New Living Translation
Isaiah 45:9
9“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’
Isaiah 45:9 in other versions
- King James Version (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?
- New International Version (NIV)“Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’?
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' or 'Your work has no handles'?
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?
Context of Isaiah 45:9
7I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the Lord, am the one who does these things. 8“Open up, O heavens, and pour out your righteousness. Let the earth open wide so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together. I, the Lord, created them. “What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’ 10How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way?’” 11This is what the Lord says— the Holy One of Israel and your Creator: “Do you question what I do for my children? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?
Read all of Isaiah 45Isaiah 45:9 word by word
ה֗וֹי רָ֚ב אֶת־יֹ֣צְר֔וֹ חֶ֖רֶשׂ אֶת־חַרְשֵׂ֣י אֲדָמָ֑ה הֲיֹאמַ֨ר חֹ֤מֶר לְיֹֽצְרוֹ֙ מַֽה־תַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה וּפָעָלְךָ֖ אֵין־יָדַ֥יִם לֽוֹ׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
- unto him that strivethרִיבrîyb rûb · to contendH7378
- with his Makerיָצַרyâtsar · to form: formedH3335
- the potsherdחֶ֫רֶשׂchereώ · earthenwareH2789
- of the earthאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
- Shall the clayחֹ֫מֶרchômer · clayH2563
- sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- it, What makestעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- thou? or thy workפֹּ֫עַלpô‛al · workH6467
- He hath no handsיָדyâd · handH3027
Cross-references for Isaiah 45:9
- Isaiah 64:8And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.
- Exodus 9:16But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth.
- Job 15:24That dark day terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for battle.
- Job 40:8“Will you discredit my justice and condemn me just to prove you are right?
- Psalms 2:2The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one.
- Proverbs 21:30No human wisdom or understanding or plan can stand against the Lord.
- Jeremiah 50:24Listen, Babylon, for I have set a trap for you. You are caught, for you have fought against the Lord.
- 1 Corinthians 10:22What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?
- Isaiah 10:15But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it? Is the saw greater than the person who saws? Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it? Can a wooden cane walk by itself?
- Isaiah 29:16How foolish can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay! Should the created thing say of the one who made it, “He didn’t make me”? Does a jar ever say, “The potter who made me is stupid”?
- Jeremiah 18:6“O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.
- Romans 9:20No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”
Commentaries on Isaiah 45:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Wo unto him that striveth with his Maker "To unto him that contendeth with the power that formed him" - The prophet answers or prevents the objections and cavils of the unbelieving Jews, disposed to murmur against God, and to arraign the wisdom and justice of his dispensations in regard to them; in permitting them to be oppressed by their enemies, and in promising them deliverance instead of preventing their captivity. St. Paul has borrowed the image, and…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Wo unto him that striveth with his Maker! - This verse commences a new subject. Its connection with the preceeding is not very obvious. It may be designed to prevent the objections and cavils of the unbelieving Jews who were disposed to complain against God, and to arraign the wisdom of his dispensations in regard to them, in permitting them to be oppressed by their enemies, and in promising them deliver ance instead of preventing their captivity. So…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-10Verses 5-10 There is no God beside Jehovah. There is nothing done without him. He makes peace, put here for all good; and creates evil, not the evil of sin, but the evil of punishment. He is the Author of all that is true, holy, good, or happy; and evil, error, and misery, came into the world by his permission, through the wilful apostacy of his creatures, but are restrained and overruled to his righteous purpose. This doctrine is applied, for the comfort…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9-11pot … the potter … him … his father: It is foolish for a creature to question the wisdom of its creator.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. Anticipating the objections which the Jews might raise as to why God permitted their captivity, and when He did restore them, why He did so by a foreign prince, Cyrus, not a Jew (Is 40:27, &c.), but mainly and ultimately, the objections about to be raised by the Jews against God's sovereign act in adopting the whole Gentile world as His spiritual Israel (Is 45:8, referring to this catholic diffusion of the Gospel), as if it were an infringement of…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 45:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 45
- 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
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