteronomy 28:25-26.

Jeremiah 19:8 conveys the depth of Jerusalem’s impending downfall: "I will also make this city a desolation and an object of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its disasters" (v. 8).

The city of Jerusalem will become a desolation; it will be destroyed. The phrase object of hissing refers to being looked upon in derision. In fact, the Hebrew word translated hissing is rendered “derision” in Micah 6:16. This is made clear in the context, as people that pass by Jerusalem will be astonished at its destruction.

They will be astonished and hiss because of all its disasters. The word translated hissing can also be rendered “whistle” which is a more familiar expression of amazement to modern readers. We can imagine a passerby shaking their head and letting out a low whistle as they observe the massive destruction. Nehemiah was a Jew in exile who served the Persian king after Persia defeated Babylon. This was roughly 70 years after Jerusalem’s destruction. He observed to King Artaxerxes that Jerusalem “lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire” (Nehemiah 2:3).

Jerusalem, revered in history for its temple and God’s holy presence, will soon be a place of dishonor it brought on itself through idolatry. The cause of this reversal is not the city’s inherent frailty, but its violation of the provisions of their covenant/treaty with God. As a result, the city’s glory will be stripped away, replaced with humiliation before the watching world.

Finally, the dire conclusion emerges in Jeremiah 19:9: "I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them" (v. 9).

This verse describes the extreme desperation of an extended siege. A siege in ancient times was a military strategy to cut off food and even water from entering a city until the people either surrendered or were easily defeated after being weak from no food. The flocks and crops required for Judah’s sustenance were raised outside the city gates. The hunger will become so severe that the people will resort to cannibalism. They will begin to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh in the siege.

This will be a result of the desperation they will feel as Babylon (those who seek their life) hems them in, causing them great distress. This is what they have chosen. The covenant/treaty has clear terms. They have violated the terms. Now the treaty will be enforced.

Even so, God will offer a way out. But Judah’s leaders will not listen to Jeremiah and turn (Jeremiah 38:17). This illustrates Jesus’s statement about Israel’s tendency to refuse to listen to the prophets, and even to seek to kill them (Matthew 23:31, 37). New Testament believers can apply this lesson for ourselves by heeding God’s word and following in its ways. Just as it has always been, the ways of the world (sin) leads to death and destruction. When we choose that path, we seek destruction, even though we have been delivered from the power of sin (Romans 1:24, 26, 28, 6:16, 23).