'Pieces' in the Bible

When the sun had gone down and a [deep] darkness had come, there appeared a smoking brazier and a flaming torch which passed between the [divided] pieces [of the animals].

Then to Sarah he said, “Look, I have given this brother of yours a thousand pieces of silver; it is to compensate you [for all that has happened] and to vindicate your honor before all who are with you; before all men you are cleared and compensated.”

Then he bought the piece of land on which he had pitched his tents from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money.

Then as the Midianite [and Ishmaelite] traders were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And so they took Joseph [as a captive] into Egypt.

He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces!”

And one [son] went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces,” and I have not seen him since.

To each of them Joseph gave changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.

If it is torn to pieces [by some predator or by accident], let him bring the mangled carcass as evidence; he shall not make restitution for what was torn to pieces.

Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and wash its intestines and legs, and place them with its pieces and its head,

But you shall tear down and destroy their [pagan] altars, smash in pieces their [sacred] pillars (obelisks, images) and cut down their Asherim

Then he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces.

Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head and the fat, on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.

He shall cut it into pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.

You are to break it into pieces, and you shall pour oil on it; it is a grain offering.

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.

When he had cut the ram into pieces, Moses offered up the head, the pieces, and the fat in smoke.

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.

But this is how you shall deal with them: you shall tear down their altars and smash to pieces their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah), and burn their carved or sculpted images in the fire.

You shall tear down their altars and smash their [idolatrous] pillars and burn their Asherim in the fire; you shall cut down the carved and sculpted images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place.

Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the plot of land which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money; and it became the inheritance of the sons of Joseph.

‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil?A maiden (concubine) or two for every man;A spoil of dyed garments for Sisera,A spoil of dyed garments embroidered,Two pieces of dyed garments embroidered for the neck of the plunderer?’

And they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and undisciplined men, and they followed (supported) him.

So the [five] lords (governors) of the Philistines came to her and said to her, “Persuade him, and see where his great strength lies and [find out] how we may overpower him so that we may bind him to subdue him. And each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”

So when he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made of it an image [of silver-plated wood] and a cast image [of solid silver]; and they were in the house of Micah.

And Micah said to him, “Live here with me and be a father and a [personal] priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver each year, a supply of clothing, and your sustenance (room and board).” So the Levite went in.

When he arrived at his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his [dead] concubine, he cut her [corpse] limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her [body parts] throughout all the territory of Israel.

So I took my concubine and cut her [corpse] in pieces and sent her [body parts] throughout the land of the inheritance of Israel; for the men of Gibeah have committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.

“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.”

He took a team of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out to follow Saul and Samuel, the same shall be done to his oxen.” Then fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out [united] as one man [with one purpose].

Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.

The man told Joab, “Even if I were to feel the weight of a thousand pieces of silver in my hands, I would not put out my hand against the king’s son; for we all heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, ‘Protect the young man Absalom, for my sake.’

Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.

He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes—

Now let them give us two oxen, and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it.

Then he laid out the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood.

So He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by, and a great and powerful wind was tearing out the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, [there was] an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” And he no longer saw Elijah. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces [in grief].

Hazael said, “Why are you weeping, my lord?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons (descendants) of Israel. You will set their strongholds on fire, kill their young men with the sword, smash their children to pieces, and rip up their pregnant women.”

Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down. They utterly smashed his altar and his images to pieces, and they put Mattan the priest of Baal to death in front of the altars. And [Jehoiada] the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord.

He removed the high places [of pagan worship], broke down the images (memorial stones) and cut down the Asherim. He also crushed to pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the Israelites had burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan [a bronze sculpture].

The altars [dedicated to the starry host of heaven] which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord, the king tore down; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron.

He broke in pieces the sacred pillars (cultic memorial stones, images) and cut down the Asherim and replaced them with human bones [to desecrate the places forever].

Further, the altar that was at Bethel, the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah.

He carried out of there (Jerusalem) all the treasures of the house (temple) of the Lord, and the treasures of the house (palace) of the king, and cut in pieces all the articles of gold in the temple of the Lord, which Solomon king of Israel had made, just as the Lord had said.

Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress.

Then all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down, and they smashed its altars and its images to pieces, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.

The sons of Judah also captured 10,000 alive and brought them to the top of the cliff. They threw them down from the top of the cliff and they were all crushed to pieces.

Then Ahaz collected the utensils of the house of God and he cut them in pieces; and he shut the doors of the house of the Lord and made altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem.

Now when all of this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, and smashed the [pagan] pillars (obelisks, memorial stones) in pieces, cut down the Asherim (wooden symbols of a female deity), and tore down the high places and the altars [of idolatry] throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons (descendants) of Israel returned to their own cities, each to his own property.

They tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were high above them; he also smashed the Asherim and the carved images and the cast images to pieces, and ground them to dust and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

“I was [living] at ease, but He crushed me and broke me apart,And He has seized me by the neck and has shaken me to pieces;He has also set me up as His target.

“How long will you torment and exasperate meAnd crush me with words?

“He breaks mighty men without inquiry,And sets others in their place.

“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).

‘You shall break them with a rod of iron;You shall shatter them [in pieces] like earthenware.’”

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;He breaks the bow into pieces and snaps the spear in two;He burns the chariots with fire.

“Now consider this, you who forget God,Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be no one to rescue [you].

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

The law from Your mouth is better to meThan thousands of gold and silver pieces.

“Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;He entrusted the vineyard to caretakers;Each one was to bring him a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.

“My very own vineyard is at my disposal;The thousand [shekels of silver] are for you, O Solomon,And two hundred are for those who tend the fruit.”

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.

Their children also will be smashed to piecesBefore their eyes;Their houses will be lootedAnd their wives ravished.

Therefore through this the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of Jacob (Israel) will be atoned for and forgiven;And this will be the full price [that God requires] for taking away his sin:When Israel makes all the stones of the [pagan] altars like crushed chalk stones;When the Asherim and the incense altars will not stand.

“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.”

“I will go before you and level the mountains;I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

“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’?

Awake, awake, put on strength and might, O arm of the Lord;Awake as in the ancient days, as in the generations of long ago.Was it not You who cut Rahab (Egypt) in pieces,Who pierced the dragon [of Egypt]?

Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them,A wolf of the deserts will destroy them,A leopard is watching their cities.Everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,Because their transgressions are many,Their desertions of faith are countless.

“Is not My word like fire [that consumes all that cannot endure the test]?” says the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks the [most stubborn] rock [in pieces]?

“Wail, you shepherds, and cry;And roll in ashes, you masters of the flock.For the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions have come in full,And you will fall and be broken into pieces like a choice vessel.

Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will send to Moab those who will tip him over and who will empty his vessels and break his [earthenware] jars in pieces.

“You [Cyrus of Persia, soon to conquer Babylon] are My battle-axe and weapon of war—For with you I shatter nations,With you I destroy kingdoms.

“With you I shatter the horse and his rider,With you I shatter the chariot and its driver,

With you I shatter man and woman,With you I shatter old man and youth,With you I shatter young man and virgin,

With you I shatter the shepherd and his flock,With you I shatter the farmer and his yoke of oxen,And with you I shatter governors and commanders.

For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon;And her mighty warriors will be captured,Their bows are shattered;For the Lord is a God of [just] restitution;He will fully repay.

Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the pillars of bronze which belonged to the house of the Lord, and the bronze pedestals [which supported the ten basins] and the [enormous] bronze Sea, which were in the house of the Lord, and carried all the bronze to Babylon.

He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces;He has made me desolate.

But I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold (hear me), I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died on its own or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth.”

and your altars will become deserted and your pillars for sun-worship will be smashed in pieces; and I will throw down your slain in front of your idols [that cannot bring them back to life].

You have profaned Me among My people [in payment] for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, killing people who should not die and giving [a guarantee of] life to those who should not live, because of your lies to My people who pay attention to lies.”’”

‘You will drink it and drain it,Then you will gnaw its fragmentsAnd tear your breasts;for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God.

“Put in it the pieces [of meat],Every good piece (the people of Jerusalem), the thigh and the shoulder;Fill it with choice bones.

The king replied to the Chaldeans, “My command is firm and unchangeable: if you do not reveal to me the [content of the] dream along with its interpretation, you shall be cut into pieces and your houses shall be made a heap of rubbish.

As you were looking, a stone was cut out without [human] hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.

Then a fourth kingdom (Rome) will be strong as iron, for iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things; and like iron which crushes things in pieces, it will break and crush all these [others].

Just as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has revealed to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be cut into pieces and their houses be made a heap of rubbish, for there is no other god who is able to save in this way!”

The king then gave a command, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions, they, their children and their wives; and before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

“Thus the angel said, ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which will be different from all other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down, and crush it.

So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley [the price of a common slave].

Therefore an uproar will arise among your people,And all your fortresses will be destroyed,As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,When mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.

Samaria will be found guilty [and become desolate],Because she rebelled against her God;They will fall by the sword,Their infants will be dashed in pieces,And their pregnant women will be ripped open.

All her idols shall be broken in pieces,All her earnings [from her idolatry] shall be burned with fire,And all her images I shall make desolate;For from the earnings of a prostitute she collected them,And to the earnings of a prostitute they shall return.

You who eat the flesh of my people,Strip off their skin from them,Break their bonesAnd chop them in pieces as for the pot,Like meat in a kettle.”

“Arise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion!For I will make your horn ironAnd I will make your hoofs bronze;That you may beat many peoples in pieces [trampling down your enemies],That you may devote to the Lord their unjust gain (pagan possessions)And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

The remnant of JacobShall be among the nations,In the midst of many peoplesLike a lion among the beasts of the forest,Like a young lion [suddenly appearing] among the flocks of sheepWhich, if he passes through,Tramples down and tears into pieces [the nations in judgment],And there is no one to rescue.