Isaiah 29:15-16

29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, ¹ 

who do their work in secret and boast, ² 

“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” ³ 

29:16 Your thinking is perverse! ⁴ 

Should the potter be regarded as clay? ⁵ 

Should the thing made say ⁶  about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?

Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?

[29:15]  ¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who deeply hide counsel from the Lord.” This probably alludes to political alliances made without seeking the Lord’s guidance. See 30:1-2 and 31:1.

[29:15]  ² tn Heb “and their works are in darkness and they say.”

[29:15]  ³ tn The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “no one.” They are confident that their deeds are hidden from others, including God.

[29:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “your overturning.” The predicate is suppressed in this exclamation. The idea is, “O your perversity! How great it is!” See GKC 470 §147.c. The people “overturn” all logic by thinking their authority supersedes God’s.

[29:16]  ⁵ tn The expected answer to this rhetorical question is “of course not.” On the interrogative use of אִם (’im), see BDB 50 s.v.

[29:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “that the thing made should say.”