Psalms 2:9

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron A figure for the severity of the chastisement that awaits rebels. Or perhaps, -an iron sceptre" (Psalms 45:6), symbol of a stern and irresistible rule. But the word rendered break them, if read with different vowels, may mean rule(lit. shepherd) them. so the LXX (and after it Revelation 2:27; Revelation 12:5; Revelation 19:15), Syriac, and Jerome. In this case rodwill mean a shepherd's staff(Micah 7:14), and the phrase will be an oxymoron.

a potter's vessel An emblem of easy, complete, irreparable destruction. The confederacy is shattered into fragments which cannot be reunited. Cp. Jeremiah 19:11; Isaiah 30:14; Proverbs 6:15.