Isaiah 30:14

14 It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern.”

Isaiah 30:14 in Other Translations

14 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.

14 and its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel that is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a shard is found with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern."

14 You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”

14 Smashed to bits like a piece of pottery, smashed beyond recognition or repair, Useless, a pile of debris to be swept up and thrown in the trash." God Takes the Time to Do Everything Right

14 Its collapse will be like the shattering of a potter's jar, crushed to pieces, so that not even a fragment of pottery will be found among its shattered remains- no fragment large enough to take fire from a hearth or scoop water from a cistern."

Isaiah 30:14 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 30:14

And he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's
vessel
That is, their confidence in an arm of flesh, and they that place it there; and this either God shall do, or the enemy, and God by him; or rather it may he rendered impersonally, "it shall be broken"; and may refer to the wall to which the ruin of this people is compared, that that when it falls shall be broke to pieces, as a potter's vessel is when it falls upon a pavement, or is dashed against anything, or, struck with a rod of iron: that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare;
or that is broken in pieces without mercy, as the Targum; no pity shall be shown by the enemy, nor mercy from the Lord: 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;
as poor people are wont to do, to take fire from the hearth, and water out of a well, in a piece of a broken pitcher ^F14; but this vessel should be broke into so many shivers, that there should not be such a piece left of it as could be made use of for such purposes. This denotes the utter and irreparable ruin and destruction of these people, which, though it was not at this time, yet afterwards by the Babylonians, and especially by the Romans.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 Vid. Misn. Sabbat, c. 8. sect. 7.

Isaiah 30:14 In-Context

12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit,

13 this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant.

14 It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern.”

15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

Cross References

• 1. S Psalms 2:9; Jeremiah 19:10-11