Meaning, commentary and cross references
Isaiah 64:8
“But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.”In other translations
KJV · King James Version
But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
NIV · New International Version
Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
WEB · World English Bible
But now, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.
What does Isaiah 64:8 mean?
John Gill · Exposition of the Entire Bible, on Isaiah 64:8
But now, O Lord, thou art our father,.... Notwithstanding all that we have done against thee, and thou hast done to us, the relation of a father continues; thou art our Father by creation and adoption; as he was in a particular manner to the Jews, to whom belonged the adoption; and therefore this relation is pleaded, that mercy might be shown them; and so the Targum, "and thou, Lord, thy mercies towards us "are" many (or let them be many) as a father towards "his" children.'' We are the clay, and thou our potter: respecting their original formation out of the dust of the earth; and so expressing humility in themselves, and yet ascribing greatness to God, who had curiously formed them, as…
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible, on Isaiah 64:6–12
Nay, therefore we will hope that thou wilt deal well with us, that thou who madest us wilt new-make us, new-form us, though we have unmade and deformed ourselves: We are all as an unclean thing, but we are all the work of thy hands, therefore do away our uncleanness, that we may be fit for thy use, the use we were made for. We are the work of thy hands, therefore forsake us not," Psa 138:8. 2. By covenant; this is pleaded (Isa 64:9): "Behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people, all the people thou hast in the world, that make open profession of thy name. We are called thy people, our neighbours look upon us as such, and therefore what we suffer reflects upon thee, and the relief…
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706–21; Romans–Revelation completed by Nonconformist ministers). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
John Calvin · Commentaries, on Isaiah 64:8
And now, O Jehovah. After having complained of their miseries, by which they were almost overwhelmed, they now more openly ask pardon from God and a mitigation of their distresses, and with greater boldness plead with God that still they are his children. Adoption alone could encourage them to cherish favorable hopes, that they might not cease to rely on their Father, though overwhelmed by the load of afflictions. And this order should be carefully observed; for, in order that we may be truly humbled in our hearts, we need to be cast down, and laid low, and almost crushed.
John Calvin, Commentaries (Calvin Translation Society English text). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Context: Isaiah 64:5–11 (WEB)
5You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time. Shall we be saved? 6For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 7There is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities. 8But now, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand. 9Don’t be furious, LORD. Don’t remember iniquity forever. Look and see, we beg you, we are all your people. 10Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. 11Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised you is burned with fire. All our pleasant places are laid waste.
Cross references
- Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
- Psalms 119:73
- Jeremiah 18:2–6
“Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear my words.”
- Psalms 138:8
- Psalms 100:3
- Isaiah 29:16
You turn things upside down! Should the potter be thought to be like clay, that the thing made should say about him who made it, “He didn’t make me;” or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
- Isaiah 44:24
The LORD, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb says: “I am the LORD, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself;
- Isaiah 45:9
Woe to him who strives with his Maker— a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’ or your work, ‘He has no hands’?