Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?
Parallel translations
- WEB Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What have you become the father of?’ or to a mother, ‘To what have you given birth?’”
- BSB Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought forth?’”
- NKJV Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’ Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”
- NASB “Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you fathering?’ Or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’ ”
- NLT How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way?’”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
It is as absurd to challenge God's parental authority over what he creates as to scold one's own father or mother for giving you life.
Overview
Extending the potter image, Isaiah pictures the folly of a child rebuking its parents for conceiving it. To complain against God's sovereign choices is that unnatural and ungrateful. The verse calls God's people to receive his purposes with the reverence owed to the one who gave them being.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Deut 27:16Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- Mal 1:6A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
- Heb 12:9Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 45:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.