Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 17:20
O LORD, there is none like You, and there is no God but You, according to everything we have heard with our own ears.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David addresses God directly during a private prayer following the covenant promise to establish his dynasty. He speaks as the representative of Israel, affirming the nation's collective testimony.
The words — אֵין ('ein) translates literally as "there is not," and אֱלֹהִ֖ים ('Elohim) means "God" or "gods." Together with כָּמ֑וֹ (kamoh, "like him/you"), they form the core claim that no rival deity exists.
The thread — This exclusive claim echoes Exodus 15:11, Isaiah 44:6, and Jeremiah 10:6, where identical phrasing denies the existence of competing divine beings. The motif consistently anchors Israel's monotheistic confession to God's unique historical acts.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that all prior reports about God's identity are verified by direct auditory witness. It requires the reader to accept that divine uniqueness is established by reported revelation, not by philosophical deduction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
O Lord, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
- Exodus 15:11 Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?
- Jeremiah 10:6 There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.
- Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
- Deuteronomy 3:24 “O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your greatness and power to Your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can perform such works and mighty acts as Yours?
- Deuteronomy 4:39 Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.
- Deuteronomy 33:26 “There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, and the clouds in His majesty.
- 1 Samuel 2:2 There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.
- Psalms 78:3 that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
- Psalms 86:8 O Lord, there is none like You among the gods, nor any works like Yours.