Isaiah 64 · Verse 8

Isaiah 64:8

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.
Isaiah 64:8, King James Version

Isaiah 64:8 in other translations

BSBBut now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
WEBBut now, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.
ASVBut now, O Jehovah, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
YLTAnd now, O Jehovah, thou art our Father, We are the clay, and Thou our Framer, And the work of Thy hand--all of us.
DARBYAnd now, Jehovah, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
BBEBut now, O Lord, you are our father; we are the earth, and you are our maker; and we are all the work of your hand.
WebsterBut now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

What does Isaiah 64:8 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
8. father--(Is 63:16). clay ... potter--(Is 29:16; 45:9). Unable to mould themselves aright, they beg the sovereign will of God to mould them unto salvation, even as He made them at the first, and is their "Father."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 8 But, now, O Lord, thou art our Father "But thou, O Jehovah, thou art our Father" - For ועתה veattah, and now, five MSS., one of them ancient, and the two oldest editions, 1486 and 1488, have ואתה veattah, and thou, and so the Chaldee seems to have read. The repetition has great force. The other word may be well spared. "But now, O Lord, thou art our Father." How very affectionate is the complaint in this and the following verses! But how does the distress increase, when they recollect the desolations of the temple, and ruin of public worship, Isa 64:11 : "Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt up with fire," etc. We all are the work of thy hand - Three MSS. (two of them ancient) and the Septuagint read מעשה maaseh, the work, without the conjunction ו vau prefixed. And for ידך yadecha, thy hand, the Bodleian, and two others MSS., the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read ידיך yadeycha, thy hands, in the plural number. - L.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 64:6-12

The people of God, in affliction, confess and bewail their sins, owning themselves unworthy of his mercy. Sin is that abominable thing which the Lord hates. Our deeds, whatever they may seem to be, if we think to merit by them at God's hand, are as rags, and will not cover us; filthy rags, and will but defile us. Even our few good works in which there is real excellence, as fruits of the Spirit, are so defective and…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 64:6-12 →

Isaiah 64:8 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְעַתָּ֥הve.'a.Tahand nowH6258
יְהוָ֖הYah.wehO YahwehH3068
אָבִ֣ינוּ'a.Vi.nu[are] father ourH1
אָ֑תָּה'A.tahyouH859
אֲנַ֤חְנוּ'a.Nach.nuweH587
הַחֹ֙מֶר֙ha.Cho.mer[are] the clayH2563
וְאַתָּ֣הve.'a.Tahand youH859
יֹצְרֵ֔נוּyo.tze.Re.nu[are] [the] [one who] formed usH3335
וּמַעֲשֵׂ֥הu.ma.'a.Sehand [are] [the] work ofH4639
יָדְךָ֖ya.de.Khahand yourH3027
כֻּלָּֽנוּ\׃ku.La.nuall of usH3605

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 64:8

  • Ephesians 2:10

    For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

  • Psalms 119:73

    י JOD. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.

  • Jeremiah 18:2-6

    Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, …

  • Psalms 138:8

    The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

  • Psalms 100:3

    Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

  • Isaiah 44:24

    Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

  • Isaiah 29:16

    Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

  • Isaiah 45:9

    Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

  • Isaiah 63:16

    Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.

  • Isaiah 43:7

    Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

  • Isaiah 44:21

    Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.

  • Romans 9:20-24

    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? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
thou art.
63:16; Ex 4:22; De 32:6; Ga 3:26,29
are the clay.
29:16; 45:9; Jer 18:2-6; Ro 9:20-24
all are.
43:7; 44:21,24; Job 10:8,9; Ps 100:3; 119:73; 138:8; Eph 2:10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 64:7

    And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

  • Isaiah 64:8

    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.

  • Isaiah 64:9

    Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.

Read all of Isaiah 64

Isaiah 64:8 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Ahora pues, Jehová, tú eres nuestro padre; nosotros lodo, y tú el que nos formaste; así que obra de tus manos, todos nosotros.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ne sois pas extrêmement courroucé, ô Éternel, et ne te souviens pas à toujours de l’iniquité. Voici, regarde: nous sommes tous ton peuple.
German
Elberfelder 1871		"Und nun, Jehova, du bist unser Vater; wir sind der Ton, und du bist unser Bildner, und wir alle sind das Werk deiner Hände.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et nunc, Domine, pater noster es tu, nos vero lutum; et fictor noster tu, et opera manuum tuarum omnes nos.