Pottery
Fausset's Bible Dictionary [1]
Early known in Egypt. Israel in bondservice there wrought at it ( Psalms 81:6, so the Hebrew in 1 Samuel 2:14); but translated for "pots" the harden baskets for carrying clay, bricks, etc., such as are depicted in the sepulchral vaults at Thebes ( Exodus 5:6-12; 2 Chronicles 16:6). The potter trod the clay into a paste ( Isaiah 41:25), then put it on a wheel, by which he sat and shaped it. The wheel or horizontal lathe was a wooden disc, placed on another larger one, and turned by hand or worked by a treadle ( Jeremiah 18:3); on the upper he molded the clay into shape ( Isaiah 45:9); the vessel was then smoothed, glazed, and burnt. Tiles with painting and writing on them were common ( Ezekiel 4:1). There was a royal establishment of potters at Jerusalem under the sons of Shelab ( 1 Chronicles 4:25), carrying on the trade for the king's revenue. The pottery found in Palestine is divisible into Phoenician, Graeco-Phoenician, Roman, Christian, and Arabic; on handles of jars occur inscriptions: "to king Zepha .... king Shat" and Melek (Palestine Exploration, Our Work in Palestine).
Emblem of man's brittle frailty, and of God's potter-like power to shape our ends as He pleases ( Psalms 2:9; Isaiah 29:16; Isaiah 30:14; Jeremiah 19:11; Lamentations 4:2). As Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1 are thrown together in Mark 1:2-3; also Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9 in Matthew 21:4-5; and Isaiah 8:14; Isaiah 28:16 in Romans 9:33; so Jeremiah 18:3-6; Jeremiah 18:19, and Zechariah 11:12-13 in Matthew 27:9. Matthew presumes his reader's full knowledge of Scripture, and merges the two human sacred writers, Jeremiah and Zechariah, in the one voice of the Holy Spirit speaking by them. In Matthew and Zechariah alike, the Lord's representative, Israel's Shepherd, has a paltry price set upon Him by the people; the transaction is done deliberately by men connected with the house of Jehovah; the money is given to the potter, marking the perpetrators' baseness, guilt, and doom, and the hand of the Lord overrules it all, the Jewish rulers while following their own aims unconsciously fulfilling Jehovah's "appointment."
Smith's Bible Dictionary [2]
Pottery. The art of pottery is one of the most common and most ancient of all manufactures. It is abundantly evident, both that the Hebrews used earthenware vessels in the wilderness, and that the potter's trade was, afterward, carried on in Palestine. They had themselves been concerned in the potter's trade in Egypt, Psalms 81:6, and the wall-paintings minutely illustrate the Egyptian process.
The clay, when dug, was trodden by men's feet so as to form a paste, Isaiah 41:25; Wisdom of Solomon 15:7; then, placed, by the potter, on the wheel beside which he sat, and shaped by him, with his hands. How early the wheel came into use in Palestine is not known, but it seems likely that it was adopted from Egypt. Isaiah 45:9; Jeremiah 15:3.
The vessel was then, smoothed and coated with a glaze, and finally, burnt in a furnace. There was at Jerusalem, a royal establishment of potters, 1 Chronicles 4:23, from whose employment, and from the fragments cast away in the process, the Potter's Field, perhaps, received its name. Isaiah 30:11.
Easton's Bible Dictionary [3]
Genesis 14:18 Jeremiah 18:3 1 Chronicles 4:23 Psalm 2:9 Isaiah 45:9 64:8 Jeremiah 19:1 Lamentations 4:2 Zechariah 11:13 Romans 9:21
Webster's Dictionary [4]
(1): ( n.) The vessels or ware made by potters; earthenware, glazed and baked.
(2): ( n.) The place where earthen vessels are made.
