Romans 9:21

the potter the clay This is the simile likewise in Isaiah just quoted, and in Isaiah 64:8. (Cp. Jeremiah 18:1-10.) It gets its force from the perfect pliability of the material. Certainly the illustration does not relievethe stern utterances it illustrates; nor is it meant to do so. It must be remembered that the "clay" moulded by the Eternal here is not Humanity merely, but Humanity as sinful, and, as such, void of the least claim to furnish "vessels unto honour." (See ante, long note on Romans 9:11.) This, however, is not the main thought here, but rather the immeasurable difference of position between the Creator and the Creature.

lump Lit. kneaded mass. Same word as Romans 11:16; 1 Corinthians 5:6-7; Galatians 5:9.

one vessel unto honour, &c. Cp., for similar language, 2 Timothy 2:20-21. The connexion there is akin to this, but such as brings out (what is not in view here) the moral resultsof sovereign grace. The special imagery of the potter and clay is absent there.