Isaias 45:9
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?
Open Isaias 45:9 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Væ qui contradicit fictori suo, testa de samiis terræ ! Numquid dicet lutum figulo suo : Quid facis, et opus tuum absque manibus est ?
- Septuagint (Swete)
- Ποῖον βέλτιον κατεσκεύασα ὡς πηλὸν κεραμέως; μὴ ὁ ἀροτριῶν ἀροτριάσει τὴν γῆν ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν; μὴ ἐρεῖ ὁ πηλὸς τῷ κεραμεῖ Τί ποιεῖς, ὅτι οὐκ ἐργάζῃ οὐδὲ ἔχεις χεῖρας;
- Hebrew (WLC)
- ה֗וֹי רָ֚ב אֶת יֹ֣צְר֔וֹ חֶ֖רֶשׂ אֶת חַרְשֵׂ֣י אֲדָמָ֑ה הֲיֹאמַ֨ר חֹ֤מֶר לְיֹֽצְרוֹ֙ מַֽה תַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה וּפָעָלְךָ֖ אֵין יָדַ֥יִם לֽוֹ
Haydock's commentary
Earthen. Literally, "Samian." (Haydock)
Samos was famous for its pottery. (Pliny, [Natural History?] xxxv. 12.) Hebrew, "Clay, disputest thou against the potters of the earth?" He shews the folly of idols, after having proved his own divinity. (Calmet)
Protestants, "Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth." (Haydock)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St John Chrysostom The Commentary and Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Galatians and Ephesians, Galatians 3:1
“To speak after the manner of men” means to use human examples. Having founded his argument on the Scriptures, on the miracles wrought among themselves, on the sufferings of Christ, and on the Patriarch, he proceeds to common usages; and this he does invariably, in order to sweeten his discourse, and render it more acceptable and intelligible to the duller sort. Thus he argues with the Corinthians, “Who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not the fruit thereof?” ( 1 Cor. ix. 7 .) and again with the Hebrews, “For a testament is of force where there hath been death; for doth it ever avail while he that made it liveth?” ( Heb. ix. 17 .) One may find him dwelling with pleasure on such arguments. In the Old Testament God does the same thing in many instances, as, “Can a woman forget her sucking child?” ( Isa. xlix. …
St Jerome Against the Pelagians, Book II
xlv. 9 . Woe unto him who striveth with his Maker.
St John Cassian The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius, Chapter II. He meets the objection taken from these words: No one gave birth to one who had existed before her
And before I begin to speak of those things of which I have given no foretaste in the earlier books, I think it right to try to carry out what I have already promised, that when I have thoroughly redeemed my pledge, I may begin to speak more freely of what has not been touched upon, after having satisfied my promise. So then that new serpent, in order to destroy the faith of the holy nativity, hisses out against the Church of God and says: “No one ever gives birth to one older than herself.” To begin with then I think that you know neither what you say nor where you get it from. …