Limitless Word
To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him?
Isaiah 40:18 · New Living Translation
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?
  • BSB To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare 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?

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 46:5“To whom will you liken me, and consider my equal, and compare me, that we may be equal?
  • 1 Sam 2:2There is no one as holy as Yahweh, For there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our God.
  • Isa 40:25“To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
  • Exod 15:11Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
  • Acts 17:29Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man.
  • Jer 10:6There is no one like you, Yahweh. you are great, and your name is great in might.
  • Ps 89:6For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like Yahweh,
  • Exod 8:10He said, “Tomorrow.” He said, “Be it according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like Yahweh our God.
  • Mic 7:18Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.
  • Job 40:9Or do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like him?
  • Ps 89:8Yahweh, God of Armies, who is a mighty one, like you? Yah, your faithfulness is around you.
  • Exod 9:14For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.
  • Ps 86:8–10There is no one like you among the gods, Lord, nor any deeds like your deeds.
  • Isa 46:9Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me.
  • Exod 20:4“You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
  • Deut 33:26“There is no one like God, Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens for your help, in his excellency on the skies.
  • Heb 1:3His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
  • Ps 113:5Who is like Yahweh, our God, who has his seat on high,
  • Col 1:15who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
  • Jer 10:16The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 40:18YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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.