Isaiah 29:16

Isaiah 29:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
• New International Version (NIV)You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing”?
• English Standard Version (ESV)You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, "He did not make me"; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Context of Isaiah 29:16

14So now I will surprise these people again. I will surprise them with great miracles! Wise people will not seem wise any more. Clever people will no longer seem to be clever.’ 15It will be very bad for people who try to deceive the Lord. They try to hide their thoughts from him. They secretly decide to do evil things. They boast and they say, ‘Nobody can see us. Nobody knows what we are doing.’ Your minds are really confused! You think that the clay is more important than the person who uses it to make pots! A bowl cannot say to its maker, ‘You did not make me!’ A pot cannot say to the potter, ‘You do not know what you are doing!’ 17Very soon, Lebanon's forest will become a field of fruit trees. And the field of fruit trees will seem like a forest. 18At that time, deaf people will be able to hear when someone is reading words from a book. Blind people who have been living in a dark place will be able see what is happening.

Isaiah 29:16 word by word

הַ֨פְכְּכֶ֔ם אִם־כְּחֹ֥מֶר הַיֹּצֵ֖ר יֵֽחָשֵׁ֑ב כִּֽי־יֹאמַ֨ר מַעֲשֶׂ֤ה לְעֹשֵׂ֙הוּ֙ לֹ֣א עָשָׂ֔נִי וְיֵ֛צֶר אָמַ֥ר לְיוֹצְר֖וֹ לֹ֥א הֵבִֽין׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Surely your turning of things upside downהֹפֶךְhôphek · perversityH2017
• shall be esteemedחָשַׁבchâshab · to devise: thinkH2803
• as the potter’sיָצַרyâtsar · to form: potterH3335
• clayחֹ֫מֶרchômer · clayH2563
• for shall the workמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deed: workH4639
• sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• of him that madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• me not? or shall the thing framedיֵ֫צֶרyêtser · intentionH3336
• of him that framedיָצַרyâtsar · to form: formedH3335
• it, He had no understandingבִּיןbîyn · to understandH995

Cross-references for Isaiah 29:16

• Isaiah 24:1Understand this! The Lord is ready to destroy the earth. It will become a desert. He will spoil the ground. He will chase away all the people who live on it.
• Acts 17:6But they did not find Paul and Silas there. So they took hold of Jason and some other believers. They pulled them out of the house. They made them go and stand in front of the important officers of the city. They shouted, ‘These men have caused much trouble everywhere. Now they have come to our city.
• Isaiah 45:9It will be very bad for people who quarrel with their Maker. They are like pieces of a pot that are lying on the ground among all the other pieces. The clay does not say to the potter, ‘What do you think you are you making?’ The pot does not say to the potter, ‘Your work is useless!’
• Jeremiah 18:1The Lord gave this message to Jeremiah:
• Romans 9:19One of you may say to me, ‘God always does what he wants to do. Nobody can change what God makes them do. So God should not say that people have done wrong things.’
• Isaiah 45:11The Lord is Israel's Holy God. He is the one who created Israel. He says this about the things that will happen: ‘You should not ask me questions about my children. You should not tell me what to do with the people that I have made
• Psalms 94:8Think again, all you fools among the people! Stupid people, become wise!

Commentaries on Isaiah 29:16

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Surely your turning of things upside down - Your perversion of all things. They had no just views of truth. They deemed mere formality to be all that was required. They attempted to conceal their plans even from Yahweh; and everything in the opinions and practice of the nation had become perverted and erroneous. There has been much diversity in rendering this phrase. Luther renders it, O how perverse ye are.‘ Lowth renders it, Perverse as ye are! shall…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-16Verses 9-16 The security of sinners in sinful ways, is cause for lamentation and wonder. The learned men, through prejudice, said that the Divine prophecies were obscure; and the poor urged their want of learning. The Bible is a sealed book to every man, learned or unlearned, till he begins to study it with a simple heart and a teachable spirit, that he may thence learn the truth and the will of God. To worship God, is to approach him. And if the heart be…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16potter … clay: This picture shows that the Lord has full authority over his creation. A potter has the right to shape clay as he chooses. In the same way, God has the right to guide and rule his people. Scripture does not forbid people from asking God honest and difficult questions. However, it does not allow people to resist or reject God’s will (see Isaiah 10:15; 45:9; 64:8; Romans 9:20). He did not make me?: When people speak this way about God, they…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. Rather, "Ah! your perverseness! just as if the potter should be esteemed as the clay!" [Maurer]. Or, "Ye invert (turn upside down) the order of things, putting yourselves instead of God," and vice versa, just as if the potter should be esteemed as the clay [Horsley], (Is 45:9; 64:8).Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 29:16

• Blasphemy
• Clay
• Formalism
• God Continued...
• Hypocrisy
• Infidelity
• Isaiah
• Presumption
• Wisdom
• Worship

In the dictionaries

• Close
• Mouth
• Raise
• Sennacherib
• Choose; Chosen
• Esteem
• Form
• Isaiah
• Potter; Pottery

Commentaries on Isaiah 29

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings