Isaiah 40:18

New Century Version

Can you compare God to anything? Can you compare him to an image of anything?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
With whom will you compare God?What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?

Hebrew Names Version
To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare to him?

King James Version
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

English Standard Version
To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?

New American Standard Bible
To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?

Amplified Bible
To whom then will you liken God? Or with what likeness will you compare Him?

World English Bible
To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare to him?

Geneva Bible (1587)
To whom then wil ye liken God? or what similitude will ye set vp vnto him?

Legacy Standard Bible
To whom then will you liken God?Or what likeness will you compare with Him?

Berean Standard Bible
To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?

Contemporary English Version
Who compares with God? Is anything like him?

Complete Jewish Bible
With whom, then, will you compare God? By what standard will you evaluate him?

Darby Translation
To whom then will ye liken God? and what likeness will ye compare unto him?

Easy-to-Read Version
Can you compare God to anything? Can you make a picture of God?

George Lamsa Translation
To whom then will you liken God? Or to what likeness will you compare him?

Good News Translation
To whom can God be compared? How can you describe what he is like?

Lexham English Bible
And to whom will you liken God? And to what likeness will you compare him?

Literal Translation
And to whom will you liken God? Or what likeness will you array to Him?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
To whom then will ye licke God? or what similitude will ye set vp vnto him?

American Standard Version
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

Bible in Basic English
Whom then is God like, in your opinion? or what will you put forward as a comparison with him?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?

King James Version (1611)
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likenesse will ye compare vnto him?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
To whom then wyll ye lyken God? or what similitude will ye set vp to him?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
To whom have ye compared the Lord? and with what likeness have ye compared him?

English Revised Version
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
To whom therfor maden ye God lijk? ether what ymage schulen ye sette to hym?

Update Bible Version
To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare to him?

Webster's Bible Translation
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare to him?

New English Translation
To whom can you compare God? To what image can you liken him?

New King James Version
To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?

New Living Translation
To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him?

New Life Bible
To Whom then is God like? What will you compare Him with?

New Revised Standard
To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Unto whom then can ye liken GOD? Or, what likeness, can ye compare unto him?

Douay-Rheims Bible
To whom then have you likened God? or what image will you make for him?

Revised Standard Version
To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?

Young's Literal Translation
And unto whom do ye liken God, And what likeness do ye compare to Him?

THE MESSAGE
So who even comes close to being like God? To whom or what can you compare him? Some no-god idol? Ridiculous! It's made in a workshop, cast in bronze, Given a thin veneer of gold, and draped with silver filigree. Or, perhaps someone will select a fine wood— olive wood, say—that won't rot, Then hire a woodcarver to make a no-god, giving special care to its base so it won't tip over!

New American Standard Bible (1995)
To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ Can you compare God to anything? Can you compare him to an image of anything? ¹⁹ An idol is formed by a craftsman, and a goldsmith covers it with gold and makes silver chains for it. ²⁰ A poor person cannot buy those expensive statues, so he finds a tree that will not rot. Then he finds a skilled craftsman to make it into an idol that will not fall over. ²¹ Surely you know. Surely you have heard. Surely from the beginning someone told you. Surely you understand how the earth was created. ²² God sits on his throne above the circle of the earth, and compared to him, people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the skies like a piece of cloth and spreads them out like a tent to sit under. ²³ He makes rulers unimportant and the judges of this world worth nothing. ²⁴ They are like plants that are placed in the ground, like seeds that are planted. As soon as they begin to grow strong, he blows on them and they die, and the wind blows them away like chaff. ²⁵ God, the Holy One, says, "Can you compare me to anyone? Is anyone equal to me?" ²⁶ Look up to the skies. Who created all these stars? He leads out the army of heaven one by one and calls all the stars by name. Because he is strong and powerful, not one of them is missing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Isaiah 40:25, Isaiah 46:5, Isaiah 46:9, Exodus 8:10, Exodus 9:14, Exodus 15:11, Exodus 20:4, Deuteronomy 33:26, 1 Samuel 2:2, Job 40:9, Psalms 86:8-10, Psalms 89:6, Psalms 89:8, Psalms 113:5, Jeremiah 10:6, Jeremiah 10:16, Micah 7:18, Acts 17:29, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3

Reciprocal: Exodus 32:4 - These Numbers 12:8 - similitude Deuteronomy 3:24 - what God Deuteronomy 4:12 - no similitude Deuteronomy 4:15 - of similitude Deuteronomy 4:16 - the likeness Judges 17:3 - a graven image 2 Samuel 7:22 - none 1 Kings 8:23 - no God 1 Chronicles 17:20 - none Psalms 35:10 - who Psalms 71:19 - who is like Psalms 77:13 - who Psalms 106:20 - into Jeremiah 50:44 - for who Romans 1:23 - an image

Cross-References

Genesis 40:12
Then Joseph said, "I will explain the dream to you. The three branches stand for three days.

Genesis 41:26
The seven good cows stand for seven years, and the seven good heads of grain stand for seven years. Both dreams mean the same thing.

1 Corinthians 10:4
and all drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:24
and gave thanks for it. Then he broke the bread and said, "This is my body; it is for you. Do this to remember me."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

To whom then will ye liken God?.... There is nothing in the whole creation that can bear any resemblance to him, or he to them; since all nations are as a drop of the bucket, as the small dust of the balance, as nothing, yea, less than nothing, and vanity: "or what likeness will ye compare unto him", w order, ordain, and appoint for him? in what rank can he be placed? to what class of beings can he be likened? what similitude can be given of him? what is there that is fit to be named with him, or compared to him? this, with what follows, is mentioned as an antidote to prevent the Jews falling into idolatry in Babylon, where they would be exposed unto it; or rather to prevent Christians in Gospel times from going into the idolatry of the Papists; see Acts 17:28.

w ומה דמות תערכו לו "et quid similitudinis ponetis ei", Pagninus; "ordinabitis", Montanus; "disponetis", Vatablus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

To 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 images of idols were usually formed, and shows how absurd it was to suppose that they could be any real representation of the true God. It is possible that this was composed in the time of Manasseh, when idolatry prevailed to a great extent in Judah, and that the prophet intended in this manner incidentally to show the folly and absurdity of it.