Jeremiah 18:3

King James Version

Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.

Hebrew Names Version
Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels.

English Standard Version
So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel.

New American Standard Bible
So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.

New Century Version
So I went down to the potter's house and saw him working at the potter's wheel.

Amplified Bible
Then I went down to the potter's house, and saw that he was working at the wheel.

World English Bible
Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then I went downe to the potters house, & behold, he wrought a worke on the wheeles.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was making something on the wheel.

Berean Standard Bible
So I went down to the potter's house and saw him working at the wheel.

Contemporary English Version
I went there and saw the potter making clay pots on his pottery wheel.

Complete Jewish Bible
So I went down to the house of the potter; and there he was, working at the wheels.

Darby Translation
And I went down to the potter's house; and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

Easy-to-Read Version
So I went down to the potter's house and saw him working with clay at the wheel.

George Lamsa Translation
Then I went down to the potters house, according to the word of the LORD, and, behold, he was doing work on the wheel.

Good News Translation
So I went there and saw the potter working at his wheel.

Lexham English Bible
So I went down to the house of the potter and look, there he was doing work at the potter's wheels.

Literal Translation
Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was working a work on the wheel.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Now when I came to the Potters house, I founde him makinge his worke vpon a whele.

American Standard Version
Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels.

Bible in Basic English
Then I went down to the potter's house, and he was doing his work on the stones.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was at his work on the wheels.

King James Version (1611)
Then I went downe to the potters house, and behold, hee wrought a worke on the wheeles.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Nowe when I came to the potters house, I founde hym makyng his worke vpon a wheele.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
So I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was making a vessel on the stones.

English Revised Version
Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought his work on the wheels.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y yede doun in to the hous of a pottere, and lo! he made a werk on a wheel.

Update Bible Version
Then I went down to the potter's house, and, look, he was making a work on the wheels.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

New English Translation
So I went down to the potter's house and found him working at his wheel.

New King James Version
Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.

New Living Translation
So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel.

New Life Bible
So I went down to the pot-maker's house, and saw him making one on the wheel.

New Revised Standard
So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So I went down, to the house of the potter, - and there he was! making a piece of work on the wheels,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I went down into the potter’s house, and behold he was doing a work on the wheel.

Revised Standard Version
So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel.

Young's Literal Translation
and I go down [to] the potter's house, and lo, he is doing a work on the stones,

THE MESSAGE
So I went to the potter's house, and sure enough, the potter was there, working away at his wheel. Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.

Contextual Overview

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord , saying, ² Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. ³ Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. ⁴ And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. ⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁶ O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord . Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; ⁸ If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. ⁹ And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; ¹⁰ If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I went: Jonah 1:3, John 15:14, Acts 26:19

wheels: or, frames, or seats

Reciprocal: Job 10:8 - yet thou Romans 9:21 - the potter

Cross-References

Genesis 32:5
And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then I went down to the potter's house,.... He did as the Lord commanded him; he was obedient to the divine will; he went to hear what the Lord had to say to him there, and to observe such things, from whence he might learn instruction for himself and others:

and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels; the Targum renders it "upon a seat"; or "his seats", as Junius and Tremellius; but it signifies not the instrument on which the potter sat while he worked, but that on which he did his work. The Septuagint version renders it, "on stones" n; and R. Jonah o 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 signify "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 follows:

"The "potter's wheel" consists 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 atop 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, descend, 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. The top of the nut is flat, 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 inclining, 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 "wheel", 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 atop 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, parallel 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 pushing 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 potter work, or somewhat like this; for, no doubt, pottery, as other things, has been improved since his time.

n על האבנים επι των λιθων, 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".

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The wheels - literally, “the two wheels.” The lower one was worked by the feet to give motion to the upper one, which was a flat disc or plate of wood, on which the potter laid the clay, and moulded it with his fingers as it revolved rapidly.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 18:3. He wrought a work on the wheels. — אל האבנים al haabnayim, upon the stones, the potter's wheel being usually made of such; the spindle of the moving stone being placed on a stone below, on which it turned, and supported the stone above, on which the vessel was manufactured, and which alone had a rotatory motion. The potter's wheel in the present day seems to differ very little from that which was in use between two and three thousand years ago.