Isaiah 30:14
in Isaiah 30It 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.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he shall break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing; so that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd wherewith to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.
KJV
And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
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This verse in Isaiah 30
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And he shall break it as the breaking - That is, its breaking shall be like the breaking of a potter’s vessel. The Septuagint reads it, ‘And its fall (τὸ πτῶμα to ptōma) shall be like the breaking of an earthen vessel,’ As the breaking of the potter’s vessel - That is, as an earthen, fragile vessel, which is easily dashed to pieces. The image here is all drawn from the bursting forth, or the complete ruin of the swelling wall; but the sense is, that the Jewish republic would be entirely broken, scattered, demolished.
This site's exposition
trust in oppression and perverseness
on Isaiah 30:12-14
The Holy One of Israel answers the demand for smooth things by naming what was actually trusted, oppression and perverseness, and the judgment matches the image: this iniquity becomes a breach ready to fall, swelling in a high wall until it breaks suddenly at an instant. The wall's collapse is then figured as a potter's vessel shattered so completely that not a sherd remains fit to take fire from the hearth or water from the pit. Delitzsch reads the double figure, sudden collapse and total breakage, as answering the false security of verse 10 point for point.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(vv. 12-14) Therefore thus says the Holy Lord of Israel: Because you have rejected this word and have put your trust in oppression and in deceit, and have relied on it, therefore this iniquity shall be for you like a breach in a high wall that is sought after and cannot be found, like a jar of clay that is broken beyond repair, so that no fragment of it is found for taking fire from the hearth or for drawing water from the cistern.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And he shows the strong punishment: and it shall be broken small, under the likeness of the breaking of a vessel, of which no fragment remains whole for any use, namely, for carrying fire and drawing water, above: with breaking shall the earth be broken …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A gracious promise to those who trusted in God, that they should not only see through the trouble, but should see happy days after it, times of joy and reformation, plenty of the means of grace, and therewith plenty of outward good things and increasing joys and triumphs (
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And he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
he--the enemy; or rather, God (Ps 2:9; It--the Jewish state. potter's vessel--earthen and fragile. sherd--a fragment of the vessel large enough to take up a live coal, &c. pit--cistern or pool. The swell of the wall is at first imperceptible and gradual, but at last it comes to the crisis; so the decay of the Jewish state.
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1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He shall not spare “And spareth it not” - Five MSS. add the conjunction ו vau to the negative; ולא velo.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּ֠שְׁבָרָהּ | ushevarah | and someone will break it | H7665 → | 147 times |
| כְּשֵׁ֨בֶר | keshever | like [the] breaking of | H7667 → | 45 times |
| נֵ֧בֶל | nevel | a jar of | H5035 → | 38 times |
| יוֹצְרִ֛ים | yotzrim | potters | H3335 → | 62 times |
| כָּת֖וּת | katut | crushed | H3807 → | 17 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | [which] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַחְמֹ֑ל | yachmol | anyone will spare | H2550 → | |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִמָּצֵ֤א | yimatze' | it will be found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| בִמְכִתָּתוֹ֙ | vimkhitato | among fragment[s] its | H4386 → | |
| חֶ֔רֶשׂ | cheres | a potsherd | H2789 → | 17 times |
| לַחְתּ֥וֹת | lachtot | to snatch up | H2846 → | |
| אֵשׁ֙ | ʾesh | fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| מִיָּק֔וּד | miyakud | from a fireplace | H3344 → | 9 times |
| וְלַחְשֹׂ֥ף | velachsof | and to scoop | H2834 → | 11 times |
| מַ֖יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מִגֶּֽבֶא׃ פ | migeve' | from a cistern | H1360 → |
וּ֠שְׁבָרָהּand someone will break it
ushevarahH7665 →147 times
כְּשֵׁ֨בֶרlike [the] breaking of
kesheverH7667 →45 times
נֵ֧בֶלa jar of
nevelH5035 →38 times
יוֹצְרִ֛יםpotters
yotzrimH3335 →62 times
כָּת֖וּתcrushed
katutH3807 →17 times
לֹ֣א[which] not
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יַחְמֹ֑לanyone will spare
yachmolH2550 →
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִמָּצֵ֤אit will be found
yimatze'H4672 →455 times
בִמְכִתָּתוֹ֙among fragment[s] its
vimkhitatoH4386 →
חֶ֔רֶשׂa potsherd
cheresH2789 →17 times
לַחְתּ֥וֹתto snatch up
lachtotH2846 →
אֵשׁ֙fire
ʾeshH784 →378 times
מִיָּק֔וּדfrom a fireplace
miyakudH3344 →9 times
וְלַחְשֹׂ֥ףand to scoop
velachsofH2834 →11 times
מַ֖יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
מִגֶּֽבֶא׃ פfrom a cistern
migeve'H1360 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 2:9You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.”
it leads to
- Revelation 12:5
And 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 2:26–27
And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations.
- Psalms 89:23
I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
- Revelation 12:5
Through
Revelation 2:27He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery—just as I have received authority from My Father.
it leads to
- Revelation 19:15
And 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 2:8–9
Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession.
- Matthew 11:27
All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses…
- Psalms 149:5–9
Let the saints exult in glory; let them shout for joy upon their beds.
- Revelation 19:15
Through
Ezekiel 24:14I, the LORD, have spoken; the time is coming, and I will act. I will not refrain or show pity, nor will I relent. I will judge you according to your ways and deeds,’…
it leads to
- Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
- Matthew 16:27
About Isaiah

This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
