God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 40:18
18To whom, then, can you compare God? To what statue can you compare 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 in Lebanon are not enough to burn an offering. Its wild animals are not enough for a single burnt offering. 17All the nations amount to nothing in his presence. He considers them less than nothing and worthless. To whom, then, can you compare God? To what statue can you compare him? 19Craftsmen make idols. Goldsmiths cover them with gold. Silversmiths make silver chains for them. 20The poorest people choose wood that will not rot and search out skillful craftsmen to set up idols that 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 40:25“To whom, then, can you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
- Isaiah 46:5To whom will you compare me and make me equal? To whom will you compare me so that we can be alike?
- Exodus 8:10“Pray for me tomorrow,” Pharaoh said. Moses replied, “It will be as you say so that you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God.
- Exodus 9:14Now I will send plagues that will affect you personally as well as your officials and people. This is how you will know that there is no one like me anywhere on earth.
- Exodus 15:11“Who is like you among the gods, O Lord? Who is like you? You are glorious because of your holiness and awe-inspiring because of your splendor. You perform miracles.
- Exodus 20:4Never make your own carved idols or statues that represent any creature in the sky, on the earth, or in the water.
- Deuteronomy 33:26“There’s no one like your God, Jeshurun! He rides through the heavens to help you. In majesty he rides through the clouds.
- 1 Samuel 2:2There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no one but you, O Lord. There is no Rock like our God.
- Job 40:9Do you have power like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like his?
- Psalms 86:8No god is like you, O Lord. No one can do what you do.
- Psalms 89:6Who in the skies can compare with the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord?
- Psalms 113:5Who is like the Lord our God? He is seated on his high throne.
- Jeremiah 10:6No one is like you, O Lord. You are great. Your name is powerful.
- Micah 7:18Who is a God like you? You forgive sin and overlook the rebellion of your faithful people. You will not be angry forever, because you would rather show mercy.
- Acts 17:29So if we are God’s children, we shouldn’t think that the divine being is like an image made from gold, silver, or stone, an image that is the product of human imagination and skill.
- Colossians 1:15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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