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Wisdom 15:6-8
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom 15:6-8
New Catholic Bible
6 Lovers of evil and deserving of similar yearnings
are those who make such figures, those who desire them, and those who worship them.
The Folly of Idol-Makers[a]
7 A potter laboriously kneads the soft earth,
molding each object for our use,
fashioning out of the same clay
both the vessels that will serve noble purposes
and those designed for a contrary use.
But what shall be the purpose of each object
is determined by the potter.[b]
8 With misspent effort he will mold a false god from the same clay;
although he himself was made out of earth a short time before,
after a brief interval, he will return to that earth from which he was taken,
when he is required to return on demand the life that was lent to him.
Footnotes
- Wisdom 15:7 Among those who fashion idols, the ceramists are, in the author’s eyes, the most ridiculous. This type of craftsmanship was widespread in the Greek world, and Paul had a bone to pick with the organization of silversmiths of Ephesus, whose very profitable commerce he had put in jeopardy (see Acts 19:23-40).
- Wisdom 15:7 An image of the potter who alone judges the destination of his vases. The Letter to the Romans (Rom 9:19-24), following the Prophets (see Isa 64:7), employs this symbol to explain the freedom of the divine election and the gratuity of the Christian vocation.
