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?
Parallel translations
- WEB Or hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honor, and another for dishonor?
- KJV Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
- NKJV Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
- NASB Or does the potter not have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one object for honorable use, and another for common use?
- NLT When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into?
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
Like a potter, God has the right to make from the same lump vessels for honorable and ordinary use. The Creator is free to dispose of his creatures as he sees fit.
Overview
Continuing the potter imagery from Isaiah and Jeremiah, Paul affirms God's rightful authority over humanity. From the one lump of fallen mankind, God may make some vessels for honor and others for common use, an analogy for his sovereign dealings in mercy and judgment. The point is God's legitimate freedom, exercised always in perfect wisdom and justice, not arbitrary cruelty.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Isa 64:8But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
- 2 Tim 2:20–21A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use.
- Prov 16:4The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.
- Jer 18:3–6So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working at the wheel.
- Acts 9:15“Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel.
- Rom 9:22–23What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?
- Rom 9:11Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s plan of election might stand,
- Rom 9:18Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
- Hos 8:8Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel.
- Jer 22:28Is this man Coniah a despised and shattered pot, a jar that no one wants? Why are he and his descendants hurled out and cast into a land they do not know?
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 9:21 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.