9:21a–c

This verse illustrates that it is right for God to decide as he wants, even regarding people. It uses the example of someone who makes things with clay. He can choose as he wants what he will use each thing for.

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?: This is a rhetorical question. It emphasizes that the potter has the right to make some things for honorable use and some things for dishonorable use from the same lump of clay. Translate this clause with that meaning. Here are some ways:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

Doesn’t a potter have the right to make a fancy bowl and a plain bowl out of the same lump of clay? (Contemporary English Version)

• As a statement. For example:

Surely the potter has the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common/regular use.
-or-
He can make something for a special occasion or something for everyday use from the same lump of clay. (God’s Word)

9:21a–b

potter…clay: The word potter refers to someone who makes things with clay. Often he made clay pots, thus the name potter. Some languages will not have a single word for this kind of person. For example:

The one who makes plates and such from clay
-or-
the person who makes cups and things from earth

In some languages people are unfamiliar with clay. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Explain it in your translation. For example:

the person who makes hard things with sticky/pliable earth/soil ⌊and then bakes them⌋
-or-
the person who makes things with sticky/pliable earth/soil ⌊and then bakes them to make them hard⌋

• Use major language word for clay.

the one who makes things with klei

• Use a familiar substitute. For example:

The man that makes the basket
-or-
the woman who makes a woven-bag

right: Here this word refers to having the authority and power to do as one chooses. Here are other ways to translate this word:

power (King James Version)
-or-
can do what he likes (Revised English Bible)

9:21b

lump of clay: Here this word refers to an amount of something solid, of one piece, and of no particular size or shape. Here are other ways to translate this word:

clump
-or-
hunk

If you used a substitute for clay in 9:21a, you should use an appropriate word for a group of the material used. For example:

(basket)…bundle
-or-
(woven-bag)…bark

9:21c

vessel: Here this word refers to any kind of container or thing that people use to put things in or on, including plates, cups, baskets, pots, jars, and so on. Here is another English word:

container

Some languages must use a more specific word or a more general word here. For example:

jar/pot/bowl
-or-
thing

for special occasions: This clay vessel brings honor, for example, someone may give one to guests for them to use at a feast, or it might be something a priest uses at the temple to honor God. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

for noble purposes (New International Version)
-or-
for valuable uses

for common use: There are two main ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as common use :

(1) It means dishonorable here. For example:

for an ignoble one (New American Bible, Revised Edition)

(King James Version, English Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New Living Translation (2004))

(2) It means ordinary here. For example:

for menial use (Revised Standard Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, NET Bible, God’s Word, New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because it is the much more common meaning of the word.

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