kon'-trit, kontrish'-un (dakka', "bruise"): Only in Old Testament (Ps 34:18; 51:17; Isa 57:15); nakheh, "smitten" (Isa 66:2). Contrite, "crushed," is only the superlative of "broken"; "a contrite heart" is "a heart broken to pieces." In Holy Scripture, the heart is the seat of all feeling, whether j...