Isaiah 45:9
New International Version
“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’?

New Living Translation
“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?’

English Standard Version
“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’?

Berean Standard Bible
Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?

King James Bible
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 King James Version
“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’?

New American Standard Bible
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker— A piece of pottery among the other earthenware pottery pieces! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?

NASB 1995
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker— An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands ‘?

NASB 1977
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker— An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?

Legacy Standard Bible
“Woe to the one who contends with his Maker— An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?

Amplified Bible
“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who quarrels with his Maker— A [worthless] piece of broken pottery among other broken pieces [equally worthless]! Shall the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or does the thing say, ‘He has no hands’?

Christian Standard Bible
“Woe to the one who argues with his Maker — one clay pot among many. Does clay say to the one forming it, ‘What are you making? ’ Or does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Woe to the one who argues with his Maker— one clay pot among many. Does clay say to the one forming it, What are you making? Or does your work say, He has no hands?

American Standard Version
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Woe to the one who sues with his Maker, a clay vessel of a potter of the Earth! Does the clay say to the potter: “What are you doing?”, and “I am not the work of your hands!”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
What excellent thing have I prepared as clay of the potter? Will the ploughman plough the earth all say? shall the clay say to the potter, What art thou doing that thou dost not work, nor hast hands? shall the thing formed answer him that formed it?

Contemporary English Version
Israel, you have no right to argue with your Creator. You are merely a clay pot shaped by a potter. The clay doesn't ask, "Why did you make me this way? Where are the handles?"

Douay-Rheims Bible
Woe to him that gainsayeth his maker, a sherd of the earthen pots: shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it: What art thou making, and thy work is without hands?

English Revised Version
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
How horrible it will be for the one who quarrels with his maker. He is pottery among other earthenware pots. Does the clay ask the one who shapes it, "What are you making?" Does your work say to you, "There are no handles"?

Good News Translation
Does a clay pot dare argue with its maker, a pot that is like all the others? Does the clay ask the potter what he is doing? Does the pot complain that its maker has no skill?

International Standard Version
"Woe to the one who quarrels with his makers, a mere potsherd with the potsherds of the earth! Woe to the one who says to the one forming him, 'What are you making?' or 'Your work has no human hands?'!

JPS Tanakh 1917
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker, As a potsherd with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it: 'What makest thou?' Or: 'Thy work, it hath no hands'?

Literal Standard Version
Woe [to] him who is striving with his Former | (A potsherd with potsherds of the ground!) Does clay say to its Framer, What [are] you doing? And your work, He has no hands?

Majority Standard Bible
Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?

New American Bible
Woe to anyone who contends with their Maker; a potsherd among potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to the potter, “What are you doing?” or, “What you are making has no handles”?

NET Bible
One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, one who is like a mere shard among the other shards on the ground! The clay should not say to the potter, "What in the world are you doing? Your work lacks skill!"

New Revised Standard Version
Woe to you who strive with your Maker, earthen vessels with the potter! Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, “What are you making”? or “Your work has no handles”?

New Heart English Bible
Woe to him who strives with his Maker, a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth. Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, 'What are you making?' or your work, 'He has no hands?'

Webster's Bible Translation
Woe to him that contendeth with his Maker! Let the potsherd contend 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?

World English Bible
Woe to him who strives with his Maker— a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’ or your work, ‘He has no hands?’

Young's Literal Translation
Woe to him who is striving with his Former, (A potsherd with potsherds of the ground!) Doth clay say to its Framer, 'What dost thou?' And thy work, 'He hath no hands?'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
God Calls Cyrus
8Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout and righteousness spring up with it; I, the LORD, have created it. 9Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker— one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’? 10Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”…

Cross References
Romans 9:20
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, "Why did You make me like this?"

Romans 9:21
Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?

1 Corinthians 10:22
Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?

Job 9:12
If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, 'What are You doing?'

Job 15:25
For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,

Job 33:13
Why do you complain to Him that He answers nothing a man asks?

Job 40:2
"Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer."


Treasury of Scripture

Woe to him that strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashions it, What make you? or your work, He has no hands?

unto him

Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Exodus 9:16,17
And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth…

Job 15:24-26
Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle…

shall the clay

Isaiah 10:15
Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

Isaiah 29:16
Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

Jeremiah 18:6
O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

Jump to Previous
Argument Clay Contend Contendeth Cursed Earth Earthen Earthenware Fashioned Fashioneth Fashions Former Formeth Gripped Hands Maker Makest Making Pot Pots Potsherd Potsherds Potter Quarrels Strive Strives Striveth Striving Vessels Wet What Wo Woe Work
Jump to Next
Argument Clay Contend Contendeth Cursed Earth Earthen Earthenware Fashioned Fashioneth Fashions Former Formeth Gripped Hands Maker Makest Making Pot Pots Potsherd Potsherds Potter Quarrels Strive Strives Striveth Striving Vessels Wet What Wo Woe Work
Isaiah 45
1. God calls Cyrus for his church's sake
5. By his omnipotence he challenges obedience
20. He convinces the idols of vanity by his saving power














(9) Woe unto him that striveth . . .--The sequence of thought is not at first apparent. Were those who strove, the heathen nations who resisted Cyrus, or Israelites who desired some other deliverer, say a prince of the house of David? The latter seems more probable. In either case men were guilty of the folly of criticising the Almighty.

Let the potsherd strive . . .--The sentence, as the italics show, is abrupt, but is better taken without inserting the verbs, and in apposition with the pronoun--Woe unto him . . . a potsherd among the potsherds; a frail mortal like all his fellows.

Shall the clay say . . .--The potsherd suggests the potter, not without an allusive reference to the history of man's creation in Genesis 2:7. As in Jeremiah 18:1-10; Romans 9:20-21, the thought pressed is that of absolute sovereignty, the belief in the wisdom and equity of that sovereignty being kept in the background, as a reserve force. The two clauses represent different aspects of presumption--the first questions, the other arrogantly condemns. The potter's vessel says that the potter "has no hands," is without creative power or skill.

Verses 9-13. - ISRAEL WARNED NOT TO CALL IN QUESTION GOD'S MODES OF ACTION. Apparently, Isaiah anticipates that the Israelites will be discontented and murmur at their deliverer being a heathen king, and not one of their own body. He therefore warns them against presuming to criticize the arrangements of the All-Wise, reminding them of his unapproachable greatness (ver. 12), and once more assuring them that the appointment of Cyrus is from him (ver. 13). Verse 9. - Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive, etc.; rather, woe unto him that striveth with his Maker, a potsherd among potsherds of the ground: All men are equally made of "the dust of the ground" (Genesis 2:7). Israel has no prerogative in this respect. He, too, is "a potsherd among potsherds" - day moulded by the potter; no more entitled to lift up his voice against his Maker than the vessel to rebel against the man who shapes it (comp. Isaiah 29:16; and see the comment furnished by St. Paul in the Epistle to the Romans 9:20-24). What would a man think if the clay that he was fashioning objected to being moulded in a particular form, or if a work that he had made exclaimed, "He is a poor bungler - he hath no hands"? Yet this is what a man does who finds fault with the arrangements of the Almighty.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Woe
ה֗וֹי (hō·w)
Interjection
Strong's 1945: Ah! alas! ha!

to him who quarrels
רָ֚ב (rāḇ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 7378: To toss, grapple, to wrangle, controversy, to defend

with his Maker—
יֹ֣צְר֔וֹ (yō·ṣə·rōw)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3335: To mould into a, form, as a, potter, to determine

one clay pot
חֶ֖רֶשׂ (ḥe·reś)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2789: Earthenware, earthen vessel, sherd, potsherd

among many.
חַרְשֵׂ֣י (ḥar·śê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 2789: Earthenware, earthen vessel, sherd, potsherd

Does the clay
חֹ֤מֶר (ḥō·mer)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2563: A bubbling up, of water, a wave, of earth, mire, clay, a heap, a chomer, dry measure

ask
הֲיֹאמַ֨ר (hă·yō·mar)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

the potter,
לְיֹֽצְרוֹ֙ (lə·yō·ṣə·rōw)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3335: To mould into a, form, as a, potter, to determine

‘What
מַֽה־ (mah-)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

are you making?’
תַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה (ta·‘ă·śeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

Does your work say,
וּפָעָלְךָ֖ (ū·p̄ā·‘ā·lə·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6467: Doing, deed, work

‘He has no
אֵין־ (’ên-)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

hands’?
יָדַ֥יִם (yā·ḏa·yim)
Noun - fd
Strong's 3027: A hand


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 45:9 Woe to him who strives with his (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 45:8
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