פירוש על תהילים 2:9

You shall break them Heb. תרעם [like] תרוצצם.

Thou shalt break (הרעם) them with a rod of iron: – And so He says to me of all the nations that shall rise up against me, Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron.

with an iron rod That is the sword.

Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel: – The word תרעם has the same meaning as תשברם (Thou shalt break them). And so, " Can one break (ירע) iron?" (Jer. 15:12); "He breaketh in pieces (ירע) mighty men" (Job 34:24); so also תנפצם (Thou shalt dash them in pieces) has the meaning of "break," but with (the added idea of) "scattering," for when one breaks an earthenware vessel its broken pieces are scattered. And so (in the verse) "and dashed in pieces the pitchers" (Judges 7:19); and the maker of an earthenware vessel is called a potter.

you shall shatter them Heb. תנפצם, you shall break them, and that is the expression of נפוץ throughout the Scriptures, a potsherd that is bro ken into fine pieces.