And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
What seest thou? - another vision signifying what is the "word" about to be 'performed ' and by what What seest thou? - another vision, signifying what is the "word" about to be 'performed,' and by what instrumentality.
Seething - literally, blown under; so boiling by reason of the flame under it kept brisk by blowing. An Oriental symbol of a raging war.
Toward - rather, 'from the north;' literally, from the face of the region situated toward the north (cf. Jeremiah 1:14-15). (Maurer.) The pot in the north rested on one side, its mouth being about to pour forth its contents southwards, namely, on Judea. Babylon, though east of Judea, was regarded by the Hebrews as north because they appropriated the term 'East' to Arabia Deserta, stretching from Palestine to the Euphrates; or rather (Bochart), the reference here is, not to the site, but to the route of the Babylonians; not being able to cross the desert, they must enter the Holy Land by the northern frontier, through Riblah in the land of Hamath (Jeremiah 39:5; Jeremiah 52:9).