What does חֶרֶשׂ (ḥereś) mean in the Bible?
חֶרֶשׂ (ḥereś): Broken pottery sherd; often symbolizes human fragility, worthlessness, or divine judgment in prophetic literature
Hebrew · H2789
חֶרֶשׂ
A piece of pottery
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חֶרֶשׂ H2789
Pronunciation ḥereś
What does חֶרֶשׂ (ḥereś) mean in the Bible?
חֶרֶשׂ (ḥereś): Broken pottery sherd; often symbolizes human fragility, worthlessness, or divine judgment in prophetic literature
Full entry for חֶרֶשׂ (H2789) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H2789?
The BSB source-word alignment has 17 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include in a clay (3), a clay (2), a piece of broken pottery (1), among many (1), an earthen vessel (1).
Where does חֶרֶשׂ (ḥereś) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Leviticus 6:28. Its strongest book concentrations include Leviticus (5), Isaiah (3), Jeremiah (2), Job (2).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It in a clay 3× Leviticus 14:50, Numbers 5:17, Jeremiah 32:14
a clay 2× Leviticus 14:5, Jeremiah 19:1
a piece of broken pottery 1× Job 2:8
among many 1× Isaiah 45:9
an earthen vessel 1× Proverbs 26:23
Any clay 1× Leviticus 15:12
clay 1× Leviticus 11:33
like a potsherd 1× Psalms 22:15
Not a shard 1× Isaiah 30:14
of clay 1× Lamentations 4:2
one clay pot 1× Isaiah 45:9
potsherds 1× Job 41:30
The clay 1× Leviticus 6:28
to pieces 1× Ezekiel 23:34
Show sample aligned rows
Leviticus 6:28 חֶ֛רֶשׂ to The clay Noun - masculine singular Leviticus 11:33 חֶ֔רֶשׂ to clay Noun - masculine singular Leviticus 14:5 חֶ֖רֶשׂ to a clay Noun - masculine singular Leviticus 14:50 חֶ֖רֶשׂ to in a clay Noun - masculine singular Leviticus 15:12 חֶ֛רֶשׂ to Any clay Noun - masculine singular Numbers 5:17 חָ֑רֶשׂ to in a clay Noun - masculine singular Job 2:8 חֶ֔רֶשׂ to a piece of broken pottery Noun - masculine singular Job 41:30 חָ֑רֶשׂ to potsherds Noun - masculine singular Psalms 22:15 כַּחֶ֨רֶשׂ׀ to like a potsherd Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular Proverbs 26:23 חָ֑רֶשׂ to an earthen vessel Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Leviticus 6:28
Aligned rows 17
Books represented 9
Leviticus 5 Numbers 1 Job 2 Psalms 1 Proverbs 1 Isaiah 3 Jeremiah 2 Lamentations 1 Ezekiel 1
Source forms
חָ֑רֶשׂ 5x ḥā·reś Numbers 5:17, Job 41:30, Proverbs 26:23, Jeremiah 19:1
חֶ֔רֶשׂ 4x ḥe·reś Leviticus 11:33, Job 2:8, Isaiah 30:14, Lamentations 4:2
חֶ֖רֶשׂ 3x ḥe·reś Leviticus 14:5, Leviticus 14:50, Isaiah 45:9
חֶ֛רֶשׂ 2x ḥe·reś Leviticus 6:28, Leviticus 15:12
חַרְשֵׂ֣י 1x ḥar·śê Isaiah 45:9
חֲרָשֶׂ֛יהָ 1x ḥă·rā·śe·hā Ezekiel 23:34
כַּחֶ֨רֶשׂ׀ 1x ka·ḥe·reś Psalms 22:15
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 14x Leviticus 6:28, Leviticus 11:33, Leviticus 14:5, Leviticus 14:50
Noun - masculine plural construct 1x Isaiah 45:9
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular 1x Ezekiel 23:34
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular 1x Psalms 22:15
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Broken pottery sherd; often symbolizes human fragility, worthlessness, or divine judgment in prophetic literature
Source Gloss
a piece of pottery
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Broken pottery sherd; often symbolizes human fragility, worthlessness, or divine judgment in prophetic literature
a piece of pottery BDB: earthenware Usage: earth(-en), (pot-) sherd, stone.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Pottery fragment used metaphorically for deceptive, smooth speech concealing wickedness
Showing 1 selected witness from 17 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
חֶרֶשׂ is built from these roots:
+ חֶרֶשׁ H2791
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain