Jeremiah 19:10-13 records God’s commandment to Jeremiah to break the jar as an illustration of how Jerusalem and her people will be shattered beyond repair. They will be like the pieces of pottery thrown into the trash in the valley of Hinnom, because they have made sacrifices to idols and poured out drink offerings to false gods. The covenant has been broken, and the city will be judged accordingly.
In Jeremiah 19:10-13, Jeremiah is commanded to break the earthen jar to illustrate to the assembled leaders that Jerusalem will be also be shattered by the Babylonians. Jeremiah is commanded: "Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you" (v. 10).
In the previous passage, God instructed Jeremiah to assemble Jerusalem’s leaders and take them outside the city walls overlooking the Hinnom Valley. There he was to break the earthenware jar in the sight of the leaders he had assembled.
This was because the people of Judah and Jerusalem had violated the terms of their covenant/treaty with God. Rather than loving one another and exercising justice and mercy, they were exploiting, even to the point of the taking of innocent life. They had even fallen to the point that they were sacrificing their own children to the pagan god Baal (Jeremiah 19:4).
Jeremiah’s willingness to carry out this demonstration shows his faithfulness, given that he was under threat of death for speaking the truth (Jeremiah 11:21, 18:18). Continuing this warning, Jeremiah declares, and say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter's vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial" (v. 11).
Here, the LORD compares this people and the city of Jerusalem to a shattered pottery vessel. The city and nation will be destroyed and its fragments scattered. At God’s direction, this demonstration is taking place at the Potsherd Gate, overlooking the Hinnom Valley (Jeremiah 19:2). This is likely a place where shattered pottery was discarded and thrown out of the city. This provides a comprehensive image of complete defeat and scattering into exile. This will be an exercise of judgment prescribed in Israel/Judah’s covenant/treaty they entered into with Yahweh, their covenant God (Deuteronomy 28:25-26, 52-53, 64).
The word Topheth is another name for the Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is still called the Hinnom Valley today. It borders the city of Jerusalem, and drops steeply just outside Jerusalem’s walls. According to Jewish tradition, the word Topheth stemmed from the beating of drums, which was associated with the heinous practice of child sacrifice, which took place in the Hinnom Valley. It was also likely a place of refuse, containing dung and mounds of potsherds.
The Babylonian invasion will create so much death that there will not be ample resources for bodies to be properly buried. The carcasses will stack in Topheth, like the stacks of pottery shards. Jesus, quoting Isaiah 66:24, describes the Hinnom Valley (translated there as “hell”) as the place “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). There the people will be consumed by the vultures and scavengers (Jeremiah 19:7). The shattering will be like a pot so damaged that it cannot again be repaired. It will be complete annihilation. The culmination of this prophecy is described in 2 Kings 25:8-11.
In the next verse, Jeremiah proclaims in advance what Nehemiah observed after the fact (Nehemiah 2:3), "This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants,” declares the LORD, “so as to make this city like Topheth" (v. 12).
In this context, to make this city like Topheth would best fit referring to the mounds of potsherds and perhaps other refuse in the Hinnom Valley. Jerusalem will be reduced to a mound of rocks and stubble. This speaks to the degree of destruction it will undergo.
This statement points ahead to deeper principles of faithfulness. God desires to preserve and restore His people, but not at the expense of ignoring wickedness. Declaring that the city will become like Topheth underscores that He will keep His covenant promises, including those that involve judgment. In reducing Jerusalem to rubble, God will be invoking the “cursings” provisions of His covenant/treaty with the people of Israel (Deuteronomy 28:24).
Finally, Jeremiah concludes this solemn oracle: "The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods" (v. 13).
Again, the place of Topheth is the Hinnom Valley, the site of pagan worship, infant sacrifice, and piles of refuse and rubble. That Jerusalem will be defiled like the place of Topheth likely means that Jerusalem itself will become a place of rubble and refuse. The dead bodies stacked up in Topheth will come from inside the city walls.
The reason for the judgment is clear: because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods. The worship of pagan gods was strictly forbidden in the covenant/treaty between God and Israel. The first three of the Ten Commandments are devoted to this prohibition (Exodus 20:1-7). To worship pagan gods is to adopt pagan culture, which honors immorality and exploitation.
The rooftops in ancient Jerusalem were sometimes used for worship practices. Here, they have been used for burning sacrifices to the host of heaven—idolatrous worship that God strongly condemns, sacrifices to a variety of false gods. By describing a range between the common houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings, the prophecy makes it clear that the entire city shares responsibility, from the elite in the king’s household to the common people’s homes. There were sacrifices to the false gods on rooftops across the city. So the entire city is condemned.
The essence of idolatry is to use pagan gods as moral justification for evil deeds (Isaiah 44:14-17). Idolatry perpetuates an illusion that we control the destinies of fate. This darkens our heart and clouds our understanding (Isaiah 44:18,Romans 1:21-22, 28). It leads us to make choices that lead us to self-destruction and death (Deuteronomy 30:15-18).
All of what is recorded here is God’s message to Jeremiah. It is clearly inferred that Jeremiah bravely gave this message as requested. As we will see next, he is said to go from Topheth, where he proclaimed as God requested, and went to the temple to make a pronouncement of doom to the people, after which he was arrested.
Jeremiah 19:10-13
10 “Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you
11 and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter's vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial.
12 “This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants,” declares the LORD, “so as to make this city like Topheth.
13 “The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ' ”
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Jeremiah 19:10-13 meaning
In Jeremiah 19:10-13, Jeremiah is commanded to break the earthen jar to illustrate to the assembled leaders that Jerusalem will be also be shattered by the Babylonians. Jeremiah is commanded: "Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you" (v. 10).
In the previous passage, God instructed Jeremiah to assemble Jerusalem’s leaders and take them outside the city walls overlooking the Hinnom Valley. There he was to break the earthenware jar in the sight of the leaders he had assembled.
This was because the people of Judah and Jerusalem had violated the terms of their covenant/treaty with God. Rather than loving one another and exercising justice and mercy, they were exploiting, even to the point of the taking of innocent life. They had even fallen to the point that they were sacrificing their own children to the pagan god Baal (Jeremiah 19:4).
Jeremiah’s willingness to carry out this demonstration shows his faithfulness, given that he was under threat of death for speaking the truth (Jeremiah 11:21, 18:18). Continuing this warning, Jeremiah declares, and say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter's vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial" (v. 11).
Here, the LORD compares this people and the city of Jerusalem to a shattered pottery vessel. The city and nation will be destroyed and its fragments scattered. At God’s direction, this demonstration is taking place at the Potsherd Gate, overlooking the Hinnom Valley (Jeremiah 19:2). This is likely a place where shattered pottery was discarded and thrown out of the city. This provides a comprehensive image of complete defeat and scattering into exile. This will be an exercise of judgment prescribed in Israel/Judah’s covenant/treaty they entered into with Yahweh, their covenant God (Deuteronomy 28:25-26, 52-53, 64).
The word Topheth is another name for the Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is still called the Hinnom Valley today. It borders the city of Jerusalem, and drops steeply just outside Jerusalem’s walls. According to Jewish tradition, the word Topheth stemmed from the beating of drums, which was associated with the heinous practice of child sacrifice, which took place in the Hinnom Valley. It was also likely a place of refuse, containing dung and mounds of potsherds.
The Babylonian invasion will create so much death that there will not be ample resources for bodies to be properly buried. The carcasses will stack in Topheth, like the stacks of pottery shards. Jesus, quoting Isaiah 66:24, describes the Hinnom Valley (translated there as “hell”) as the place “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). There the people will be consumed by the vultures and scavengers (Jeremiah 19:7). The shattering will be like a pot so damaged that it cannot again be repaired. It will be complete annihilation. The culmination of this prophecy is described in 2 Kings 25:8-11.
In the next verse, Jeremiah proclaims in advance what Nehemiah observed after the fact (Nehemiah 2:3), "This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants,” declares the LORD, “so as to make this city like Topheth" (v. 12).
In this context, to make this city like Topheth would best fit referring to the mounds of potsherds and perhaps other refuse in the Hinnom Valley. Jerusalem will be reduced to a mound of rocks and stubble. This speaks to the degree of destruction it will undergo.
This statement points ahead to deeper principles of faithfulness. God desires to preserve and restore His people, but not at the expense of ignoring wickedness. Declaring that the city will become like Topheth underscores that He will keep His covenant promises, including those that involve judgment. In reducing Jerusalem to rubble, God will be invoking the “cursings” provisions of His covenant/treaty with the people of Israel (Deuteronomy 28:24).
Finally, Jeremiah concludes this solemn oracle: "The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods" (v. 13).
Again, the place of Topheth is the Hinnom Valley, the site of pagan worship, infant sacrifice, and piles of refuse and rubble. That Jerusalem will be defiled like the place of Topheth likely means that Jerusalem itself will become a place of rubble and refuse. The dead bodies stacked up in Topheth will come from inside the city walls.
The reason for the judgment is clear: because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods. The worship of pagan gods was strictly forbidden in the covenant/treaty between God and Israel. The first three of the Ten Commandments are devoted to this prohibition (Exodus 20:1-7). To worship pagan gods is to adopt pagan culture, which honors immorality and exploitation.
The rooftops in ancient Jerusalem were sometimes used for worship practices. Here, they have been used for burning sacrifices to the host of heaven—idolatrous worship that God strongly condemns, sacrifices to a variety of false gods. By describing a range between the common houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings, the prophecy makes it clear that the entire city shares responsibility, from the elite in the king’s household to the common people’s homes. There were sacrifices to the false gods on rooftops across the city. So the entire city is condemned.
The essence of idolatry is to use pagan gods as moral justification for evil deeds (Isaiah 44:14-17). Idolatry perpetuates an illusion that we control the destinies of fate. This darkens our heart and clouds our understanding (Isaiah 44:18, Romans 1:21-22, 28). It leads us to make choices that lead us to self-destruction and death (Deuteronomy 30:15-18).
All of what is recorded here is God’s message to Jeremiah. It is clearly inferred that Jeremiah bravely gave this message as requested. As we will see next, he is said to go from Topheth, where he proclaimed as God requested, and went to the temple to make a pronouncement of doom to the people, after which he was arrested.