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Psalm 2:9

The New Testament’s use of Psalm

3 places · 2 kinds of echo

The source

You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

The Greek the author follows

Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel.

⛓ Read Psalm 2 forward — the whole chapter and its afterlife →

Where this passage surfaces again, sorted by the strength of the link. Each kind of reuse — formal quotation, deliberate allusion, faint echo, figural pattern — carries its own mark. Follow any reference to read it in place.

Allusion2

A deliberate verbal borrowing without a citation formula.

Rev 12:5–6

'You shall rule them with a rod of iron' — near-verbatim source for the male child who 'is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron' (poimanei en rhabdō sidēra). Rev follows LXX poimanei (shepherd/rule) over Hebrew tero'em (break). Repeated in Rev 2:27; 19:15.

High confidence
Rev 19:14-16

'You shall break them with a rod of iron' - direct source of 'He will rule them with an iron rod' (Rev 19:15; cf. 2:27; 12:5). The MT reads 'break' (te-ro'em), the LXX 'shepherd/rule' (poimaneis); Rev follows the LXX 'rule/shepherd.' Flag MT-vs-LXX: John uses LXX poimaino.

High confidence

Echo1

A fainter, low-volume reuse, carried by recurrence or thematic coherence.

1 Cor 4:14-21 ?

The messianic 'rod of iron' with which the king may break the nations could color Paul's threatened apostolic 'rod' (v.21), framing his authority in quasi-royal terms. Contested and faint: the immediate background is paternal/wisdom discipline, not royal judgment, so the Psalm 2 register is a possible overtone at best.

Low confidence
Elsewhere in Psalm 2
Psalm 2:1-2 3Psalm 2:1 2Psalm 2:2 13Psalm 2:6 3Psalm 2:7 23Psalm 2:8 2Psalm 2:11 3