Isaiah 30:14

14 You will be like a clay jar that breaks, smashed into many pieces. Those pieces will be too small to take coals from the fire or to get water from a well."

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 So this is what the Holy One of Israel says: "You people have refused to accept this message and have depended on cruelty and lies to help you.

13 You are guilty of these things. So you will be like a high wall with cracks in it that falls suddenly and breaks into small pieces.

14 You will be like a clay jar that breaks, smashed into many pieces. Those pieces will be too small to take coals from the fire or to get water from a well."

15 This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says: "If you come back to me and trust me, you will be saved. If you will be calm and trust me, you will be strong." But you don't want to do that.

16 You say, "No, we need horses to run away on." So you will run away on horses. You say, "We will ride away on fast horses." So those who chase you will be fast.