כְּלִי

From the study of Exodus 27:19

Range of meaning

Any made article: a vessel or container, a tool or implement, a weapon, a musical instrument, baggage or gear.

Against the English

KJV 'vessels' suggests containers. BSB/ESV 'utensils' suggests kitchen or altar ware. WEB 'instruments' is closer to 'tools'. None of them alone covers the whole range.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same word names the gold 'utensils' of the table and lampstand (Exod 25:29, 39) and the bronze 'utensils' of the altar (27:3). So material is set by context, not by the word.

From the study of Isaiah 54:17

Range of meaning

Kəli: any manufactured object, such as a vessel, tool, gear or weapon. Yātsar: to shape or form, the potter's and craftsman's verb, also used for God forming humans (Genesis 2:7) and Israel (Isaiah 43:1, 7; 44:2, 21, 24).

Against the English

"Weapon formed" (KJV/BSB), "fashioned" (ESV), "forged" (NIV). All are accurate. "Forged" brings out the smithing link to verse 16 most clearly.

Used elsewhere in the period

Verse 16 uses the same scene and vocabulary as the satire on idol-makers in Isaiah 44:12: the smith (ḥārāsh) working over coals (peḥām). There, craftsmen "form" (yātsar) idols (44:9–10). The Latin Vulgate keeps the craftsman picture: omne vas quod fictum est contra te, "every vessel/implement that is shaped against you".

From the study of Psalm 2:9

Range of meaning

Kli means any manufactured item: vessel, jar, tool, weapon, instrument. Yotser is 'one who forms', a potter. Together they mean a fired clay pot, the cheapest and most breakable object in a household.

Against the English

KJV and WEB keep 'potter's vessel'. BSB has 'pottery' and NIV 'pottery'. These are accurate but lose the potter, a figure Israel's prophets used for God's control over nations (Jer 18).

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 19:10–11 has Jeremiah smash a potter's jar: 'So will I break this people... as one breaks a potter's vessel, so that it can never be mended.' Isa 30:12–14 compares a collapsing nation to a potter's jar smashed without pity. Isa 45:9 and Jer 18:1–6 use the potter as an image of sovereignty. Psalms of Solomon 17:23 repeats the image.