Isaiah 45:9 BSB — MannaFest

Isaiah 45:9

Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

KJV

Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

⋯

Commentary

3 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah (420)

(Verse 9 and following) Woe to those who contradict their maker, a pot made of clay, and say to the one who formed them, 'What are you making?' or 'Your work has no hands.' Woe to those who say to their father, 'What are you begetting?' or to their mother, 'What are you in labor with?' This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel, and its maker: Ask me about the things to come, concerning my children, and about the work of my hands, give me orders.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Wo unto him that striveth with his Maker! - This verse commences a new subject. Its connection with the preceeding is not very obvious. It may be designed to prevent the objections and cavils of the unbelieving Jews who were disposed to complain against God, and to arraign the wisdom of his dispensations in regard to them, in permitting them to be oppressed by their enemies, and in promising them deliver ance instead of preventing their captivity. So Lowth understands it.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Let . . . strive--Not in the Hebrew; rather, in apposition with "him," "A potsherd among the potsherds of the earth!" A creature fragile and worthless as the fragment of an earthen vessel, among others equally so, and yet presuming to strive with his Maker! English Version implies, it is appropriate for man to strive with man, in opposition to 2Ti 2:24 [GESENIUS]. thy . . .

Voices on this verse

loading…

Original language & word study

17 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ה֗וֹי	Ho	woe to!	H1945 →
רָ֚ב	rav	[one who] contends	H7378 →
אֶת־	'et-	with	H854 →
יֹ֣צְר֔וֹ	yo.tze.Ro	[the one who] formed him	H3335 →
חֶ֖רֶשׂ	Che.res	a potsherd	H2789 →
אֶת־	'et-	with	H854 →
חַרְשֵׂ֣י	char.Sei	potsherds of	H2789 →
אֲדָמָ֑ה	'a.da.Mah	[the] ground	H127 →
הֲיֹאמַ֨ר	ha.yo.Mar	¿ does it say	H559 →
חֹ֤מֶר	Cho.mer	clay	H2563 →
לְיֹֽצְרוֹ֙	le.yo.tze.Ro	to [the one who] forms it	H3335 →
מַֽה־	mah-	what?	H4100 →
תַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה	ta.'a.Seh	are you making	H6213 →
וּפָעָלְךָ֖	u.fa.'a.le.Kha	and work your	H6467 →
אֵין־	'ein-	not	H369 →
יָדַ֥יִם	ya.Da.yim	hands	H3027 →
לֽוֹ׃ ס	lo	[belong] to <the> him

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Jeremiah 18:6
“O house of Israel, declares the LORD, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay? Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of…
leads to
- Isaiah 64:8
  But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Romans 9:20–21
  But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Jeremiah 18:4
  But the vessel that he was shaping from the clay became flawed in his hand; so he formed it into another vessel, as it seemed best for him to do.
Through
Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
leads to
- Ephesians 2:10
  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
- Psalms 119:73
  Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding to learn Your commandments.
- Jeremiah 18:2–6
  “Go down at once to the potter’s house, and there I will reveal My message to you.”
- Psalms 138:8
  The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever— do not abandon the works of Your hands.
- Psalms 100:3
  Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

Featured studies on this passage

Walks through Isaiah 45

Persia, MannaFest

Open the study →

About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Isaiah: the study guide →Read chapter 45 →The featured study →

Continue: Isaiah 45 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Isaiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Isaiah