broken vessel

English

Etymology

From Old Testament symbolism that people are like clay vessels.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

broken vessel (plural broken vessels)

1. (idiomatic, biblical) A person who is destroyed or forgotten, or who feels flawed or broken.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 31:12:

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

   • 2000. Jill Alexander Essbaum, Kenosis (poem). Published in Heaven, University Press of New England, p. 48:[1]

     I am a broken vessel, Lord
     rubble where a soul should be.

   • 2005. Kara Williamson, quote in Undisguised, the new project by singer/songwriter Kara Williamson, Your Guide to Christian Music, Gospel, Feb 4 2005.[2]

     I’m a broken vessel—thankfully, God uses broken vessels.

See also

• potsherd

References

• (Biblical) Bratcher, Dennis Bratcher (2006), The Potter, The Voice CRI/Voice Institute[3]