Psalms 2:9

2:9 You will break them ¹  with an iron scepter; ² 

you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” ³ 

Jeremiah 19:10-11

19:10 The Lord continued, ⁴  “Now break the jar in front of those who have come here with you. 19:11 Tell them the Lord who rules over all says, ⁵  ‘I will do just as Jeremiah has done. ⁶  I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter’s vessel which is broken beyond repair. ⁷  The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.’ ⁸ 

Revelation 2:27

2:27 he ⁹  will rule ¹⁰  them with an iron rod ¹¹ 

and like clay jars he will break them to pieces, ¹² 

¹ tc The LXX reads “you will shepherd them.” This reading, quoted in the Greek text of the NT in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, assumes a different vocalization of the consonantal Hebrew text and understands the verb as רָעָה (ra’ah, “to shepherd”) rather than רָעָע (ra’a’, “to break”). But the presence of נָפַץ (nafats, “to smash”) in the next line strongly favors the MT vocalization.

² tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a “staff” or “rod,” but here it probably refers to the Davidic king’s royal scepter, symbolizing his sovereignty.

³ sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.

⁴ tn The words “And the Lord continued” are not in the text. However, they are necessary to take us clearly back to the flow of the narrative begun in vv. 1-2 and interrupted by the long speech in vv. 3-9.

⁵ tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies.” For this title see the study note on 2:19. The translation attempts to avoid the confusion of embedding quotes within quotes by reducing this one to an indirect quote.

⁶ tn The adverb “Thus” or “Like this” normally points back to something previously mentioned. See, e.g., Exod 29:35; Num 11:15; 15:11; Deut 25:9.

⁷ tn Heb “Like this I will break this people and this city, just as one breaks the vessel of a potter which is not able to be repaired.”

⁸ sn See Jer 7:22-23 for parallels.

⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁰ tn Grk “will shepherd.”

¹¹ tn Or “scepter.” The Greek term ῥάβδος (rJabdo") can mean either “rod” or “scepter.”

¹² sn A quotation from Ps 2:9 (with the line introducing the quotation containing a partial allusion to Ps 2:8). See also Rev 12:5, 19:15.