Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
A broken heart - nishberey Web , the heart broken to shivers.
A contrite spirit - dakkeey ruach , "the beaten-out spirit." In both words the hammer is necessarily implied; in breaking to pieces the ore first, and then plating out the metal when it has been separated from the ore. This will call to the reader' s remembrance Jeremiah 23:29 : "Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord? And like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" The breaking to shivers, and beating out, are metaphorical expressions: so are the hammer and the rock. What the large hammer struck on a rock by a powerful hand would do, so does the word of the Lord when struck on the sinner' s heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. The broken heart, and the contrite spirit, are two essential characteristics of true repentance.
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