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 clay [under] a seal, and they appear like a garment.
I stirred up [one] from [the] north, and he has come from [the] rising of the sun. He shall call on my name, and he shall come [on] officials as [on] mortar, and as [the] {potter} treads clay.
Yet now Yahweh, you [are] our father; we [are] the clay and you [are] our {potter}, and we all [are] the work of your hand.
So I went down [to] the house of the potter and look, there he was doing work at the potter's wheels.
"Take in your hands large stones and bury them in the mortar in the clay floor that [is] at the entrance of the palace of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes before the eyes of [the] people of [the] Judeans,
Or does the potter not have authority over the clay, to make from the same lump a vessel that [is] for {honorable use} and [one] that [is] for {ordinary use}?
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 {to each other}, "Come, let us make bricks and {burn them thoroughly}." And they had brick for stone and they had tar for mortar.
The king had cast them in the plain of the Jordan with the casting mold [set in] the ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
It is changed like clay [under] a seal, and they appear like a garment.
I stirred up [one] from [the] north, and he has come from [the] rising of the sun. He shall call on my name, and he shall come [on] officials as [on] mortar, and as [the] {potter} treads clay.
But the wicked [are] like the churning sea, that is not able to keep quiet, and its waters toss up mire and mud.
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, {saying}, "Stand up and go down [to] the house of the potter, and there I will let you hear my words." read more. So I went down [to] the house of the potter and look, there he was doing work at the potter's wheels. And the vessel that he [was] making with the clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter, so {he made again} another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make. And the word of Yahweh came to me, {saying}, "Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel.
'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase, the sealed one, and this opened deed, and you must put them in an {earthenware jar} so that they may be kept preserved many days."
And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard until [the] day that Jerusalem was captured. And it happened that Jerusalem was captured.
Draw water for a siege! Strengthen your fortifications! Go to the mud [pit]! Trample the clay! Grasp the brick mold!
So they went with the guard of soldiers [and] made the tomb secure [by] sealing the stone.
[When he] had said these [things], he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes.
Or does the potter not have authority over the clay, to make from the same lump a vessel that [is] for {honorable use} and [one] that [is] for {ordinary use}?
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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"Stand up and go down [to] the house of the potter, and there I will let you hear my words."
"Stand up and go down [to] the house of the potter, and there I will let you hear my words."
"Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel.
"Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel.
'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase, the sealed one, and this opened deed, and you must put them in an {earthenware jar} so that they may be kept preserved many days."
'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase, the sealed one, and this opened deed, and you must put them in an {earthenware jar} so that they may be kept preserved many days."
So they went with the guard of soldiers [and] made the tomb secure [by] sealing the stone.
So they went with the guard of soldiers [and] made the tomb secure [by] sealing the stone.
[When he] had said these [things], he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes.
[When he] had said these [things], he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his 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.
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It is changed like clay [under] a seal, and they appear like a garment.
And I ground them like dust {in the wind}, I emptied them out like mud of [the] streets.
I stirred up [one] from [the] north, and he has come from [the] rising of the sun. He shall call on my name, and he shall come [on] officials as [on] mortar, and as [the] {potter} treads clay.
But the wicked [are] like the churning sea, that is not able to keep quiet, and its waters toss up mire and mud.
'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase, the sealed one, and this opened deed, and you must put them in an {earthenware jar} so that they may be kept preserved many days."
So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit [of] Malchiah, the son of the king, which [was] in the courtyard of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now in the pit there was no water, {but only} mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
So they went with the guard of soldiers [and] made the tomb secure [by] sealing the stone.
[When he] had said these [things], he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his 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 clay [under] a seal, and they appear like a garment.