Isaiah 45:9
7 I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
8 Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout and righteousness spring up with it; I, the LORD, have created it.
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’?
10 Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought forth?’”
11 Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: “How dare you question Me about My sons, or instruct Me in the work of My hands?
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- 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’?
- 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?
- WEB
- Woe to him who strives with his Maker— a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’ or your work, ‘He has no hands’?
- 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?
- DARBY
- Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let a potsherd [strive] with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that formeth it, What makest thou? Or thy work, He hath no hands?
- BLB
- Woe [to] the one striving with the One having formed him—a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to the one fashioning it, ‘What are you doing? Or ‘Your work [has] no hands unto it!’?
- ÅB
- Ve den som tretter med sin skaper, et skår blant andre skår av jord! Kan leiren si til ham som former det: Hva gjør du? Og kan ditt verk si om deg: Han har ingen hender?
- OTB
- Ve dem som kives med sin Skaper, de som bare er leirskår blant leirskår på bakken. Sier leiren til pottemakeren: ‘Hva lager du?’ Sier ditt verk: ‘Han har ingen hender’?
- B1930
- Ve den som tretter med sin skaper, et skår blandt andre skår av jord! Kan leret si til ham som former det: Hvad gjør du? Og kan ditt verk si om dig: Han har ingen hender?
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
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?”
Read in contextIsaiah 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.
Read in contextIsaiah 10:15
Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
Read in contextJeremiah 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 Israel.
Read in contextIsaiah 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 the potter, “He has no understanding”?
Read in contextProverbs 21:30
There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
Read in contextJob 40:8–9
Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?
Read in contextPsalms 2:2–9
The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One:
Read in context