'Broken' in the Bible

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, on that same day all the fountains of the great deep [subterranean waters] burst open, and the windows and floodgates of the heavens were opened.

And the male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

It shall be prepared with oil on a griddle. When it is well stirred, you shall bring it. You shall present the grain offering in baked pieces as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.

Also the earthenware vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then that vessel shall be scoured and rinsed in water.

Everything that part of their carcass falls on becomes unclean; an oven, or a small stove shall be smashed; they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.

and the priest shall look, and if it looks deeper than the skin and the hair on it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy; it has broken out in the boil.

then the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the bright spot has turned white, and it appears deeper than the skin, then leprosy has broken out in the burn. So the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy.

An earthenware container that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden container shall be rinsed in water.

You shall not offer to the Lord any animal which has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut off, or sacrifice it in your land.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves; and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright [with heads held high as free men].

Because he has despised and rejected the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; [the responsibility for] his wickedness and guilt will be upon him.’”

All the elders of that city nearest to the dead man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

It is the Lord who goes before you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

“The bows of the mighty are broken,But those who have stumbled equip themselves with strength.

“The adversaries of the Lord will be broken to pieces;He will thunder against them in the heavens,The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;And He will give strength to His king,And will exalt the horn (strength) of His anointed.”

When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backwards by the side of the [city] gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.

So David came to Baal-perazim, and he defeated them there, and said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” So he named that place Baal-perazim (master of breakthroughs).

David became angry and grieved and offended because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, and that place has been called Perez-uzzah (outburst against Uzzah) to this day.

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him. And he repaired and rebuilt the [old] altar of the Lord that had been torn down [by Jezebel].

Now pay attention: you are relying on Egypt, on that staff of crushed reed; if a man leans on it, it will only go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust and rely on him.

Then the city [wall] was broken into [and conquered]; all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans (Babylonians) were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah (the plain of the Jordan).

David became angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzza; so that place is called Perez-uzza to this day.

So Israel came up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated the Philistines there. Then David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore they named that place Baal-perazim.

For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God and also had used all the holy and dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.

Also Hezekiah resolutely set to work and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down, and erected towers on it, and he built another wall outside and strengthened the Millo (fortification) in the City of David, and made a great number of weapons and shields.

For he rebuilt the [idolatrous] high places which his father Hezekiah had torn down; and he set up altars for the Baals and made the Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, stars and planets] and served them.

Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.

Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful [to God] and have married foreign (pagan) women, adding to the guilt of Israel.

They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its [fortified] gates have been burned (destroyed) by fire.”

So I went out at night by the Valley Gate toward the Dragon’s Well and to the Refuse Gate and inspected the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire.

And Job took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes (rubbish heaps).

“The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion,And the teeth of the young lions are broken.

“My body is clothed with worms and a crust of dust;My skin is hardened [and broken and loathsome], and [breaks out and] runs.

“My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished,The grave is ready for me.

“My days are past, my purposes and plans are frustrated and torn apart;The wishes of my heart [are broken].

“He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;He has uprooted my hope like a tree.

“You have sent widows away empty-handed,And the arms (strength) of the fatherless have been broken.

“For God has made my heart faint,And the Almighty has terrified me,

“A mother will forget him;The worm feeds on him until he is no longer remembered.And wickedness will be broken like a tree [which cannot be restored].

Then let my shoulder fall away from its socket,And my arm be broken off at the elbow.

“Their light is withheld from the wicked,And the uplifted arm is broken.

“His underparts are like sharp pieces of broken pottery;He moves across and spreads out [grooves] like a threshing sledge on the mire (muddy river banks).

Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God!For You have struck all my enemies on the cheek;You have shattered the teeth of the wicked.

I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;I am like a broken vessel.

The Lord is near to the heartbrokenAnd He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).

He keeps all his bones;Not one of them is broken.

The sword [of the ungodly] will enter their own heart,And their bow will be broken.

For the arms of the wicked will be broken,But the Lord upholds and sustains the righteous [who seek Him].

Yet You have [distressingly] crushed us in the place of jackalsAnd covered us with [the deep darkness of] the shadow of death.

Make me hear joy and gladness and be satisfied;Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit;A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

He [my companion] has put out his hands against those who were at peace with him;He has broken his covenant [of friendship and loyalty].

O God, You have rejected us and cast us off. You have broken [down our defenses and scattered] us;You have been angry; O restore us and turn again to us.

Reproach and insults have broken my heart and I am so sick.I looked for sympathy, but there was none,And for comforters, but I found none.

Why have You broken down its walls and hedges,So that all who pass by pick its fruit?

You have crushed Rahab (Egypt) like one who is slain;You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

You have broken down all his [city] walls;You have brought his strongholds to ruin.

For He has shattered the gates of bronzeAnd cut the bars of iron apart.

Because the man did not remember to show kindness,But persecuted the suffering and needy man,And the brokenhearted, to put them to death.

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers;The trap is broken and we have escaped.

By His knowledge the deeps were broken upAnd the clouds drip with dew.

Therefore [the crushing weight of] his disaster will come suddenly upon him;Instantly he will be broken, and there will be no healing or remedy [because he has no heart for God].

A heart full of joy and goodness makes a cheerful face,But when a heart is full of sadness the spirit is crushed.

A happy heart is good medicine and a joyful mind causes healing,But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

The spirit of a man sustains him in sickness,But as for a broken spirit, who can bear it?

And, behold, it was all overgrown with thorns,And nettles were covering its surface,And its stone wall was broken down.

Like a broken tooth or an unsteady footIs confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble.

Like a city that is broken down and without walls [leaving it unprotected]Is a man who has no self-control over his spirit [and sets himself up for trouble].

And though one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Earnestly remember your Creator before the silver cord [of life] is broken, or the golden bowl is crushed, or the pitcher at the fountain is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;

Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth;For the Lord has spoken:“I have reared and brought up sons,But they have rebelled against Me and have broken away.

No one among them is weary or stumbles,No one slumbers or sleeps;Nor is the belt at their waist undone [as if unprepared for action],Nor is the strap of their sandal broken.

For the head (capital) of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is [King] Rezin (now within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces and will no longer be a people).

“Be broken [in pieces], O peoples, and be shattered!Listen, all you [our enemies from the] far countries.Prepare yourselves [for war], and be shattered;Prepare yourselves [for war], and be shattered.

“Many [among them] will stumble over them;Then they will fall and be broken,They will even be snared and trapped.”

For You will break the yoke of Israel’s burden and the staff (goad) on their shoulders,The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.

“The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,The scepter of the [tyrant] rulers

“Do not rejoice, O Philistia, any of you,Because the rod [of Judah] that struck you is broken;For out of the serpent’s root will come a viper [King Hezekiah of Judah],And its offspring will be a flying serpent.

For the fields of Heshbon have languished and withered, and the vines of Sibmah as well;The lords of the nations have trampled down [Moab’s] choice vine branches,Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered into the wilderness;Its tendrils stretched out, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.

The earth also is polluted by its inhabitants, because they have transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.

The city of chaos is broken down;Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.

The earth is broken completely apart,The earth is split apart,The earth is shaken violently.

When its branches are dry, they are broken off;The women come and make a fire with them.For they are not a people of understanding,Therefore He who made them will not have compassion on them,And He who created them will not be gracious to them.

Therefore the word of the Lord to them will be [merely monotonous repetitions]:“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,Rule upon rule, rule upon rule,Here a little, there a little.”That they may go and stumble backward, and be broken, ensnared, and taken captive.

Therefore this wickedness [this sin, this injustice, this wrongdoing] will be to youLike a crack [in a wall] about to fall,A bulge in a high wall,Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,

“Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar,Crushed so savagelythat there cannot be found among its pieces a potsherd [large enough]To take [coals of] fire from a fireplace,Or to scoop water from a cistern.”

The highways are deserted, the traveler has ceased [to appear].The enemy has broken the covenant, he has rejected the cities,He has no regard for [any] man.

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts and observances;Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a undisturbed settlement,A tent which will not be taken down;Not one of its stakes will ever be pulled up,Nor any of its ropes be severed.

Listen carefully, you rely on the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who quarrels with his Maker—A [worthless] piece of broken pottery among other broken pieces [equally worthless]!Shall the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’Or does the thing say, ‘He has no hands’?

“For all these things My hand has made,So all these things came into being [by and for Me],” declares the Lord.“But to this one I will look [graciously],To him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who [reverently] trembles at My word and honors My commands.

“For My people have committed two evils:They have abandoned (rejected) Me,The fountain of living water,And they have carved out their own cisterns,Broken cisternsThat cannot hold water.

“Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes [as powerful enemies]Have shaved the crown of your head [to degrade you].

“O generation [that you are], consider and regard carefully the word of the Lord.Have I been a wilderness to Israel [like a land without food],A land of thick and deep darkness [like a path without light]?Why do My people say, ‘We [have broken loose and we] are free to roam [at will];We will no longer come to You’?

“I will go to the great [men]And speak to them,For they [must] know the way of the Lord,The ordinance of their God.”But [I found the reverse to be true, that] they too had all alike broken the yoke [of God’s law]And had burst the bonds [of obedience to Him].

My tent is destroyed,And all my [tent] cords are broken;My children have been taken from me [as captives] and are no more.There is no one to stretch out my tent againAnd to set up my [tent] curtains.

They have returned to the wickedness of their ancestors who refused to hear My words; they have followed other gods [in order] to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My [solemn] covenant which I made with their fathers.”

“Is this man [King] Coniah a despised, broken jar?Is he a vessel in which no one takes pleasure?Why are he and his [royal] descendants hurled outAnd cast into a land which they do not know or understand?

Concerning the prophets:My heart [says Jeremiah] is broken within me,All my bones shake;I have become like a drunken man,A man whom wine has overcome,Because of the LordAnd because of His holy words [declared against unfaithful leaders].

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.