And now, O Lord, thou art our father, and we are clay: and thou art our maker, and we all are the works of thy hands.

And now, O Jehovah, thou art our Father, We are the clay, and Thou our Framer, And the work of Thy hand, all of us.

But 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.

Et nune, Iehova, tu es pater noster; nos lutum, et tu figulus noster; opus, inquam, manuum tuarum sumus omnes.

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. But when despair seizes us, we must lay hold on this altar of consolation, that, "since God has been pleased to elect us to be his children, we ought to expect salvation from him, even when matters are at the worst." Thus, with a view to the gracious covenant, the Israelites affirm that they are the children of God, in order that they may experience his fatherly kindness, and that his promise may not be made void. We are the clay, and thou our potter. By means of a comparison they magnify the grace of God, and acknowledge that they were formed of despicable clay; for they do not seek the ground of superiority in themselves, but in their origin celebrate the mercy of God, who out of mean and filthy clay determined to create children to himself. We all are the work of thy hands. Of the same import as the former is this second clause, in which God is called the Creator, and his people are called the work of his hands; because to God alone they ascribe all that they are and all that they have. This is true gratitude; for, so long as men advance the smallest claim to anything as their own, God is defrauded of his right. Now, Isaiah speaks not of the ordinary creation of men, but of regeneration, on account of which believers are especially called "the work of God;" as we have frequently stated in the exposition of other passages: [1] Here they acknowledge a remarkable act of God's kindness, in having elected them to be his people, and adorned them with benefits so numerous and so great.

Footnotes

1 - Commentary on Isaiah, vol. 2, pp. [13]26, [14]83, [15]121, [16]264; vol. 3, pp. [17]132, [18]318, [19]338.

But now, O Lord, thou art our Father - (See the notes at Isaiah 63:16).
We are the clay - The idea seems to be, that their condition then had been produced by him as clay is moulded by the potter, and that they were to be returned and restored entirely by him - as they had no more power to do it than the clay had to shape itself. The sense is, that they were wholly in his hand and at his disposal (see the notes at Isaiah 29:16; Isaiah 45:9).
And thou our potter - Thou hast power to mould us as the potter does the clay.
And we all are the work of thy hand - That is, as the vessel made by the potter is his work. We have been formed by thee, and we are dependent on thee to make us what thou wilt have us to be. This whole verse is an acknowledgment of the sovereignty of God. It expresses the feeling which all have when under conviction of sin; and when they are sensible that they are exposed to the divine displeasure for their transgressions. Then they feel that if they are to be saved, it must be by the mere sovereignty of God; and then they implore his interposition to 'mould and guide them at his will.'

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, Isaiah 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.

But now, O LORD, thou [art] our father; we [are] the (i) clay, and thou our potter; and we all [are] the work of thy hand.
(i) Even though O Lord by your just judgment you may utterly destroy us as the potter may his pot, yet we appeal to your mercies, by which it has pleased you to adopt us to be your children.

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 the potter out of the clay forms vessels for various uses: it may respect their formation as a body politic and ecclesiastic, which arose from small beginnings, under the power and providence of God; see Deuteronomy 32:6,
and we all are the work of thy hand; and therefore regard us, and destroy us not; as men do not usually destroy their own works: these relations to God, and circumstances in which they were as creatures, and as a body civil and ecclesiastic, are used as arguments for mercy and favour.

father-- (Isaiah 63:16).
clay . . . potter-- (Isaiah 29:16; Isaiah 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."

Our father - Notwithstanding all this thou art our father both by creation, and by adoption, therefore pity us thy children.