Ezekiel 15:3

15:3 Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on?

Romans 9:22-23

9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ¹  of wrath ²  prepared for destruction? ³  9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects ⁴  of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory –

Romans 9:2

9:2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ⁵ 

Romans 2:20-21

2:20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth – 2:21 therefore ⁶  you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

[9:22]  ¹ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:22]  ² tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

[9:22]  ³ tn Or possibly “objects of wrath that have fit themselves for destruction.” The form of the participle could be taken either as a passive or middle (reflexive). ExSyn 417-18 argues strongly for the passive sense (which is followed in the translation), stating that “the middle view has little to commend it.” First, καταρτίζω (katartizw) is nowhere else used in the NT as a direct or reflexive middle (a usage which, in any event, is quite rare in the NT). Second, the lexical force of this verb, coupled with the perfect tense, suggests something of a “done deal” (against some commentaries that see these vessels as ready for destruction yet still able to avert disaster). Third, the potter-clay motif seems to have one point: The potter prepares the clay.

[9:23]  ⁴ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”

[2:21]  ⁶ tn The structure of vv. 21-24 is difficult. Some take these verses as the apodosis of the conditional clauses (protases) in vv. 17-20; others see vv. 17-20 as an instance of anacoluthon (a broken off or incomplete construction).