I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.

PSALMS 81:6KJV
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Psalms 81:6 (KJV)

What does Psalms 81:6 mean?

Psalms 81:6 describes God freeing the people of Israel from hard labor and heavy burdens, using the image of removing a load from their shoulders and releasing their hands from carrying pots. The verse highlights God’s intervention to relieve them from their oppressive work in Egypt.

In this psalm, God is speaking about what He did for Israel during their time of slavery. The “burden” and “pots” refer to the difficult and humiliating work the Israelites were forced to do. The verse uses physical images—shoulders, hands, burdens, and pots—to make clear how God’s rescue brought real, practical relief from suffering.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 81:6

  • “Removed” (סוּר, sur): This word means to take away or turn aside. Here, it emphasizes that God Himself actively took away the burden from Israel’s shoulders.
  • “Burden” (מַשָּׂא, massa’): This word often refers to a heavy load or forced labor. It paints a picture of the exhausting, back-breaking work the Israelites endured.
  • “Pots” (דּוּד, dud): This word can mean pots or kettles, likely referring to the containers used in brick-making or cooking during slavery. Mentioning “pots” makes the suffering more vivid and specific, not just general hard work.

Why Psalms 81:6 matters

  • This verse clarifies that God’s rescue was not just spiritual but involved real, physical relief from forced labor and suffering.
  • By mentioning both “burden” and “pots,” the verse connects directly to the Israelites’ experience in Egypt, grounding the psalm in their history.
  • The verse sets up the rest of the psalm, reminding the people of God’s past deliverance as a reason to listen to and trust Him now.

Where else these words appear

“burden” Hebrew H5447 · used in 3 verses

  • 1 Kings 11:28 And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.
  • Nehemiah 4:17 They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.

“pots” Hebrew H1731 · used in 6 verses

  • 1 Samuel 2:14 And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.
  • 2 Kings 10:7 And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel.
  • Job 41:20 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.

“shoulder” Hebrew H7926 · used in 22 verses

  • Genesis 9:23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
  • Joshua 4:5 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
  • Isaiah 9:4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.