45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, 1
one who is like a mere 2 shard among the other shards on the ground!
The clay should not say to the potter, 3
“What in the world 4 are you doing?
Your work lacks skill!” 5
50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?
Why does no one respond when I call? 6
Is my hand too weak 7 to deliver 8 you?
Do I lack the power to rescue you?
Look, with a mere shout 9 I can dry up the sea;
I can turn streams into a desert,
so the fish rot away and die
from lack of water. 10
1 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”
2 tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.
3 tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”
4 tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.
5 tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”
6 sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.
7 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).
8 tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).
9 tn Heb “with my rebuke.”
10 tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”