To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?
Parallel translations
- WEB To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
- KJV To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
- NKJV To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
- NASB ¶To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
- NLT To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Since God is incomparable, the prophet asks what likeness could possibly be made to represent Him.
Overview
This rhetorical question introduces Isaiah's polemic against idolatry. Because no created thing resembles the Creator, every attempt to fashion an image of God is folly. The verse upholds the second commandment and exalts God's unique, transcendent nature.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Isa 46:5To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?
- 1 Sam 2:2There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.
- Isa 40:25“To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
- Exod 15:11Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?
- Acts 17:29Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
- Jer 10:6There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.
- Ps 89:6For who in the skies can compare with the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?
- Exod 8:10“Tomorrow,” Pharaoh answered. “May it be as you say,” Moses replied, “so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.
- Mic 7:18Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Job 40:9Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His?
- Ps 89:8O LORD God of Hosts, who is like You? O mighty LORD, Your faithfulness surrounds You.
- Exod 9:14Otherwise, I will send all My plagues against you and your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.
- Ps 86:8–10O Lord, there is none like You among the gods, nor any works like Yours.
- Isa 46:9Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.
- Exod 20:4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Deut 33:26“There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, and the clouds in His majesty.
- Heb 1:3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
- Ps 113:5Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high?
- Col 1:15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
- Jer 10:16The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—the LORD of Hosts is His name.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 40:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.