Isaiah Chapter 40 verse 18 Holy Bible
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
read chapter 40 in ASV
Whom then is God like, in your opinion? or what will you put forward as a comparison with him?
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To whom then will ye liken ùGod? and what likeness will ye compare unto him?
read chapter 40 in DARBY
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
read chapter 40 in KJV
read chapter 40 in WBT
To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare to him?
read chapter 40 in WEB
And unto whom do ye liken God, And what likeness do ye compare to Him?
read chapter 40 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 18. is more the complement of what precedes than the introduction to what follows (comp. ver. 25). If God be all that has been said of him in vers. 12-17, must he not be wholly unique and incomparable? Then, out of this, the thought arises of the strange, the poor, the mean "likenesses" of God, which men have in their folly set up in various times and places. It has been said that Israel in captivity did not need to be warned against idolatry, of the inclination to which the Captivity is supposed at once to have cured them (Urwick, 'Servant of Jehovah,' p. 15). But there is no evidence of this. Rather, considering the few that returned, and the many that remained behind (Joseph., 'Ant Jud.,' 11:1), we may conclude that a large number adopted the customs, religion, and general mode of life of their masters.'
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(18) To whom then will ye liken God . . .--The thought of the infinity of God leads, as in St. Paul's reasoning (Acts 17:24-29), to the great primary argument against the folly of idolatry. It is characteristic, partly of the two men individually, partly of the systems under which they lived, that while the tone of Isaiah is sarcastic and declamatory, that of St Paul is pitying, and as with indulgent allowance for the "times of ignorance." We must remember, of course, that the Apostle speaks to those who had known nothing better than the worship of their fathers, the prophet to those who were tempted to fall into the worship of the heathen from a purer faith.
