They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.
Parallel translations
- WEB He will rule them with a rod of iron, shattering them like clay pots; as I also have received of my Father:
- KJV And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
- BSB He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery—just as I have received authority from My Father.
- NKJV ‘Heshall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’ — as I also have received from My Father;
- NASB and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are shattered, as I also have received authority from My Father;
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 overcomer will rule the nations with a rod of iron, as Christ received from his Father. It matters because believers share in the messianic authority Christ won.
Overview
Continuing the quotation of Psalm 2, this pictures decisive, righteous rule over the nations. Christ received this authority from the Father and shares it with his people. The promise assures persevering believers of vindication and participation in Christ's victorious reign.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 2:8–9Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.”
- Matt 11:27All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.
- Luke 22:29I confer on you a kingdom, even as my Father conferred on me,
- Ps 149:5–9Let the saints rejoice in honor. Let them sing for joy on their beds.
- John 17:24Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
- 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.
- Ps 49:14They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion.
- Dan 7:22until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
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Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 2:27 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.