45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, 1
one who is like a mere 2 shard among the other shards on the ground!
The clay should not say to the potter, 3
“What in the world 4 are you doing?
Your work lacks skill!” 5
46:7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it;
they put it in its place and it just stands there;
it does not 6 move from its place.
Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;
it does not deliver him from his distress.
1 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”
2 tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.
3 tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”
4 tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.
5 tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”
6 tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.