EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Isaiah 40:18
18You cannot find anyone else who is like God. There is no image that you can make to be like him.
Isaiah 40:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
- New International Version (NIV)With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him?
- English Standard Version (ESV)To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?
- New King James Version (NKJV)To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
Context of Isaiah 40:18
16All the trees from Lebanon's forests are not enough to make a fire for his altar. All its animals are not enough to offer to him as burnt offerings. 17All the nations in the world are not important to the Lord. He sees them as empty and useless. You cannot find anyone else who is like God. There is no image that you can make to be like him. 19A worker may use special skill to make an idol. Another worker may cover it with gold. He may use silver chains to make it beautiful. 20A poor person may choose special wood for his idol. He chooses wood that will not quickly become spoiled. Then he finds a worker to make an idol for him. He makes it so that it will not fall over!
Read all of Isaiah 40Isaiah 40:18 word by word
וְאֶל־מִ֖י תְּדַמְּי֣וּן אֵ֑ל וּמַה־דְּמ֖וּת תַּ֥עַרְכוּ לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 40:18
- Isaiah 40:25The Holy God says, ‘You cannot find anyone who is like me. Nobody is the same as me.’
- Isaiah 46:5You know that there is no God like me! You cannot say about any god, that he is the same as me.
- Exodus 8:10Pharaoh said, ‘Do it tomorrow.’ Moses answered, ‘I will do what you have asked. Then you will know that there is nobody like the Lord our God.
- Exodus 9:14This time, I will send all my troubles to punish you. I will send them against you, your officers and your people. I want you to know that there is nobody as great as me in the whole earth. That is why I am doing this.
- Exodus 15:11Lord, there is nobody like you among all the gods! There is nobody like you anywhere! You are great and holy. Everyone should respect you and praise you. You do great miracles. There is nobody like you!
- Exodus 20:4You must not make any idol for yourself. Do not make a false god in the shape of anything that is in the sky above. Do not make one in the shape of anything on the earth or in the sea.
- Deuteronomy 33:26Israelites, there is no god like your God. He rides across the sky to help you. He travels with great authority on the clouds.
- 1 Samuel 2:2Nobody else is holy like the Lord. There is no other God except you, our God. You are the only Rock where we can be safe.
- Job 40:9Do you have the same power to do great things as I have? Can you speak with a voice as loud as thunder? I can!
- Psalms 86:8There is no one like you, my Lord, among all the gods. Nobody can do the great things that you do.
- Psalms 89:6In all the heavens, there is no one like you, Lord! No angel in heaven is equal to you.
- Psalms 113:5There is nobody like the Lord our God. He sits on his throne high above us.
- Jeremiah 10:6There is nobody like you, Lord. You are great and your name shows your power.
- Micah 7:18No other god is like you. You chose us to be your people. And you decide not to remember what we have done wrong. Not many of your people remain and we have done bad things. But you choose to forget those bad things. You will not always be angry, because you want very much to be kind.
- Acts 17:29So, because we are God's children, we should not think that he is a thing like an idol. Clever people use gold or silver or stone to make images of gods. But God is not like these things that people choose to make for themselves.
- Colossians 1:15We cannot see God. But Jesus Christ shows us completely who God is. Even before God made anything, Jesus was already there as God's Son who rules everything.
Commentaries on Isaiah 40:18
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18To 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. He therefore states the mode in which the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-26Verses 18-26 Whatever we esteem or love, fear or hope in, more than God, that creature we make equal with God, though we do not make images or worship them. He that is so poor, that he has scarcely a sacrifice to offer, yet will not be without a god of his own. They spared no cost upon their idols; we grudge what is spent in the service of our God. To prove the greatness of God, the prophet appeals to all ages and nations. Those who are ignorant of this…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18To whom … what image: Earlier in the book, Isaiah showed that idolatry is foolish and empty (Isaiah 16:12; 37:16–19). Isaiah 40–48, he gives a much longer argument against it. An idol is an object that people make to represent a god or a religious idea. But these objects are made by human hands. Those who worship them do not see that they are only things people have made. Idols have no power (Isaiah 41:7, 22–24; 48:14). They give people a false feeling of…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. Which of the heathen idols, then, is to be compared to this Almighty God? 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. Perhaps these prophecies here may have tended to that result…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 40:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 40
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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