Revised Literal Translation
Isaiah 40:18
18To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto 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
16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 17All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 20He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
Read all of Isaiah 40Isaiah 40:18 word by word
וְאֶל־מִ֖י תְּדַמְּי֣וּן אֵ֑ל וּמַה־דְּמ֖וּת תַּ֥עַרְכוּ לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Isaiah 40:18
- Isaiah 40:25To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
- Isaiah 46:5To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
- Exodus 8:10And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto Yhwh our God.
- Exodus 9:14For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.
- Exodus 15:11Who is like unto thee, O Yhwh, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
- Exodus 20:4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
- Deuteronomy 33:26There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
- 1 Samuel 2:2There is none holy as Yhwh: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
- Job 40:9Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
- Psalms 86:8Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.
- Psalms 89:6For who in the heaven can be compared unto Yhwh? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto Yhwh?
- Psalms 113:5Who is like unto Yhwh our God, who dwelleth on high,
- Jeremiah 10:6Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Yhwh; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
- Micah 7:18Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
- Acts 17:29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
- Colossians 1:15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
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
Revised Literal Translation — © 2018 Michael W. Jones, Sr. — GPL
Commentaries