The Meaning of Jeremiah 1:13 Explained

Jeremiah 1:13

KJV: And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.

YLT: And there is a word of Jehovah unto me a second time, saying, 'What art thou seeing?' And I say, 'A blown pot I am seeing, and its face is from the north.'

Darby: And the word of Jehovah came to me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething-pot, and its face is from the north.

ASV: And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a boiling caldron; and the face thereof is from the north.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And the word  of the LORD  came unto me the second time,  saying,  What seest  thou? And I said,  I see  a seething  pot;  and the face  thereof [is] toward  the north. 

What does Jeremiah 1:13 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord directed Jeremiah to view a boiling pot (a cauldron used for cooking or washing, Heb. sir) that was tipped so that it was about to pour its contents out toward the south. The Hebrew clarifies that a strong wind was blowing, thus making the fire under the pot hot, and causing it to boil over.

Context Summary

Jeremiah 1:1-19 - Courage Promised To A Fearful Messenger
God has a distinct purpose for each life, and our one aim should be to discover and work out His plan. See Jeremiah 1:18-193; Galatians 1:15. The sanctification here referred to applies to office rather than to character, and means set apart. See John 17:19. Jeremiah was very young, and shrank from the responsibility of the great mission entrusted to him. Thus it has been with the noblest, Exodus 4:10. But that is godly fear indeed which casts us back on God. He never gives a commission without assuming the responsibility of its execution in, and with, or through, us. Powers of utterance are specially His gift, Isaiah 6:7; Acts 6:10; 1 Corinthians 1:5. The almond tree in Hebrew is the wakeful tree. It awakes from the winter sleep earlier than others, flowering in January and fruiting in March. It indicated the swiftness of God's movement. The boiling pot is the symbol of war. The promises of 1711701727_72 are very precious to all who are called to stand in the breach and charge men with their sins. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 1

1  The time
4  And the calling of Jeremiah
11  His prophetical visions of an almond rod and a seething pot
15  His heavy message against Judah
17  God encourages him with his promise of assistance

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 1:13 mean?

And came the word of Yahweh to me the second [time] saying what you do see and I said a pot boiling I see and it is facing away from the north
וַיְהִ֨י דְבַר־ יְהוָ֤ה ׀ אֵלַי֙ שֵׁנִ֣ית לֵאמֹ֔ר מָ֥ה ؟ אַתָּ֖ה רֹאֶ֑ה וָאֹמַ֗ר סִ֤יר נָפ֙וּחַ֙ אֲנִ֣י רֹאֶ֔ה וּפָנָ֖יו מִפְּנֵ֥י צָפֽוֹנָה

וַיְהִ֨י  And  came 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
דְבַר־  the  word 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
יְהוָ֤ה ׀  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֵלַי֙  to  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
שֵׁנִ֣ית  the  second  [time] 
Parse: Number, ordinal feminine singular
Root: שֵׁנִי  
Sense: second.
לֵאמֹ֔ר  saying 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
רֹאֶ֑ה  do  see 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
וָאֹמַ֗ר  and  I  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, first person common singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
סִ֤יר  a  pot 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: סִיר 
Sense: pot.
נָפ֙וּחַ֙  boiling 
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, masculine singular
Root: נָפַח  
Sense: to breathe, blow, sniff at, seethe, give up or lose (life).
רֹאֶ֔ה  see 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
וּפָנָ֖יו  and  it  is  facing 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, common plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
מִפְּנֵ֥י  away  from 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, common plural construct
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
צָפֽוֹנָה  the  north 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular, third person feminine singular
Root: צָפֹון  
Sense: north (of direction), northward.