The Meaning of Romans 9:21 Explained

Romans 9:21

KJV: Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

YLT: hath not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make the one vessel to honour, and the one to dishonour?

Darby: Or has not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour?

ASV: Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

<2228> Hath  not  the potter  power  over the clay,  of  the same  lump  to  make  one vessel  unto  honour,  and  another  unto  dishonour? 

What does Romans 9:21 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The illustration in this verse clarifies the inappropriateness of this critical attitude. Clearly Israel is in view as the vessel in the illustration (cf. Isaiah 29:16; Jeremiah 18:6). Israel had no right to criticize God for shaping her for a particular purpose of His own choosing. Really Israel had nothing to complain about since God had formed her for an honorable use. Obviously the same is true of individuals.
"Neither Moses, nor Pharaoh, nor anyone else, could choose his parents, his genetic structure, or his time and place of birth. We have to believe that these matters are in the hands of God." [1]

Context Summary

Romans 9:14-24 - The Righteousness Of God's Choices
God desires to do His best for every man. But, as in the case of Esau, who wantonly sold his birthright, and of Pharaoh, who turned all God's revelations into occasions of aggravated resistance and stronger revolt, the Heavenly Father is sometimes compelled to cast away those who might assist in the execution of His purposes, and use inferior vessels made from common clay. In the earlier part of the conflict with the proud Egyptian monarch, it is said that he hardened his heart, and afterward that God hardened it, Exodus 8:15; Exodus 10:20. To the froward God becomes froward; that is, the means that He takes to soften and save will harden, just as the sun which melts wax hardens clay.
The same power which was thwarted and resisted by the unbelief and stubbornness of the Chosen People, has taken up us Gentiles, who have had none of their advantages, and what wonderful mercy has He shown to us! Riches of glory on vessels of mercy! Romans 9:23. What an argument for us all not to resist the grace of God, which strives with us so earnestly and continually! God can make saints out of the most unlikely material. Let us see that He has full opportunity. [source]

Chapter Summary: Romans 9

1  Paul is sorry for the Jews
7  All of Abraham not of the promise
18  God's sovereignty
25  The calling of the Gentiles and rejecting of the Jews, foretold
32  The cause of their stumbling

Greek Commentary for Romans 9:21

Or hath not the potter a right over the clay? [η ουκ εχει εχουσιαν ο κεραμευς του πηλου]
This question, expecting an affirmative answer, is Paul‘s reply to the previous one, “Why didst thou make me thus?” Πηλος — Pēlos old word for clay, is mud or wet clay in John 9:6, John 9:11, John 9:14. The old word for potter (κεραμευς — kerameus) in N.T. only here and Matthew 27:7, Matthew 27:10. [source]
Lump [πυραματος]
Late word from πυραω — phuraō to mix (clay, dough, etc.). One part (ο μεν — ho men) - another (ο δε — ho de). Regular idiom for contrast (μενδε — meṅ̇de) with the old demonstrative ο — ho (this), “this vessel (σκευος — skeuos old word as in Mark 11:16) for honour, that for dishonour.” Paul thus claims clearly God‘s sovereign right (εχουσιαν — exousian power, right, authority, from εχεστι — exesti) to use men (already sinners) for his own purpose. [source]
One part [ο μεν]
Regular idiom for contrast (μενδε — meṅ̇de) with the old demonstrative ο — ho (this), “this vessel (σκευος — skeuos old word as in Mark 11:16) for honour, that for dishonour.” Paul thus claims clearly God‘s sovereign right (εχουσιαν — exousian power, right, authority, from εχεστι — exesti) to use men (already sinners) for his own purpose. [source]
Power [ἐξουσίαν]
Or right. See on Mark 2:10; see on John 1:12. [source]
Lump [φυράματος]
From φυράω tomix so as to make into dough. Hence any substance mixed with water and kneaded. Philo uses it of the human frame as compounded. By the lump is here meant human nature with its moral possibilities, “but not yet conceived of in its definite, individual, moral stamp” (Meyer). The figure of man as clay molded by God carries us back to the earliest traditions of the creation of man (Genesis 2:7). According to primitive ideas man is regarded as issuing from the earth. The traditions of Libya made the first human being spring from the plains heated by the sun. The Egyptians declared that the Nile mud, exposed to the heat of the sun, brought forth germs which sprang up as the bodies of men. A subsequent divine operation endowed these bodies with soul and intellect, and the divine fashioner appears upon some monuments molding clay, wherewith to form man, upon a potter's wheel. The Peruvians called the first man “animated earth;” and the Mandans of North America related that the Great Spirit molded two figures of clay, which he dried and animated with the breath of his mouth, one receiving the name of First Man, the other that of Companion. The Babylonian account, translated by Berosus, represents man as made of clay after the manner of a statue. See Francois Lenormant, “Beginnings of History.” [source]
To make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor [ποιῆσαι ὃ μεν εἰς τιμὴν σκεῦος , ὃ δὲ εἰς ἀτιμίαν]
Rev., more correctly, to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another part, etc. For vessel, see on 1 Peter 3:7; compare Matthew 12:29; Acts 9:15. The vessel here is the one which has just come from the potter's hand. Those in Romans 9:22have been in household use. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Romans 9:21

John 9:6 He spat on the ground [επτυσεν χαμαι]
First aorist active indicative of the old verb πτυω — ptuō for which see Mark 7:33. Χαμαι — Chamai is an old adverb either in the dative or locative (sense suits locative), in N.T. only here and John 18:6. Jesus was not asked to cure this man. The curative effects of saliva are held in many places. The Jews held saliva efficacious for eye-trouble, but it was forbidden on the Sabbath. “That Jesus supposed some virtue lay in the application of the clay is contradicted by the fact that in other cases of blindness He did not use it” (Dods). Cf. Mark 8:23. Why he here accommodated himself to current belief we do not know unless it was to encourage the man to believe. He made clay Only use of πηλος — pēlos old word for clay, in N.T. in this chapter and Romans 9:21. The kneading of the clay and spittle added another offense against the Sabbath rules of the rabbis. Anointed his eyes with the clay First aorist active indicative of επιχριω — epichriō old verb, to spread on, anoint, here only and John 9:11 in N.T. “He spread the clay upon his eyes.” B C read επετηκεν — epethēken (first aorist active indicative of επιτιτημι — epitithēmi to put on). [source]
Romans 11:16 Lump []
See on Romans 9:21. The whole body of the people. The apparent confusion of metaphor, first-fruit, lump, is resolved by the fact that first-fruit does not apply exclusively to harvest, but is the general term for the first portion of every thing which was offered to God. The reference here is to Numbers 15:18-21; according to which the Israelites were to set apart a portion of the dough of each baking of bread for a cake for the priests. This was called ἀπαρχή , first-fruits. [source]
Romans 11:16 The lump [το πυραμα]
From which the first fruit came. See note on Romans 9:21. Apparently the patriarchs are the first fruit. The root (η ριζα — hē riza). Perhaps Abraham singly here. The metaphor is changed, but the idea is the same. Israel is looked on as a tree. But one must recall and keep in mind the double sense of Israel in Romans 9:6. (the natural and the spiritual). [source]
2 Corinthians 6:8 By glory and dishonour [δια δοχης και ατιμιας]
Here δια — dia is no longer instrument, but state or condition. Δοχα — Doxa here is glory. See note on Romans 9:21; note on 2 Timothy 2:20 for contrast between honour and dishonour (τιμη ατιμια — timēδια δυσπημιας και ευπημιας — atimia). [source]
Galatians 5:9 Lump [φύραμα]
PoSee on Romans 9:21. [source]
2 Timothy 2:20 Some to honor and some to dishonor []
After Romans 9:21. [source]
2 Timothy 2:20 Vessels [σκευη]
Old word σκευος — skeuos See note on Romans 9:21 for the same double use as here. Of gold (χρυσα — chrusā). Old contracted adjective χρυσεος — chruseos only here by Paul. Of silver Old contracted adjective αργυρεος — argureos in N.T. here, Acts 19:24; Revelation 9:20. Of wood (χυλινα — xulina). Old adjective, in N.T. only here and Revelation 9:20. Of earth Late adjective, from οστρακον — ostrakon baked clay, in lxx, in N.T. only here and 2 Corinthians 4:7. [source]

What do the individual words in Romans 9:21 mean?

Or not has authority the potter over the clay out of the same lump to make one indeed unto honor vessel however dishonor
οὐκ ἔχει ἐξουσίαν κεραμεὺς τοῦ πηλοῦ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φυράματος ποιῆσαι μὲν εἰς τιμὴν σκεῦος δὲ ἀτιμίαν

ἐξουσίαν  authority 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ἐξουσία  
Sense: power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases.
κεραμεὺς  potter 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: κεραμεύς  
Sense: a potter.
τοῦ  over  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
πηλοῦ  clay 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: πηλός  
Sense: clay, which potters uses.
ἐκ  out  of 
Parse: Preposition
Root: ἐκ 
Sense: out of, from, by, away from.
αὐτοῦ  same 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Neuter 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
φυράματος  lump 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Singular
Root: φύραμα  
Sense: any substance mixed with water and kneaded.
ποιῆσαι  to  make 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active
Root: ποιέω  
Sense: to make.
  one 
Parse: Personal / Relative Pronoun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: ὅς 
Sense: who, which, what, that.
μὲν  indeed 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: μέν  
Sense: truly, certainly, surely, indeed.
εἰς  unto 
Parse: Preposition
Root: εἰς  
Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among.
τιμὴν  honor 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: τιμή  
Sense: a valuing by which the price is fixed.
σκεῦος  vessel 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: σκεῦος  
Sense: a vessel.
δὲ  however 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
ἀτιμίαν  dishonor 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ἀτιμία  
Sense: dishonour, ignominy, disgrace.