¶“To whom would you liken Me And make Me equal, and compare Me, That we would be alike?
Parallel translations
- WEB “To whom will you liken me, and consider my equal, and compare me, that we may be equal?
- KJV To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
- BSB To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?
- NKJV “Towhom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike?
- NLT “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?
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
God asks to whom he could possibly be compared, for nothing is his equal. He is utterly unique.
Overview
Yahweh challenges his hearers to find any rival worthy of comparison, knowing none exists. The rhetorical question exposes the absurdity of likening the Creator to handmade idols. His incomparable majesty undergirds the worship due to him alone, the God revealed fully in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 40:18To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
- Isa 40:25“To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
- Ps 89:6For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like Yahweh,
- Ps 113:5Who is like Yahweh, our God, who has his seat on high,
- Ps 86:8There is no one like you among the gods, Lord, nor any deeds like your deeds.
- Phil 2:6who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,
- 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.
- Jer 10:6–7There is no one like you, Yahweh. you are great, and your name is great in might.
- Exod 15:11Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
- Ps 89:8Yahweh, God of Armies, who is a mighty one, like you? Yah, your faithfulness is around you.
- 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;
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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 46:5 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.