Isaiah 40:18
in Isaiah 40To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
KJV
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
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This verse in Isaiah 40
Commentary
6 notes on this verse(Verse 18 and following) To whom then will you liken God, or what image will you set before Him? Can the craftsman make a graven image, or the goldsmith overlay it with gold, and the silversmith spread silver plates upon it? Or perhaps the skilled craftsman chooses a piece of wood that will not rot and seeks out a proficient artisan to fashion an image that will not move.
This site's exposition
To whom then will ye liken God
on Isaiah 40:18-20
The question turns from the nations to their gods, to whom will you liken God, since he has no likeness to compare. The answer given is not theology but a workshop scene, a workman melting the image, a goldsmith overlaying it with gold, casting silver chains, and even the poor man who cannot afford that much seeking a skilled craftsman to carve an image that will not topple. Barnes notes the irony pressed here, an object that must be fastened down so it will not fall is offered as a rival to the God who measured the waters in his hand.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Here he excludes the error of the idolaters. And first, he mocks this error as to the intention of the worker, that they wished to make a god: then, consequently, he is so powerful, to whom have you likened God, he speaks according to the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
To whom then will ye liken God?....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This passage, if not written (as BARNES thinks) so late as the idolatrous times of Manasseh, has at least a prospective warning reference to them and subsequent reigns; the result of the chastisement of Jewish idolatry in the Babylonish captivity was that thenceforth after the restoration the Jews never fell into it.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To whom then will ye liken God? - Since he is so great, what can resemble him? What form can be made like him? The main idea here intended to be conveyed by the prophet evidently is, that God is great and glorious, and worthy of the confidence of his people. This idea he illustrates by a reference to the attempts which had been made to make a representation of him, and by showing how vain those efforts were.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מִ֖י | mi | whom? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| תְּדַמְּי֣וּן | tedameyun | will you liken ! | H1819 → | 30 times |
| אֵ֑ל | ʾel | God | H410 → | 241 times |
| וּמַה־ | umah- | and what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| דְּמ֖וּת | demut | likeness | H1823 → | |
| תַּ֥עַרְכוּ | taarkhu | will you compare | H6186 → | 74 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | to him |
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
מִ֖יwhom?
miH4310 →423 times
תְּדַמְּי֣וּןwill you liken !
tedameyunH1819 →30 times
אֵ֑לGod
ʾelH410 →241 times
וּמַה־and what?
umah-H4100 →752 times
דְּמ֖וּתlikeness
demutH1823 →
תַּ֥עַרְכוּwill you compare
taarkhuH6186 →74 times
לֽוֹ׃to him
lo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 15:11Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?
it leads to
- 1 Kings 8:23
and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with…
- Psalms 89:5–8
The heavens praise Your wonders, O LORD— Your faithfulness as well— in the assembly of the holy ones.
- 1 Samuel 2:2
There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.
- 2 Samuel 7:22
How great You are, O Lord GOD! For there is none like You, and there is no God but You, according to everything we have heard with our own ears.
- Revelation 4:8
And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty,…
- 1 Kings 8:23
Through
1 Samuel 2:2There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 22:32
For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?
- Isaiah 44:6
Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
- Psalms 86:8
O Lord, there is none like You among the gods, nor any works like Yours.
- 2 Samuel 22:32
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies7
On this verse
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.