19:1–3 The prophet Jeremiah must acquire a potter’s vessel for a sign-act instead of merely observing how a potter handles it (cf. 18:1–4). Yahweh directs him to buy a clay flask and gather the people’s leaders (19:1) to an outdoor location (“the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate”; v. 2). This place, just to the south of Jerusalem proper, is already mentioned in Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon as the site of child sacrifice (7:31–32). The Chronicler states that King Manasseh even passed his own sons through the fire there (2 Chron. 33:6). The people apparently restarted their pagan use of this site soon after Josiah had sought to undo Manasseh’s abuses by tearing it down (2 Kings 23:10). As perverse and widespread as idolatry has become since Josiah’s reforms, the valley of the Son of Hinnom represents the very worst kind of sins in Judah. It is thus no surprise that Yahweh directs Jeremiah to this place for an unforgettable sign-act of divine judgment that will sting the eyes and ears of his audience (Jer. 19:3).

19:4–5 Unlike the previous sign-act of the potter working at his wheel (ch. 18), the performance of the present sign-act of the potter’s flask is preceded by a detailed explanation of Judah’s sins. In echoing the Temple Sermon (chs. 7; 26) these verses offer three examples of what it means to “forsake” Yahweh: (1) polluting what should be a holy land by making offerings to other gods (cf. 7:6, 9, 18); (2) committing social injustice by shedding innocent blood (cf. 7:6, 9); and (3) building high places where child sacrifices are offered to Baal (cf. 7:30–31). Further information about these transgressions is provided in the comments on 7:1–34, where the book mentions each sin for the first time.

19:6–9 The opening conjunction “therefore” heralds Yahweh’s verdict against such abominations. The southern district of Jerusalem will be renamed from “Topheth” and “Valley of the Son of Hinnom” to “Valley of Slaughter” as a reflection of the massacre to take place at Babylon’s invasion (v. 6). For Yahweh to oppose the “plans of Judah and Jerusalem” (v. 7) describes Judah’s futile search for allies, a quest that will end with this people consumed by Babylon’s sword and their corpses exposed as food for beasts. The city of Jerusalem—formerly a place of Yahweh’s glory, which attracts the nations (cf. Psalms 46–48)—will instead become a revulsion to them because of the ugliness of its devastation (Jer. 19:8). Yet the degree of disgust outside the city will be exceeded by the desperation inside it during Babylon’s siege, for inhabitants of Jerusalem will survive only by eating their family members (cf. Deut. 28:53–57).

19:10–13 Jeremiah is finally commanded to shatter the potter’s flask (Jer. 19:10). The preview of the sign-act’s meaning (cf. vv. 4–9) is set in motion by Yahweh’s determination to “break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended” (v. 11). Gone is the previous chapter’s possibility that the vessel could be reworked while still on the potter’s wheel (cf. 18:4). Death will instead become so commonplace in Jerusalem that Topheth will need to become a cemetery, an ironic but appropriate fate for a place where child sacrifices are made (cf. 19:6). This brand of poetic justice will be leveled against all Jerusalem, since every place where the people defile themselves with foreign gods will be desecrated just as Topheth will be (v. 12). These rituals have occurred not only at the temple in Jerusalem (cf. 7:18; Ezek. 8:5–6) but also at private homes throughout the city (Jer. 19:13)—another indication of just how pervasive idolatry has become in Judah.

19:14–15 These verses are a bridge to the narrative found in the next chapter. Jeremiah travels to the temple in Jerusalem from Topheth, a relatively minor place that has served to illustrate Yahweh’s object lesson that defilement leads to defilement (v. 14). Much like in the chapter 7 Temple Sermon, the prophet announces Yahweh’s judgment against an obstinate people (19:15). And, like the aftermath of the Temple Sermon as recorded in chapter 26, Jeremiah will pay a heavy personal price for his faithfulness to Yahweh. The story of his suffering at the hand of Pashhur the priest is told in chapter 20.