Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_500_p.lzh/5_504.TXT

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which the pottor sat whilst he worked, but that on
which he did his work. The Septuagint version ren-
ders it, on stones"; and R. Jonah°says, that in some
countries the potter's instrument is in the likeness of
two millstones, the lowermost is the greatest, and the
uppermost is the-least. Or rather the word may sig-
nify frames, or moulds {p}, made of stone, in which the
potter put his clay, and fashioned it: though I see no
reason to depart from the signification of wheels, which
are used in the potter's work, even two of them; and
so the word here is of the dual number; though one is
more properly called the wheel, and the other the lathe,
and are described as fbllows: "The potter's wheel con-
" sists principally in its nut, which is a beam or axis,
"whose foot or pivot plays perpendicularly on a free-
" stone sole, or bottom; from the four corners a-top of
"this beam, which does not exceed two feet in height,
· ' arise four iron bars, called the spokes of' the wheel;
"which forming diagonal lines with the beam, de-
" scend, and are fastened at bottom to the edges of a
"strong wooden circle, four feet in diameter, perfectly
"like the felloes of a coach-wheel; except that it hath
"neither axis nor radii; and is only joined to the
"beam, which serves it as an axis, by the iron bars.
"'Fhe top of the nut is fiat, of a circular figure, and
"a foot in diameter. On this is laid a piece of the
"clay, or earth, to be turned and fashioned. The
"wheel thus disposed is encompassed with four sides
"of four different pieces of wood, sustained in a
"wooden frame: the hind piece, which is that whereon
"the workman sits, is made a little inclining towards
"the wheel :'on the fore piece are placed the pieces
"of prepared earth: lastly, the side-pieces serve the
"workman to rest his feet against; and are made in-
'' clining, to give him more or less room, according to
"the size of the vessels to be turned; by his side is a
"trough of water, wherewith from time to time he
"wets his hands, to prevent the earth sticking to
"them.--The potter having prepared his clay or
" earth, and laid a piece of it suitable to the work he'
"intends on the top of the beam, sits down; his
"thighs and legs much expanded, and his feet rested
"on the side-pieces, as is most convenient. In this
"situation he turns the wheel round, till it has got the
"proper velocity; when, wetting his hands in the
"water, he bores the cavity of the vessel, continuing
" to widen it from the middle; and thus turns it into
" form, turning the wheel afresh, and wetting his
· ' hands from time to time.--The potter's lathe is also
"a kind of uheel, but simpler and slighter than the
"former; its three chief members are an iron beam
"or axis, three feet and a half high, and two inches
"in diameter; a little wooden wheel, all of a piece,
"an inch thick,and seven or eight in diameter, placed
"horizontally a-top of the beam, and serving to form
"the vessel on; and another larger wooden wheel, all
"of a piece, three inches thick, and two or three feet
"broad, fastened to the same beam at the bottom, pa-
"railel to the horizon. The beam, or axis, turns by
"a pivot at bottom, in an iron stand. The workman
"gives the motion to the lathe with his feet, by push-
"ing the great wheel alternately with each foot; still
"giving it a lesser or greater degree of motion, as
"his work requires {q}." Thus Jeremiah saw the pot-
ter work, or somewhat like this; for, no doubt,
p. ottery, as other things, has been improved since his
tllne.
Ver. 4. And the vessel that he made of clay, &c.]
Which is the matter the vessel is made of: was marred
in the hand of the potter; whilst he was working it;
either it fell, as the Septuagint version renders it, out
of his hands, or fi'om the beam on which it was laid;
or was spoiled by some means or other, so that it was
not fit for the purpose he first intended it: or the
words should be read, according to some copies, and
the vessel was marred which he made, as clay in the hand
of the potter {}; while it was clay; or moist, as Jarchi
interprets it; and while it was in his hands, forming
and fashionlag it: so he made it agaia another vessel;
put it into another form and shape. it would better
serve: as seemed good to the potter to make it; just as
he pleased, and as his judgment in his art directed
him; he having power over the clay to mould it as he
would, and as it best answered so to do.
Vet. 5. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, say-
ing.] Whilst he was in the potter's house, and after he
had observed his manner of working, and the change he
had made in his work, the Lord spoke to him, and ap-
plied it in the following manner.
Ver. 6. 0 house of Israel, cannot I do .with you as
this potter ? saith the Lord, &c.] Make, and mar, and
remake at pleasure ? certainly he could. God is a so-
vereign Being, and has a sovereign and uncontrollable
power over his creatures; he has an indisputable right
unto them, and can dispose of them as he pleases; he
has as good a right to thetn, and as great power over
them, as the potter has to and over his clay, and a bet-
ter and greater; since they are made by him, and have
their all from him, their being, life, and motion;
whereas the clay is not made by the potter; it is only
the vessel that is made of the clay by him, which has
its form from him; if therefore the potter has such
power over the clay, which he did not make, as to cast
it into another forth as it pleases him, and especially
when marred; the Lord has an undoubted power over
men, and a just right to change their ,state and circum-
stances as he pleases; nor have they any reason to
complain of him, especially when they have marred
themselves by their own sins and transgressions; which
was the present case of the house of Israel, or the Jews;
see Isa. xxix. 16. and xlv. 9. Rom. ix. 20, 21. Behold,
as the clay is in the potter's hand; and he can form
and fashion it as he pleases, and it. is not in the power
of the clay to resist and hinder him: so are ye in mine
hand, 0 house of Israel; and I can dispose of you as I
please, and put you in what circumstances it seems
good unto me, drive you from your land, and scatter
you among the nations; nor can you hinder me from
doing this, or whatever else is my pleasure. And this
his sovereign power and pleasure, and as exercised in

{n} \^Mynbah le\^ \~epi twn liywn\~, Sept.; super lapide, vel typo, Calvin.
{o} Apud Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc.
{p} Lapideos typos, Calvin; super formas, Montanus.
{q} Chambers's Cyclopaedia, in the word Pottery.
{r} \^ruwyh dyb rmxk hve awh rva ylkh txvnw\^ sed corruptum est
vas quod ille ficiens (erat) sicud lutum (solet) in manu figuli, Schmidt,
Montanus. So Abarbinel; and thus it is read in the margin of our
Bibles.