Jeremiah 1:13 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

A seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. — More correctly, from the north. The next symbol was one that set forth the darker side of the prophet’s work: a large cauldron (probably of metal) placed (as in Ezekiel’s vision, Ezekiel 24:3-11) on a great pile of burning wood, boiling and steaming, with its face turned from the north, and so on the point of emptying out its scalding contents towards the south. This was as strong a contrast as possible to the vernal beauty of the almond-bough, and told too plainly the terrors which were to be expected from the regions that lay to the north of the land of Israel, Assyria and Chaldæa. The flood of water at the boiling point went beyond the “waters of the great river” of Israel’s symbolism (Isaiah 8:7).