Romans 9:21

Romans 9:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
• New International Version (NIV)Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

Context of Romans 9:21

19Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will? 20Nay 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? Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? 22What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: 23and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory,

Romans 9:21 word by word

ἢ οὐκ ἔχει ἐξουσίαν ὁ κεραμεὺς τοῦ πηλοῦ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φυράματος ποιῆσαι ὃ μὲν εἰς τιμὴν σκεῦος ὃ δὲ εἰς ἀτιμίαν;¶Read the interlinear

• potterκεραμεύςkerameus · potterG2763
• rightἐξουσίαexousia · authorityG1849
• clayπηλόςpēlos · clayG4081
• sameαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• lumpφύραμαphurama · lumpG5445
• makeποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• oneὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• vesselσκεῦοςskeuos · vesselG4632
• honorτιμήtimē · honorG5092
• dishonorἀτιμίαatimia · dishonourG819

Cross-references for Romans 9:21

• Romans 9:11for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth,
• Proverbs 16:4Jehovah hath made everything for its own end; Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
• Isaiah 64:8But now, O Jehovah, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
• Jeremiah 18:3Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels.
• Romans 9:22What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction:
• Jeremiah 22:28Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? is he a vessel wherein none delighteth? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into the land which they know not?
• Hosea 8:8Israel is swallowed up: now are they among the nations as a vessel wherein none delighteth.
• Acts 9:15But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel:
• 2 Timothy 2:20Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor.

Commentaries on Romans 9:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Hath not the potter power over the clay - The apostle continues his answer to the Jew. Hath not God shown, by the parable of the potter, Jeremiah 18:1, etc., that he may justly dispose of nations, and of the Jews in particular, according as he in his infinite wisdom may judge most right and fitting; even as the potter has a right, out of the same lump of clay, to make one vessel to a more honorable and another to a less honorable use, as his own judgment…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-24Verses 14-24 Whatever God does, must be just. Wherein the holy, happy people of God differ from others, God's grace alone makes them differ. In this preventing, effectual, distinguishing grace, he acts as a benefactor, whose grace is his own. None have deserved it; so that those who are saved, must thank God only; and those who perish, must blame themselves only, Hos 13:9. God is bound no further than he has been pleased to bind himself by his own…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-21See Isaiah 29:16 and Isaiah 45:9–10.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 20-2120-21. 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--"didst thou make" me thus?--(Is 45:9).Read the comment
• Calvin’s Commentaries · v. 2121. Has not the worker of the clay? etc. The reason why what is formed ought not to contend with its former, is, that the former does nothing but what he has a right to do. By the word power, he means not that the maker has strength to do according to his will, but that this privilege rightly and justly belongs to him. For he intends not to claim for God any arbitrary power but what ought to be justly ascribed to him. And further, bear this in mind…Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 9:21

• Clay
• Infidelity
• Pottery
• Power
• Predestination
• Presumption
• Reprobacy

In the dictionaries

• Clay
• Continual
• Election of Grace
• Fault
• Pottery
• Predestination
• Resist
• Sovereignty
• Apocalyptic Literature
• Authority in Religion

Commentaries on Romans 9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings