📖 Biblical Definition
A broken heart is the contrite, shattered heart that grieves over its own sin, casts off self-righteousness, and clings only to mercy. God Himself names it as the sacrifice He requires: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Psalm 51:17; cf. 34:18: "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit"). The LORD scorns the bull and the goat of the proud worshiper, but draws near to the broken-hearted as His chosen sacrifice. Christian men must learn to come to God broken — not pretending strength, not bargaining merit, not negotiating terms — and find Him close exactly there.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
BROKEN, ppr. Parted by violence; rent asunder; humbled; subdued; shattered; bruised; contrite, as a broken heart.
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1. Parted by violence; severed; shattered. 2. Humbled by repentance; subdued; contrite; as a broken heart, a broken spirit. In Scripture, that condition of soul which results from a true sense of sin and the felt need of mercy, and which God receives as the sacrifice of acceptance.
📖 Key Scripture
Psalm 51:17 — "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."
Psalm 34:18 — "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."
Isaiah 57:15 — "…I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit…"
Isaiah 66:2 — "…but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Confused with romantic disappointment or therapeutic sadness.
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Pop culture owns the phrase: a broken heart is what happens after a breakup or a betrayal. The grief is horizontal, the consolation sentimental, the cure another relationship.
Scripture turns the camera vertical. A broken heart is what happens when God's holiness meets a sinner's pride and the pride loses. It is grief over offending Him, not over losing what we wanted. And it is the very sacrifice He receives—the crushed spirit that runs at last to mercy.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew shābar and dākāʾ — to break, to crush.
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H7665 — shābar — to break, shatter, crush
H1794 — dākāʾ — to crush, be contrite, broken
H5218 — nākeʾ — stricken, smitten, contrite
Usage
"God refuses the bull of the proud and receives the brokenness of the poor."
"A heart that has not broken over sin has not yet seen the cross."
"The nearest neighbor of the contrite is the LORD Himself."