Bible Strands
Romans 9:20
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul answers a hypothetical objector (v. 19) who has pressed the charge that God is unjust in hardening whom He wills, by turning the accusation back on the human speaker.
The words — ἀνταποκρινόμενος (antapokrinomenos) is not a neutral "reply" but "answering against," framing the human's question as an act of defiance rather than inquiry.
The thread — The formed-thing-versus-former motif recurs in Isaiah 29:16, 45:9, and 64:8, where the clay's complaint is treated as a category error.
Why it lands — It removes the reader from the position of auditor; the verse does not answer the question "why this person?" but dissolves the standing to ask it.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 29:16 You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”?
- Isaiah 45:9 Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Isaiah 64:8 But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
- Job 33:13 Why do you complain to Him that He answers nothing a man asks?
- Job 36:23 Who has appointed His way for Him, or told Him, ‘You have done wrong’?
- Job 40:2 “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.”
- Matthew 20:15 Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
- Job 16:3 Is there no end to your long-winded speeches? What provokes you to continue testifying?
- 1 Timothy 6:5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.
- Job 38:2 “Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?