Jeremiah 18:6

18:6 “I, the Lord, say: ¹  ‘O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay? ²  In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter’s hand.’

Isaiah 45:9

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ³ 

one who is like a mere ⁴  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ⁵ 

“What in the world ⁶  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ⁷ 

Romans 9:20-23

9:20 But who indeed are you – a mere human being ⁸  – to talk back to God? ⁹  Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ¹⁰  9:21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay ¹¹  one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? ¹²  9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ¹³  of wrath ¹⁴  prepared for destruction? ¹⁵  9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects ¹⁶  of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory –

[18:6]  ¹ tn This phrase (literally “Oracle of the Lord”) has been handled this way on several occasions when it occurs within first person addresses where the Lord is the speaker. See, e.g., 16:16; 17:24.

[18:6]  ² tn The words “deals with the clay” are not in the text. They are part of an elliptical comparison and are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[45:9]  ³ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ⁴ tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ⁶ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ⁷ 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.”

[9:20]  ⁸ tn Grk “O man.”

[9:20]  ⁹ tn Grk “On the contrary, O man, who are you to talk back to God?”

[9:20]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 29:16; 45:9.

[9:21]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”

[9:21]  ¹² tn Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”

[9:22]  ¹³ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:22]  ¹⁴ tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

[9:22]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.