‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ”
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.
- BSB You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.”
- NKJV You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”
- 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 2:26–27He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.
- Rev 12:5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Her child was caught up to God, and to his throne.
- Ps 89:23I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him.
- Rev 19:15Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the wine press of the fierceness 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 find out all of your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate you.
- Isa 30:14He will break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing, so that there won’t be found among the broken piece a piece good enough to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.”
- Jer 19:11and shall tell them, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, that can’t be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury.
- Dan 2:44In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
- Isa 60:12For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
- Matt 21:44He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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.