POTTER
A maker of earthenware, Gen 24:14-15 ; Jdg 7:16,19 ; Psa 2:9 . Ancient Egyptian paintings represent the potter turning and shaping, on his small and simple wheel made to revolve rapidly by the foot, the lump of clay, which he had previously kneaded with his feet. A pan of water stands by his side, with which he kept the clay moist. After the body of the vessel was worked into shape and beauty, the handle was affixed to it, devices traced upon it, and after drying a little, it was carefully taken to the oven and baked. The potter’s control over the clay illustrates the sovereignty of God, who made us of clay, and forms and disposes of us as he deems good: “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 my hand, saith the Lord,” Jer 18:1-6 . “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?” 1Ch 9:20-21 .
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Potter
()
The ceramic art is of great antiquity. Wherever the primitive races of mankind found clay, they became potters. Rude baked vessels are found with the remains of our remotest ancestors. In the story of the creation, God is represented as a Potter moulding the human body out of the dust of the ground (Gen 2:7; cf. Job 10:9; Job 33:6), and thoughtful men in all ages have figured themselves, in their whole relation to God, as clay in the Potters hands (Isa 45:9; Isa 64:8, Jer 18:6, Rom 9:21). In one aspect the metaphor is still readily accepted, for all devout men believe in the Divinity that shapes their ends. The classical modern expression of the doctrine is found in Brownings Rabbi Ben Ezra:
Ay, note that Potters wheel,
That metaphor! and feel
Why time spins fast, why passive lies our clay,-
But I need, now as then,
Thee, God, who mouldest men;
My times be in Thy hand!
Perfect the cup as planned!
But Gods vessels of wrath (Rom 9:22) create a difficulty for the reason as well as the heart, a difficulty which becomes a when the phrase is interpreted as meaning that the Lord has created those who, as He certainly foreknew, were to go to destruction, and He did so because He so willed (J. Calvin, Institutes, Eng. tr._, 1879, ii. 229). Such a doctrine has been a rock of offence to very many. The legitimate protest of the clay is heard in the quatrains of Omar Khayyam; and the last word of the Christian spirit is not uttered in the militant Messianic Psalm quoted in the Apocalypse: Thou, shalt dash them in pieces like a potters vessel (Psa 2:9 || Rev 2:27). See Predestination.
James Strahan.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Potter
(, yotser, a fiashioner; Chald. , pechdr; ). This artificer, and the produce of his labors, are often alluded to in the Scriptures. The fragility of his wares, and the ease with which they are destroyed, supply apt emblems of the facility with which human life and power may be broken and destroyed. It is in this figurative use that the potter’s vessels are most frequently noticed in Scripture (Psa 2:9; Isa 30:14; Jer 19:11; Rev 2:27). In one place, the power of the potter to form with his clay, by the impulse of his will and hand, vessels either for honorable or for mean uses, is employed with great force by the apostle to illustrate the absolute power of God in molding the destinies of men according to his pleasure (Rom 9:21). The first distinct mention of earthenware vessels is in the case of the pitchers in which Gideon’s men concealed their lamps, and which they broke in pieces when they withdrew their lamps from them (Jdg 7:16; Jdg 7:19). Pitchers and bottles are indeed mentioned earlier; but the bottle which contained Hagar’s water (Gen 21:14-15) was undoubtedly of skin; and although Rebekah’s pitcher was possibly of earthenware (Gen 24:14-15), we cannot be certain that it was so. The potter’s wheel is mentioned only once in the Bible (Jer 18:2); but it must have been in use among the Hebrews long before the time of that allusion; for we now know that it existed in Egypt before the Israelites took refuge in that country (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. 3, 165, large ed.). The art of pottery is one of the most common and most ancient of all manufactures. The modern Arab culinary vessels are chiefly of wood or copper (Niebuhr, Voy. 1, 188). The processes employed by the Hebrews were probably not in any way dissimilar to those of the Egyptians, from whom the use of the wheel may be supposed to have been adopted. They had themselves been concerned in the potter’s trade in Egypt (Psa 81:6).
The clay, when dug, was trodden by men’s feet so as to form a paste (Isa 41:25; Wis 15:7) SEE BRICK; then placed by the potter on the wheel beside which he sat, and shaped by him with his hands. It consisted of a wooden disk placed on another larger one, and turned by the hand by an attendant, or worked by a treadle (Isaiah 459; Jer 18:3; Sir 38:29-30; see Tennant, Ceylon, 1, 452). The vessel was then smoothed and coated with a glaze, and finally burned in a furnace (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. 2, 108). We find allusions to the potsherds, i.e. broken pieces of vessels used as crucibles, or burst by the furnace, and to the necessity of keeping the latter clean (Isa 30:14; Isa 45:9; Job 2:8; Psa 22:16; Pro 26:23; Sir 38:29). The materials, forms, and manufacture of earthenware vessels are still very similar throughout Western Asia, and are also the same which were anciently in use. This we know from the comparison of ancient paintings and sculptures with modern manufactures, as well as from the vast quantities of broken pottery which are found upon the sites of ancient cities. The ancient potters frequently kneaded the clay with their feet, and after it had been properly worked up, they formed it into a mass of convenient size with the hand, and placed it on the wheel, which, to judge from that represented in the paintings, was of very simple construction, and turned with the hand. The various forms of the vases were made by the finger during the revolution; the handles, if they had any, were afterwards affixed to them; and the devices and other ornamental parts were traced with a wooden or metal instrument, previously to their being baked. They were then suffered to dry, and for this purpose were placed on planks of wood; they were afterwards arranged with great care on trays, and carried, by means of the usual yoke, borne on men’s shoulders, to the oven (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. it, 107 sq.; Birch, Hist. of Pottery, 1, 152; Saalschtz, Archal. d. Hebr. 1, 14, 11). For a description of pottery as now, and from ancient times, practiced in Palestine, see Thomson, Land and Book, 2, 281 sq. Earthen vessels were used, both by Egyptians and Jews, for various purposes besides culinary. Deeds were kept in them (Jer 32:14). Tiles with patterns and writing were common both in Egypt and Assyria, and were also in use in Palestine (Eze 4:1). There was at Jerusalem a royal establishment of potters (1Ch 4:23), from whose employment, and from the fragments cast away in the process, the Potter’s Field perhaps received its name (Isa 30:14). Whether the term potter (Zec 11:13) is to be so interpreted may be doubted, as it may be taken for artificer in general, and also treasurer, as if the coin mentioned were to be weighed, and perhaps melted down to be recoined (Gesen. Thesaur. 1. 619). See CLAY.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Potter
POTTER.The Potters Field was the name of the property in the purchase of which the chief priests spent the thirty pieces of silver returned by Judas, and which they proposed to use as a burial-place for strangers (Mat 27:7). Mat 27:8 states that this spot came in consequence to be known as the field of bloodthat is, the field bought with the price of blood; but a different reason for that name is given in Act 1:18-19, where Judas himself purchases the field, and commits suicide in it. The field of blood, or Akeldama ( ), is generally identified with a spot in which there are numerous tombs, and where also clay is found, lying to the south of Jerusalem, in the valley of Hinnom, not far from the point where it joins the valley of the Kidron (Baedeker, p. 103). St. Matthew believes that this incident of the purchase of the field happened in fulfilment of Zec 11:12-13; which he reads as a prediction, and ascribes to Jeremiah. This may be a mere slip due to the mention in the Book of Jeremiah of the potters house (Jer 18:2) and the Potsherd Gate (Jer 19:2), just as in Jer 27:1 Jehoiakim is a slip for Zedekiah. Or, as Mede (d. 1638) supposed, Jeremiah may actually have been the author of these chapters. It is agreed that they are not by Zechariah. Although, however, there is no doubt that St. Matthew has this passage in his mind, his citation of it is quite free, and diverges largely from the Hebrew, and even more from the Greek, in which v. 13 becomes an injunction to throw the silver into the smelting-pit (, thus reading some derivative of or of ) in order to prove whether it were genuine. Neither does the Targum come any nearer to the text of Matthew. The Syr. [Note: Syriac.] of Zech. instead of potter () reads treasury (), which is generally accepted as correct.
Literature.Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , artt. Potter, Akeldama; Edersheim, LT [Note: T Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Edersheim].] ii. 575 f. The difficulties of Mat 27:7-10 are discussed with especial fulness in the Comm. of Meyer and Morison.
T. H. Weir.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Potter
Fig. 295Modern Egyptian Potter
The potter, and the produce of his labors, are often alluded to in the Scriptures. The fragility of his wares, and the ease with which they are destroyed, supply apt emblems of the facility with which human life and power may be broken and destroyed. It is in this figurative use that the potter’s vessels are most frequently noticed in Scripture (Psa 2:9; Isa 30:14; Jer 19:11; Rev 2:27). In one place, the power of the potter to form with his clay, by the impulse of his will and hand, vessels either for honorable or for mean uses, is employed with great force by the apostle to illustrate the absolute power of God in molding the destinies of men according to His pleasure (Rom 9:21). The first distinct mention of earthenware vessels is in the case of the pitchers in which Gideon’s men concealed their lamps, and which they broke in pieces when they withdrew their lamps from them (Jdg 7:16; Jdg 7:19). Pitchers and bottles are indeed mentioned earlier; but the ‘bottle’ which contained Hagar’s water (Gen 21:14-15) was undoubtedly of skin; and although Rebekah’s pitcher was possibly of earthenware (Gen 24:14-15), we cannot be certain that it was so.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Potter
Of the potter scripture says he treadeth the clay to make it pliable, Isa 41:25; and he forms his vessel on a wheel. Jer 18:3. Much of the ordinary pottery in the East is made in a very simple way: the workman turns the wheel with his feet, and with his hands he forms the vessel as it pleases him. This common pottery of the East is very fragile, and as such is often alluded to in scripture. The Lord Jesus will subdue all His enemies: will dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Psa 2:9, Isa 30:14; Rev 2:27.
The potter making his vessels as it pleases him, is a beautiful illustration of the power of God as Creator, and is applied to Israel: “as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel.” Jer 18:2-6. It also illustrates God’s sovereignty: “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” The potter has full power over the clay. Rom 9:20-21.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Potter
Potter, Jer 18:2; Lam 4:2, and pottery are frequently alluded to in Scripture, showing that the art was known at an early period.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Potter
“a potter” (from kerannumi, “to mix,” akin to keramos, “potter’s clay”), is used (a) in connection with the “potter’s field,” Mat 27:7, Mat 27:10; (b) illustratively of the “potter’s” right over the clay, Rom 9:21, where the introductory “or” suggests the alternatives that either there must be a recognition of the absolute discretion and power of God, or a denial that the “potter” has power over the clay. There is no suggestion of the creation of sinful beings, or of the creation of any simply in order to punish them. What the passage sets forth is God’s right to deal with sinful beings according to His own counsel.
denotes “of (or made by) a potter” (Eng., “ceramic”), “earthen,” Rev 2:27.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Potter
Frequent mention is made of the potter in Scripture, Jer 18:3; Sir 38:29-30. Homer says, that the potter turns his wheel with his hands. But at the present day, the wheel on which the work is formed is turned by another.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Potter
Psa 2:9 (b) This type represents GOD in His terrible fury breaking the nations of the earth because they have no value to Him, and are an offense to Him. (See also Isa 30:14; Jer 19:11; Rev 2:27).
Lam 4:2 (a) Those in Israel who should have been as wonderful golden vessels are classed as men of common clay because they had forsaken GOD, and lived in wickedness.