You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.”
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
- KJV Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
- NKJV You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”
- NASB ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ”
- NLT You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.’”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The King will decisively crush all rebellion with irresistible power. Those who refuse His rule will face His judgment.
Overview
The 'rod of iron' and the shattered pottery picture the King's authority to break stubborn rebellion completely. The image is sobering, underscoring that opposition to God's Anointed is ultimately self-destructive. Revelation applies this very verse to Christ's righteous rule over the nations (Revelation 19:15), holding together His mercy to the repentant and His judgment on the defiant.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Rev 2:26–27And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations.
- Rev 12:5And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
- Ps 89:23I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
- Rev 19:15And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
- Ps 110:5–6The Lord is at Your right hand; He will crush kings in the day of His wrath.
- Ps 21:8–9Your hand will apprehend all Your enemies; Your right hand will seize those who hate You.
- Isa 30:14It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern.”
- Jer 19:11and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.
- Dan 2:44In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.
- Isa 60:12For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly destroyed.
- Matt 21:44He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 2:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.