Reference: Clay
American
Designed for earthenware was trodden by the feet to mix it well, Isa 41:25, was molded on a wheel, and then baked in a kiln, Jer 18:3; 43:9. The potter's art is referred to in Scripture to illustrate man's dependence upon God, Isa 64:8; Ro 9:21. See POTTER. Clay seems to have been also used in sealing, as wax is with us, Job 38:14. The bricks of Babylon are found marked with a large seal or stamp, and modern travellers find the locks of doors in eastern khans and granaries sealed on the outside with clay.
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It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;
I have sent for one from the north, and from the dawn he has come; in my name he will get rulers together and go against them; they will be like dust, even as the wet earth is stamped on by the feet of the potter.
But now, O Lord, you are our father; we are the earth, and you are our maker; and we are all the work of your hand.
Then I went down to the potter's house, and he was doing his work on the stones.
Take in your hand some great stones, and put them in a safe place in the paste in the brickwork which is at the way into Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, before the eyes of the men of Judah;
Or has not the potter the right to make out of one part of his earth a vessel for honour, and out of another a vessel for shame?
Easton
This word is used of sediment found in pits or in streets (Isa 57:20; Jer 38:28), of dust mixed with spittle (Joh 9:6), and of potter's clay (Isa 41:25; Na 3:14; Jer 18:1-6; Ro 9:21). Clay was used for sealing (Job 38:14; Jer 32:14). Our Lord's tomb may have been thus sealed (Mt 27:66). The practice of sealing doors with clay is still common in the East. Clay was also in primitive times used for mortar (Ge 11:3). The "clay ground" in which the large vessels of the temple were cast (1Ki 7:46; 2Ch 4:17) was a compact loam fitted for the purpose. The expression literally rendered is, "in the thickness of the ground,", meaning, "in stiff ground" or in clay.
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And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks, burning them well. And they had bricks for stone, putting them together with sticky earth.
He made them of liquid metal in the lowland of Jordan, at the way across the river, at Adama, between Succoth and Zarethan.
It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;
I have sent for one from the north, and from the dawn he has come; in my name he will get rulers together and go against them; they will be like dust, even as the wet earth is stamped on by the feet of the potter.
But the evil-doers are like the troubled sea, for which there is no rest, and its waters send up earth and waste.
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Up! go down to the potter's house, and there I will let my words come to your ears. read more. Then I went down to the potter's house, and he was doing his work on the stones. And when the vessel, which he was forming out of earth, got damaged in the hand of the potter, he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O Israel, am I not able to do with you as this potter does? says the Lord. See, like earth in the potter's hand are you in my hands, O Israel.
This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Take these papers, the witness of this business, the one which is rolled up and stamped, and the one which is open; and put them in a vessel of earth so that they may be kept for a long time.
So Jeremiah was kept in the place of the armed watchmen till the day when Jerusalem was taken.
Get water for the time when you are shut in, make strong your towns: go into the potter's earth, stamping it down with your feet, make strong the brickworks.
So they went, and made safe the place where his body was, putting a stamp on the stone, and the watchmen were with them.
Having said these words, he put earth, mixed with water from his mouth, on the man's eyes,
Or has not the potter the right to make out of one part of his earth a vessel for honour, and out of another a vessel for shame?
Fausets
Tough plastic earth, containing silica and alumina. Used for making pottery in Palestine (Jer 18:2,6). Vessels of dark blue clay are still made at Gaza. Used by Jesus in curing the blind man (Joh 9:6), a mixture of dust and spittle. Doors are sealed with clay in the East, to facilitate detection of thieves. Wine jars were so sealed. It may have been with clay our Lord's tomb, and the earthen vessel with the proofs of Jeremiah's purchase, were sealed (Mt 27:66; Jer 32:14). At Koyunjik fine clay cylinders with Assyrian impressions have been found, which were made by rolling the seals on the moist clay, which was then baked in the fire.
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Up! go down to the potter's house, and there I will let my words come to your ears.
Up! go down to the potter's house, and there I will let my words come to your ears.
O Israel, am I not able to do with you as this potter does? says the Lord. See, like earth in the potter's hand are you in my hands, O Israel.
O Israel, am I not able to do with you as this potter does? says the Lord. See, like earth in the potter's hand are you in my hands, O Israel.
This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Take these papers, the witness of this business, the one which is rolled up and stamped, and the one which is open; and put them in a vessel of earth so that they may be kept for a long time.
This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Take these papers, the witness of this business, the one which is rolled up and stamped, and the one which is open; and put them in a vessel of earth so that they may be kept for a long time.
So they went, and made safe the place where his body was, putting a stamp on the stone, and the watchmen were with them.
So they went, and made safe the place where his body was, putting a stamp on the stone, and the watchmen were with them.
Having said these words, he put earth, mixed with water from his mouth, on the man's eyes,
Having said these words, he put earth, mixed with water from his mouth, on the man's eyes,
Hastings
Smith
Clay.
As the sediment of water remaining in pits or in streets, the word is used frequently in the Old Testament.
and in the New Testament,
Joh 9:6
a mixture of sand or dust with spittle. It is also found in the sense of potter's clay.
The great seat of the pottery of the present day in Palestine is Gaza, where are made the vessels in dark-blue clay so frequently met with. Another use of clay was for sealing.
Our Lord's tomb may have been thus sealed,
as also the earthen vessel containing the evidences of Jeremiah's purchase.
The seal used for public documents was rolled on the moist clay, and the tablet was then placed in the fire and baked.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;
Then they were crushed as small as dust before the wind; they were drained out like the waste of the streets.
I have sent for one from the north, and from the dawn he has come; in my name he will get rulers together and go against them; they will be like dust, even as the wet earth is stamped on by the feet of the potter.
But the evil-doers are like the troubled sea, for which there is no rest, and its waters send up earth and waste.
This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Take these papers, the witness of this business, the one which is rolled up and stamped, and the one which is open; and put them in a vessel of earth so that they may be kept for a long time.
So they took Jeremiah and put him into the water-hole of Malchiah, the king's son, in the place of the armed watchmen: and they let Jeremiah down with cords. And in the hole there was no water, but wet earth: and Jeremiah went down into the wet earth.
So they went, and made safe the place where his body was, putting a stamp on the stone, and the watchmen were with them.
Having said these words, he put earth, mixed with water from his mouth, on the man's eyes,
Watsons
CLAY, ???, is often mentioned in Scripture, nor is it necessary to explain the various references to what is so well known. It may be remarked, however, that clay was used for sealing doors. Norden and Pococke observe, that the inspectors of the granaries in Egypt, after closing the door, put their seal upon a handful of clay, with which they cover the lock. This may help to explain Job 38:14, in which the earth is represented as assuming form and imagery from the brightness of the rising sun, as rude clay receives a figure from the impression of a seal or signet.
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It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;