Romans 9:20 BSB — MannaFest

Romans 9:20

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?”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?

KJV

Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

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Commentary

3 voices

Tertullian

On the Resurrection of the Flesh (220)

In the same way the potter, too, has it in his power, by tempering the blast of his fire, to modify his clayey material into a stiffer one, and to mould one form after another more beautiful than the original substance, and now possessing both a kind and name of its own. For although the Scripture says, "Shall the clay say to the potter? " that is, Shall man contend with God? although the apostle speaks of "earthen vessels" he refers to man, who was originally clay.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God?.... Or "answerest again to God": some have been so weak and wicked as to suggest, that the apostle met with an objection he could not answer, or give a fair solution of, and therefore takes the method he does: but when the several things returned in answer by the apostle are considered, it will appear that he has taken the wisest method to silence such an audacious objector, and that he abundantly clears God from the charge of cruelty and unmercifulness.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

God is our master, and we are his servants; and it does not become servants to answer again, Tit. ii. By resolving all into the divine sovereignty. We are the thing formed, and he is the former; and it does not become us to challenge or arraign his wisdom in ordering and disposing of us into this or that shape of figure.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

Nay but, O man, who art thou - As if he had said: Weak, ignorant man, darest thou retort on the infinitely good and righteous God? Reflect on thyself; and tell me, after thou hast abused the grace of God, and transgressed his laws, wilt thou cavil at his dispensations? God hath made, created, formed the Jewish nation; and shall the thing formed, when it hath corrupted itself, pretend to correct the wise and gracious Author of its being, and say, Why hast thou made me thus? Why hast thou constituted me in this manner?

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

20 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ὦ	ō	O	G5599 →
ἄνθρωπε,	anthrōpe	man,	G444 →
μενοῦνγε,	menounge	but rather,	G3304 →
σὺ	su	you yourself	G4771 →
τίς	tis	who	G5101 →
εἶ	ei	are	G1510 →
ὁ	ho	who	G3588 →
ἀνταποκρινόμενος	antapokrinomenos	is answering against	G470 →
τῷ	tō	<the>	G3588 →
θεῷ;	theō	to God?	G2316 →
μὴ	mē	Not	G3361 →
ἐρεῖ	erei	will say	G4483 →
τὸ	to	the	G3588 →
πλάσμα	plasma	thing formed	G4110 →
τῷ	tō	to the [One]	G3588 →
πλάσαντι·	plasanti	having formed [it];	G4111 →
τί	ti	Why	G5101 →
με	me	me	G3165 →
ἐποίησας	epoiēsas	did you make	G4160 →
οὕτως;	houtōs	like this?	G3779 →

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
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.
Through
Isaiah 29:16
You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of…
leads to
- Romans 9:19–21
  One of you will say to me, “Then why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?”
- 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.
Through
Job 40:2
“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.”
leads to
- 1 Corinthians 2:16
  “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.