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

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.’ 20But you are only human. You have no authority to speak against God like that. God has made you. A pot cannot speak against the person who made it! It cannot ask him, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Somebody who makes pots can choose to make any kind of pot. He can use the same piece of clay to make two different pots. One of the pots may be for special parties. The other pot is for dirty things. 22What does that teach us about God? Some people are like pots that are ready for God to destroy. God is angry with people like that. He is ready to show his power against them. But he has chosen to wait patiently. He keeps his anger for later. 23Other people are like valuable pots that God has chosen to make. God wants to be kind to people like that. He wants to use them to show people how great he is. He has prepared them to be with him for a special party in heaven.

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• ·ἤē · orG2228
• Hathἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• notοὐou · noG3756
• the potterκεραμεύςkerameus · potterG2763
• powerἐξουσίαexousia · authorityG1849
• over the clayπηλόςpēlos · clayG4081
• ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• the sameαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• lumpφύραμαphurama · lumpG5445
• to makeποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• oneμένmen · on the other handG3303
• vesselσκεῦοςskeuos · vesselG4632
• untoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• honourτιμήtimē · honorG5092
• andδέde · thenG1161
• dishonourἀτιμίαatimia · dishonourG819

Cross-references for Romans 9:21

• Romans 9:11And God spoke to Rebekah before her sons were born. God spoke before the boys had done anything either good or bad. God did this to show clearly that he himself was choosing one child. He was not choosing someone because of what that person had done. He himself decided who he would choose.
• Proverbs 16:4The Lord causes everything to have its proper result. Even wicked people will come to bad trouble in the end.
• Isaiah 64:8But Lord, you are still our Father. We are like clay that you have used. You are like the potter who has made us into pots. You made us all with your own hands.
• Jeremiah 18:3So I went down to the potter's house. He was working at his wheel.
• Romans 9:22What does that teach us about God? Some people are like pots that are ready for God to destroy. God is angry with people like that. He is ready to show his power against them. But he has chosen to wait patiently. He keeps his anger for later.
• Jeremiah 22:28This man Jeconiah will be like a broken pot. It is a clay pot that nobody wants any more. He and his children will go as prisoners to a foreign country. They will live in a country that they do not know. Why will that happen to them?
• Hosea 8:8Israel will become lost among the other nations. It will be like a useless pot that nobody needs.
• Acts 9:15But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go now to Saul! I have chosen him to work for me. He will go to those who are not Jews and to their rulers. He will tell them about me. He will also tell the people of Israel about me.
• 2 Timothy 2:20In a big house, there are different kinds of dishes. There are some dishes that people have made from gold or from silver. They see those dishes as valuable things. There are also dishes that people have made from wood or from clay. Those dishes are not special things and they may get dirty.

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