Topical Bible: Water: Carried in Vessels

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Topical Encyclopedia

In the ancient Near East, water was a precious and essential resource, often carried in vessels for various domestic and ritual purposes. The practice of carrying water in vessels is frequently mentioned in the Bible, reflecting the daily life and spiritual symbolism associated with water.

Domestic Use

Water was primarily carried in vessels for domestic use, including drinking, cooking, and washing. In Genesis 24:14, Rebekah is described as coming to draw water, a task typically performed by women in biblical times: "Now may it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac." This passage highlights the use of jars or pitchers for carrying water, a common practice in ancient households.

Ritual and Symbolic Use

Water carried in vessels also held significant ritual and symbolic meaning. In John 2:6-7, during the wedding at Cana, Jesus instructs the servants to fill six stone water jars used for Jewish purification rites: "Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each could hold from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, 'Fill the jars with water.' So they filled them to the brim." This event not only underscores the importance of water in purification rituals but also serves as the setting for Jesus' first miracle, turning water into wine, symbolizing transformation and abundance.

Prophetic Imagery

Prophets often used the imagery of water and vessels to convey spiritual truths. In Jeremiah 2:13, God laments through the prophet, "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water." Here, the vessel imagery is used to contrast the life-giving water of God with the inadequate and broken cisterns of human effort.

Cultural Context

In biblical times, water was typically drawn from wells or springs and carried in earthenware or stone vessels. These vessels varied in size and shape, depending on their intended use. The act of drawing and carrying water was labor-intensive, often requiring significant effort and time, especially in arid regions where water sources were scarce.

Spiritual Lessons

The practice of carrying water in vessels serves as a metaphor for spiritual truths throughout Scripture. In 2 Corinthians 4:7, Paul writes, "Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us." Here, the imagery of fragile clay jars carrying the treasure of the Gospel emphasizes human frailty and the divine power of God working through believers.

In summary, the biblical references to water carried in vessels provide insight into the daily life, cultural practices, and spiritual teachings of the ancient world. These passages reveal the essential role of water in sustaining life and its profound symbolism in conveying God's provision, purification, and power.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Genesis 21:14
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

1 Samuel 26:11
The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the LORD's anointed: but, I pray you, take you now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Mark 14:13
And he sends forth two of his disciples, and said to them, Go you into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Carried Captive into Babylon
... And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire ... with fire, and destroyed all the
goodly vessels thereof." 2 ... Others were carried captive, to live in servitude to ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 37 carried captive into.htm

Arrangement and Furniture of the Church
... and the cruets containing the wine and the water for the ... small napkins of linen for
cleansing the vessels after the ... in which the Altar-linen is carried to and ...
/.../regester/the worship of the church/arrangement and furniture of the.htm

Marching Orders
... will vanish as a soap bubble, grasped by a child, turns into a drop of foul water
on its ... Logic requires that God's vessels should be carried with clean ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture h/marching orders.htm

Whether the Cleansing of the World Will be Effected by Fire?
... alone, for the work of distinction was carried out by ... the elements could not be removed
by water as by ... themselves, such as cloths and wooden vessels, and these ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether the cleansing of the.htm

The Lord's Supper
... Our love to this superior and blessed Jesus must exceed our love to other things;
as the oil runs above the water. ... If they who carried the vessels of the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/the ten commandments/4 5 the lords supper.htm

The Plagues of Egypt
... and with it all their streams and pools, and drinking water in vessels of wood and
stone"for all, remember, came from the Nile, carried by canals and dykes ...
/.../kingsley/the gospel of the pentateuch/sermon x the plagues of.htm

How Taricheae was Taken. A Description of the River Jordan, and of ...
... These vessels were quickly gotten ready accordingly, because there ... round like a wheel;
its water continues always ... whither it had been therefore carried [by the ...
/.../chapter 10 how taricheae was.htm

A Picture of Conversion. 2 Kings ii. 19-22.
... evil; for wherever these waters flowed they carried desolation ... bring good crops so
long as the water was bad ... We have this treasure in earthen vessels, and if we ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/champness/broken bread/lvii a picture of conversion.htm

The Advance of Xerxes into Greece.
... seems, set outward, toward the sea, and carried the masses and fragments of the
wrecked vessels, and the ... so choked up the surface of the water that the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/abbott/xerxes/chapter viii the advance of.htm

Conflagration
... with bucket after bucket of water, extinguishing each ... authorities, handed over the
sacred vessels, were furnished ... a receipt in full, and carried this receipt ...
/.../chapter lii conflagration.htm