To the Semitic mindset, a waterjug was like one’s soul. For a woman to break
her water vessel would bring her great shame. It would be as if she broke
her own soul. She guarded her water vessel as if it were her very life. That
is why the fact that the Samaritan woman on the Book of John who left her
water jug at the well was so significant. It was a completely un-Semitic
thing to do. It was like leaving her soul behind. It just wasn’t
“traditional.”
If a water girl broke her vessel, all the pieces would be kept and used for
some other purpose–Job used some pieces to scrape his sores, for example.
Only the smallest pieces would be discarded and buried in the ground. The
rest would find a use not as honorable as being a water vessel, but still
useful. Some pieces might become a ladle and some might become a brazier, a
pan to hold hot coals. This waterjug would become a “vessel of dishonor,”
that is, it would no longer serve the purpose for which it was originally
made, but still useful.
A large piece might become a fire pan (brazier)which might be placed on some
young boy’s head early in the morning. His mother would “pour hot coals on
his head.” Then the boy would go from house to house, giving a piece of hot
coal to each of his neighbors which they would use to start the fire for the
day. It was much more difficult in those days to start a fire than it is
today. It is this picture one should see when reading Romans 12:20:
“If your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him a drink. For in
so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
We, Westerners, usually picture vengeance when we think of pouring hot coals
on someone’s heads. The Semites pictured something completely different.
They saw a “vessel of dishonor” being used to bring warmth AND the means to
prepare daily food for their families. And the chore of bringing this fire
to the other villagers was a pleasant chore. The warmth of the coals on the
boy’s head brought warmth to his whole body even as he brought warmth to the
whole community, another body made up of many members. We, Westerners, must
break some of OUR traditions, if we are to ever come to a deep understanding
of the God of the Bible. It is FULL of beautiful pictures like this one.