Isaiah 40:18
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare to him?
American King James Version (AKJV)
To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare to him?
American Standard Version (ASV)
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Whom then is God like, in your opinion? or what will you put forward as a comparison with him?
Webster's Revision
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare to him?
World English Bible
To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
English Revised Version (ERV)
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
Barnes's Isaiah 40:18 Bible Commentary
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.
Wesley's Isaiah 40:18 Bible Commentary
40:18 To whom - This is a proper inference from the foregoing discourse of God's infinite greatness; from whence he takes occasion to shew both the folly of those that make mean and visible representations of God, and the utter inability of men or idols to give any opposition to God.