Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
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?
- BSB 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?
- 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, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
- 2 Tim 2:20–21But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
- Prov 16:4The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
- Jer 18:3–6Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
- Acts 9:15But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
- Rom 9:22–23What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
- Rom 9:11(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
- Rom 9:18Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
- Hos 8:8Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.
- Jer 22:28Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
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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
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